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Irulan
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24 Jul 2012, 4:11 pm

Recently I developed an obsession with people getting lost in the woods. I kept reading Stephen King's novel on the girl who did and old articles on some little autistic girl from my country who disappeared for 6 days in the forest surrounding her village 2 years ago - it was a very famous case then for some time, in here. I often imagine that's me who got lost and if I lived near a forest, I would delve into it to experience this (I'd love to see myself on the local portal news :D ). Do you think you'd be able to get out, if you got lost? I know quite a lot about edible plants and I think I could do this, if I managed to find them and a source of water, of course. Or maybe there's someone on the board who ever had such an experience and would want to share it with the rest of us? :D



Uprising
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24 Jul 2012, 4:15 pm

Somehow thinking about walking around in the woods at night makes my eyes feel incredibly painful out of nothing.



Sweetleaf
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24 Jul 2012, 4:19 pm

It seems I am unable to get totally lost, even if I do lose track of my original starting point I am always able to find my way back even if it is in a round about way that makes no sense.


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Mindsigh
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24 Jul 2012, 4:19 pm

My mom and her friend and her friend's 2 kids got lost in the woods in a State Park overnight, a few years before I was born. While they were trying to get unlost, my mom and the little boy got separated from the other two. They spent the night curled up in a pile of leaves to keep warm, then managed to find a road and get help. Everybody was okay.

But I just this very minute thought of something funny. It never occurred to me to wonder about what my poor "indoorsy-type" mom did when she had to go to the bathroom. I can't ask her now. :(



TallyMan
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24 Jul 2012, 4:27 pm

I love getting lost in the woods. :D Not knowing where the little paths will come out or if they simply disappear completely. There is a sense of freedom and fascination, wondering if anyone else has ever been to your current location, if you are the first to set eyes on particular trees and rocks.



Irulan
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24 Jul 2012, 4:32 pm

I think it would be a cool experience to be looked for by the police and Forest Service (whatever that's called in English speaking countries) and if the whole country was reading about them trying to find you, and that's how it was with Karina, that girl who got lost then - she lost her feet due to congelation. A couple of times a day, new info on this case was posted on our portals.



HisDivineMajesty
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24 Jul 2012, 4:34 pm

Getting lost in the woods is by no means a nice experience. Once, I was in a forest. There was a legend, told somewhere before the forest, that said there was a headless hound who would supposedly appear there. Thing is, I wasn't really old, 13 at most, and we got lost in that forest. And as we kept walking around in circles, getting increasingly annoyed at each other, the sun started setting and the forest went from uncanny and dense to pitch black. Luckily, we found the car after a little while.

Last year, we tried reaching the castle in Wartburg. There was a parking lot, and a sign saying 'Wartburg' with an arrow pointing towards a path through the woods. We didn't really notice that the path was actually a dirt path through a large but luckily not-so-dense forest. After about an hour and a half of walking around in circles, although there was a very pretty clearing, we concluded that we couldn't reach the castle. Their signage was very bad.



MightyMorphin
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24 Jul 2012, 4:38 pm

I like the woods, but in the day time, and either when everything is green, or when it's autumn and everything is orange, brown and red.

I would go out tomorrow and take some pictures in the woods, but it's just too hot to do anything :(

I've never got lost in the woods though. I'd like to camp one day in the woods, but I wouldn't do it on my own and I don't have anyone I could go camping with.



MightyMorphin
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24 Jul 2012, 4:41 pm

Irulan wrote:
I think it would be a cool experience to be looked for by the police and Forest Service (whatever that's called in English speaking countries) and if the whole country was reading about them trying to find you, and that's how it was with Karina, that girl who got lost then - she lost her feet due to congelation. A couple of times a day, new info on this case was posted on our portals.


We don't have forest mounties or anything. We just have the police. If someone was to be lost in the woods, you would ring the police here in England.

American and Canadian's have like mounties and park rangers though I think.



Uprising
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24 Jul 2012, 4:43 pm

MightyMorphin wrote:
Irulan wrote:
I think it would be a cool experience to be looked for by the police and Forest Service (whatever that's called in English speaking countries) and if the whole country was reading about them trying to find you, and that's how it was with Karina, that girl who got lost then - she lost her feet due to congelation. A couple of times a day, new info on this case was posted on our portals.


We don't have forest mounties or anything. We just have the police. If someone was to be lost in the woods, you would ring the police here in England.

American and Canadian's have like mounties and park rangers though I think.

Consider yourself lucky for that. 8O



johnny77
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24 Jul 2012, 5:44 pm

Actually I do it on purpose Ive never been truly lost because Ive all ways had an uncanny directional sense in that you can blind fold me turn me around drop me any were and after a few minutes of walking I can tell if I am getting closer to home or further away. This however doesn't help you find you car if its not along the way or account for terrain the strait way home might be unpassable so a lot of rerouteing may be required. :shrug:
But I never had to be found that would ruin the hike.



Irulan
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27 Dec 2013, 6:43 pm

Is it true what I read recently? That in Canada and the USA no one looks for you for that long if you got lost in the woods, so you enter the woods like national parks at your own risk (I'm talking here about leaving the main path and going to the forbidden areas), for the national parks for example and the like, are so huge that there's no possibility to find you once you got lost for good? I read that often there are found skeletons of those who got lost in the USA'a national parks - there are boards with warnings in English and Spanish not to run off the main track, as in this way you like basically resign from people looking for you - you knew the risk, nevertheless you ignored the warning, so deal with the situation on your own.



Misslizard
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27 Dec 2013, 11:23 pm

Tourists get lost here,then Rangers,State and local police,Fish and Game, and locals go find them.To my knowledge no one has died from being lost,mostly they fall off the edge of bluffs or drown in the river.
A little girl was lost for several days and some local men on mules found her,they had snacks and candy for her.It would be scary for a kid,bears,and other wild animals are here that could eat you.
You should always tell someone the area you are hiking in,and when you expect to be back.
If you are on a marked trail you should have no problem.Get off the trail,and you are on your own.You can listen for sounds,like distant cars,roosters crowing,etc.Its best to go downhill and follow the creeks or rivers,you will eventually find your way out.If you think you have been missed,and people are looking for you,find whatever shelter you can and stay put.Whistles are good to carry,it's easier to blow one to signal than to yell.It wouldn't be much fun in the summer,lots of bugs and it gets cold in the winter.If you were without a way to build a fire and got wet you could get hypothermia.Always carry a lighter,small flashlight,and a whistle.


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LittlePigLocksmith
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16 Jan 2014, 4:13 am

I've never been lost in the woods. A small, farm town or lush, green mountains is where I'm most in my element. However, when i go to visit my sister who lives in the city I often fear that I'll get lost and never be able to find my way out. It doesn't help that she lives in a really bad part of town and I don't feel comfortable talking to anyone there.



Schneekugel
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16 Jan 2014, 4:28 am

Nope, cant really get lost for a long time. I have my own GPS and Google maps in the head, as well that I am used to playing in the forests, because thats what we did as kids all the time. My dad was a bit worried about us playing so deep in the woods, until I explained him, that if I would not exactly know the way back home, I´d simply go north, then sooner or later I had to come to the west to east river, that is crossing our area, and then I would simply follow that down the river, until after a few miles I would get into a village or town I knew, and then from there I´d knew how to get back home again. I have been questioned many times, from my father, my partner and friends at geocashing, how I knew where north, south, ... directions are, but I cant really explain it. North is were north is, south is were south is, and east and west are simply 90° sided of that. XD