Friday after Christmas I decided I was in need of a “walk”. Being too late in the afternoon to get away into the mountains I ran down to Chickamauga Battlefield Park. Normally crowded with walkers, runners, bikers and cars I found it almost empty, due possibly to the heavy fog and threatening weather.
Regardless that was more to my liking, after all I was only here for a walk. At the back of the park there is an area bordered on two sides by Chickamauga Creek and the other two by roads. In the middle is an area no more than 500 acres with dozens of trails. I took one that I did not remember being on before and started walking. Along the way I became engrossed in the deer, squirrels and a white heron. After several trail intersections and several turns I suddenly realized I had been over confident and was “lost”.
I was not concerned about being able to get out, almost any direction I headed in would take me to a land mark of some sort I would be familiar with, but it was growing dark and due to the fog I knew I only had 30 minutes. After that I would be blacked out and my only recourse would be to sit down and wait it out. If I took of in the wrong direction and came to the creek it was too deep to ford after all the rain we have had lately and I would not want to risk bushwhacking out.
The event ended successfully, I used my instincts to select the right trail at an intersection and was back at the car just before dark, but it reminded me I had not taking some of the same advice I would have given and have indeed lived with when in wilder areas.
1. I had no gear with me for warmth, no matches to build a fire, and I had not taken flashlighteven though I was going in close to dark.
2. I had told no one where I was going.
3. I had not followed the advice of my forest ranger grandfather who used to say, “You never get lost coming out… you get lost going in. In other words I had not paid attention to the route I had taken in and was overconfident due to my “familiarity” of the area.
Everything ended okay. I got back before dark and was never really in any danger. However what could have been was a night in the dark with no warm clothes, a drizzling rain and a predicted low of 45, plenty cold enough to cause hypothermia.
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Those times of descision....do I go this way or that?, and knowing that we "should have" listened to that little voice before we left that was suggesting an extra layer or jacket, a lighter or matches, simply calling someone and letting them know. I often walk trails I'm famaliar with, and often don't bother telling anyone of my plans though "what if" I twist an ankle or worse? Thanks for the reminder Forest!
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