Bit Of A Panic..

[roybo 2,873]

Glad it all ended well , but what amazes me if you'd have lost the dog ,he'd have been sitting waiting for you by the motor

Wondering what all the fuss has been about maybe the home command is a good one for walkers lol

[Maximus Ferret 2,059]

I have one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Compasses/Suunto-SS004102011-Clipper-L-B-Compass/B00PD9NYZG/ref=sr_1_2?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1484670531&sr=1-2&keywords=compass+suunto+clipper clipped permanently on my watchstrap and a silva compass for maps in my backpack.

The watchstrap one is surprisingly useful and you don't forget it if you always wear a watch. It'll keep you in roughly the right direction inside woods and other places where you cant see far. I originally bought it for long swims to shore in rough seas so I didn't have to keep sticking my head up to see if I was still going straight but now I wear it all the time.

[bird 9,618]

Well had a wander out for a stress free hike yesterday morning with just Don & Ruby..I set off with the intention of just walking some 6 miles or so on the fells,weather was dry & the skies were clear so all was set fair ...Or so I thought!! As we headed higher up the fell the weather began to change,the rain started & although very fine was still a hindrance & the further up we climbed the wind strengthened but we were dressed appropriately so all was good but then low lying cloud,mist,fog call it what you will just came in within minutes & reduced visibility to no more than 20 yards & as I rarely keep to the paths I began to get disorientated,I lost all sense of direction & typically I'd left my GPS tracking device at home! I had no idea where the hell I was? I really was on the verge of calling the mountain rescue,I walked for over 2 hours when I stumbled upon a line of very old iron fence posts & I decided to try & follow these and see where they led,I was thankful to see a boot print heading the way I was going but that didn't prove I was going the right way! Eventually I seen through the cloud a very brief glimpse of a small tarn which I recognised although it was on another mountain across a valley I knew where I was thankfully so I headed in the direction of the tarn and decided to clamber down over 2000 feet of wet scree,boulders,snow patches etc to the valley floor,it was a real long walk back to the motor infact I'd walked almost 18 miles when I got back lol.. Definitely a lesson learnt in that never ever think that just because the weather is nice at ground level it will be up there plus I won't ever go again without my GPS but one thing I'm going to do is buy a compass & learn how to use it!! I have the maps which is all well & good if the weather etc is good but a compass could of made things so much easier..Knackered to the core but thankfully still here & like I said lesson learnt PSX_20170117_063753.jpg

bloody hell , that was close call andy , glad you got out ok. i am hopeless at getting lost , i get lost in the dark, never mind mist/fog lol, ive got no sense of direction , and many time get disorientated , so i prob die up there if it was me there . .!!

[ginger beard 4,652]

is ruby the pom.? if so that pom is hard core.makes me look at poms in a whole new light.

[ands 517]

Amazing how frightening it is when youre lost in the fog, thinking you know where you are for sure! Then realise youve walked down the wrong mountain.

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

Amazing how frightening it is when youre lost in the fog, thinking you know where you are for sure! Then realise youve walked down the wrong mountain.

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

Knowing some of the places you go to Andrew ithas probably happened to you many times lol

[ands 517]

Soon learned to take a compass!! lol

[THE STIFFMEISTER 14,694]

 

18 miles is a bloody long way . Bet there was a big big sigh when u sat in the motor. Joking aside it does show how easily it can go wrong. I lamp alone mostly and it only takes a nasty trip and have no phone signal and ur knackered

Yeah 99% of the time im out on my own,often where there is no phone signal or anything,i actually fell when coming down a mountain a couple of months ago,i was like a pin ball machine bouncing from rock to rock,fortunately my rucksack got wedged in between some rocks which probably saved me some serious grief at the least,i initially thought id broken my leg such was the pain,no phone signal so talk about a long painful hobble of 7 miles to the car i was in agony & my lower leg had swollen to the size of my thigh lol..anyways we are still here for now & my original post was just to highlight the dangers if being out & about especially if alone in remote areas,take nothing for granted & be prepared for the worst

 

Very very very wise words, liked th photo pal in the hillls wearing a proper hills jacket, not some reaktree or even worse a wax!!!!!

