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Most wilderness emergencies are avoidable, but, if you spend enough time in the outdoors, one will likely come your way. What will you do? Studying scenarios and reports is a one way to sharpen your outdoor leadership skills.
Canoe guru Kevin Callan is the author of 11 books, including the Paddler’s Guide series and The Happy Camper. He shares his extensive experience as a wilderness guide instructing college-level courses in Advanced Wilderness Skills. He recently shared questions and answers from the final exam in this article in Explore Magazine. Each question is a scenario a guide may encounter leading groups in the wilderness.
Here are two of the scenarios (read others at Explore Magazine) I’ve linked to ‘what really happened’ in each case . Before you read the answer think things through. Did you decide on the same course of action or something different? Let me know in the comments.
(The SPOT personal locator beacon 
Scenario 1 : Lost Campers
A group of paddlers are running a northern river in Manitoba. It’s 7:00 p.m. and the cook announces that supper will be ready in less than an hour. The rest of the group is done all their chores so they decide to hike up to a nearby hill behind the campsite. No one brings a map, compass or flashlight. There didn’t seem to be a reason to do so.It’s 9:00 p.m. and no one has returned to camp. Yelling produces no response. It’s quickly getting dark. The cook has a whistle, flares, SPOT Personal Locator Beacon, satellite phone, GPS, map and compass. A campfire is burning.
Scenario 2: Should We Stay or Should We Go?
A group of kayakers are paddling the north shore of Ontario’s Lake Nipigon. They only have two days left in their scheduled trip and have organized a boat shuttle to pick them up at a designated spot on the lake.The problem is, the weather has turned nasty and the group has been wind-bound for two full days — putting them way off schedule.
Some party members want to push on no matter how bad the wind and waves are — they have to be back at work and can’t afford to be delayed. Others don’t want to pay extra money for the boat shuttle to return, or to perhaps come looking for them, so they want to continue as well. A few in the group try to have everyone stay put — safety first. You are equipped with flares, map and compass, but no satellite phone or SPOT.
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One of my favorites books by kevin is Dazed but Not Confused: Tales of a Wilderness Wanderer |
| Read my review | |
| Listen to Kevin on Podcast 50 | |
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An essential reference for guiding youth on high adventure trips is the AMC Guide to Outdoor Leadership |
| Listen to the author, Alex Kosseff, on podcast 68 |
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| Read my review |
Scenario 1 : Lost Campers – What really happened:
The group didn’t find camp until early the next morning and had to spend a night in the woods. The cook blew a whistle but the group never heard it. He also built up the campfire but the group didn’t see it. When the sun came up, one of the lost campers knew that the sun rises in the east. The river was running north, and they were camped on the west side of the river. So the group walked towards the sun, found the river, and eventually found the campsite (a few minutes before the cook pushed the 911 button on the SPOT).
Scenario 2: Should We Stay or Should We Go? – What really happened:
They stayed put until the weather improved and were one-day off schedule. Their loved ones were worried at first, but glad they eventually arrived safe and sound.
In situation one, I wondered what time of year it was. 9PM? Lots of light left in summer, likely not dark until midnight.
He says “it’s quickly getting dark”. If they are canoeing in Canada, that sounds like fall. It would be light pretty late in summer.
The SPOT has way too many false alerts and does not have great coverage. The Delorme is a superior device.
These are great scenarios are more real than the typical disasters people think up.
I’ve been in a lot of backcountry situations that require communication, but don’t require rescue. Here is a list of those, plus a few that have happened to people I know.
Reporting a wildfire
Cutting a trip short because of illness (early pickup at trailhead)
Cutting a trip short because a crew member lost a boot in a river crossing
Evaluating an evacuation because of a hernia (my dad self-reduced it after talking with a ranger and continued the trek)
Self-evacuation to a different trailhead (considered, didn’t do)
Self-evacuation of part of a crew due to altitude sickness
Walking out a crew member because of a death in the family
Pickup driver hours late because a logging truck slid half off the road and blocked it
Car keys lost in the snow
This list might make you think twice about going camping with me! Rest assured, it has taken decades of outings to collect this experience.
Beyond these devices’ emergency SOS capabilities, don’t underestimate the importance of their seemingly simple “I’m Okay.” message sending function.
A year ago, while descending a 9,000+ foot mountain in the Coast Mountain Range, the group I was traveling with became trapped at the top of a glacier while the mountains on both sides of us avalanched continually.
We made the decision to sit tight for the entire afternoon and into the evening to let the sun go down and give the north slope time to freeze up before continuing our descent. It was a Sunday and we were all expected home before dinner. Unfortunately, none of us got back into cell phone range until around midnight.
We were all totally safe but our families worried about our being overdue. Some of the families (the ones properly trained at being “ground support”) waited a reasonable period of time from when they knew we were to have returned to cell phone range and then made the call to Search and Rescue.
At the time, none of the members of my party had a SPOT or inReach device. If we had, we could have simply reported “I’m Okay.” to our families and they would have all enjoyed their Sunday night while waiting for us to return safely.
That situation will never happen again since I now carry a DeLorme inReach SE two-way satellite texting/tracking/SOS device at all times when I’m in the backcountry.
I should also note that the Outdoor Gear Lab article was written before DeLorme released their new inReach SE earlier this year. The inReach SE gives you two-way texting capability in addition to satellite tracking and SOS functions. In my opinion, the new inReach SE simply out-classes the SPOT device.
http://www.inreachdelorme.com/
It is important to note that a SPOT beacon is not strictly speaking a “Personal Locator Beacon”. SPOT beacons are in a class of devices referred to by the industry as SEND devices (Satellite Emergency Notification Devices). Here’s an excellent discussion of the difference between the two classes of devices:
http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Personal-Locator-Beacon-Reviews/Buying-Advice