[blackmaggie 3,375]

I don't what's it like mountainside I would imagine very scary but I remember being at Southport a good way out on the beech when the fog dropped a pea souper luckly I found the road the big trucks use and quess the right way because you couldn't see land or any lights Its easy to see why so many need rescuing of both it is scary not knowing which way to turn

[FUJI 16,641]

I don't what's it like mountainside I would imagine very scary but I remember being at Southport a good way out on the beech when the fog dropped a pea souper luckly I found the road the big trucks use and quess the right way because you couldn't see land or any lights Its easy to see why so many need rescuing of both it is scary not knowing which way to turn

Yeah it just totally and utterly disorientates you,no landmarks or nothing..I was out last season with Darcy when the pea souper rolled in,we totally lost our bearings,infact we thought we were heading close to an airport as we could hear what we thought were aircraft the noise was even surreal..As we trudged on we eventually came to a small embankment & a f***ing Eddie Stobart lorry sailed past!! No airplanes at all lol,couldn't hear a car passing even at 20 yards!! Darcy walked 6 miles up the road dodging death on the narrow grass verge with vehicles having very little visibility to say the least whilst I waited with the dogs..Like I say we got thrown well off track that day as I did here,Probably won't be the last time it happens but hopefully I will be better prepared in future ?

[colliejohn 840]

Glad you made it back down safely, about 3 years ago i was out lamping on my own with my dog Dan the collie cur, no sign of fog at all, went up into the hills to lamp, got up onto the high ground and the fog came in, it was so sureal, had my head torch on and the dog at heel, i Dan caught 6 rabbits in the space of 20 minutes, weird the rabbits were just sat in the heather literally feet away from were i was walking. Visability ended up being that bad i hadnt a clue were i was walking, i was so disorientated it seemed i was literally walking around in circles, i couldnt find the fence line or anything, these hills led upto cliff facesof over 650ft drops straight onto the shore line, i remember at one stage hearing the crash of waves hitting the rocks and then i realised i was yards away from the cliff tops, what seemed a eternity of walking around and around in circles i eventually found the fence line which i followed which led me back down off the hills and to safety, when i reached the lower fieldsthere was no signs of fog at all, it must of been a combination of hill fog and sea mist, but it was a very scary experience, spoke to the farmer the next day, and he said i was very lucky 2 people had fallen to their deaths in similar conditions on the very same hill. regards collie john.

[gnipper 6,044]

I don't what's it like mountainside I would imagine very scary but I remember being at Southport a good way out on the beech when the fog dropped a pea souper luckly I found the road the big trucks use and quess the right way because you couldn't see land or any lights Its easy to see why so many need rescuing of both it is scary not knowing which way to turn

Been plenty of people lost out there and on the marsh.

[Boristheblade 1,367]

 

I don't what's it like mountainside I would imagine very scary but I remember being at Southport a good way out on the beech when the fog dropped a pea souper luckly I found the road the big trucks use and quess the right way because you couldn't see land or any lights Its easy to see why so many need rescuing of both it is scary not knowing which way to turn

Yeah it just totally and utterly disorientates you,no landmarks or nothing..I was out last season with Darcy when the pea souper rolled in,we totally lost our bearings,infact we thought we were heading close to an airport as we could hear what we thought were aircraft the noise was even surreal..As we trudged on we eventually came to a small embankment & a f***ing Eddie Stobart lorry sailed past!! No airplanes at all lol,couldn't hear a car passing even at 20 yards!! Darcy walked 6 miles up the road dodging death on the narrow grass verge with vehicles having very little visibility to say the least whilst I waited with the dogs..Like I say we got thrown well off track that day as I did here,Probably won't be the last time it happens but hopefully I will be better prepared in future ?

You need a garmin fenix 3 watch or suunto traverse, shouldn't get lost with that on your wrist. Think I'm guna pick up one at the weekend.

[leegreen 2,103]

Did you put up any thing?