If You Get Lost in Nature

Traveling can give you recognition (knowledge) about phenomena in the world and more importantly about the other people. As you travel you get to know yourself (self-awareness) through understanding the others. Besides many benefits, traveling has some noteworthy points too. It is essential to pay attention to some travel safety tips before and during the travel. Reading this article makes it easier for you and your companions to travel to nature.

If you get lost in nature or think you've already lost your way or even get stuck in the middle of bushes, keep your composure. First of all, try to overcome your fear, anxiety and the feeling of homesickness and loneliness. Then make sure to remember and follow these tips one by one:

1-   Do not struggle.

2-   Stay in shadow, if there is no shade in the area; make use of some clothing or fabric to create a canopy to protect you from the sun.

3-   Remember that you can survive a long time without food but what you need is water. Thus sit down quietly in a corner, eat a little if you have got some food with you and then start walking. If you haven’t got a map, try to draw one of the terrains in front of you and indicate the north by using special techniques.

Most of those who get lost in nature are confused because of their fear of thinking that they are far away from the path, but it is not the case. Sometimes fog, snow and unusual light reflections prevent you from focusing on your surroundings.

4-   From where you start to move, try to hang tissue paper, colored piece of clothes or any kind of stuff that you've got, from the trees in the area and try to leave your marks in the area so that if you’re not able to find your way back on the chosen path, you would be able to return to your zero point. An easy way to mark the area is to hang the signs on the bushes or low trees as walking. If possible climb a high hill or tree in order to look around carefully from the top and get the chance of seeing a familiar place.

5- If you want to identify your surrounding but you cannot navigate back to a known place, return to your zero point again and try the other routes. Remember when the air is very clear, and the sun shines from behind, the distance would seem shorter than the true quantity.

6- Most of those who get lost in nature are confused because of their fear of thinking that they are far away from the path, but it is not the case. Sometimes fog, snow and unusual light reflections prevent you from focusing on your surroundings.

7- Be forethoughtful while traveling. Put an address of where you go in your home to let them look for you in case of delay in return.

8-   In order not to get tired or frightened very soon, try to build a shelter in a place where access to water and food is easier. Therefore you can stay in your shelter in case of it gets dark or a storm occurs. Build a fire, lie down and wait. Remember not to march in such circumstance and just wait till the next morning.

In first half of the lunar month, the outer arc of the moon is toward west and in second half of month the outer arc of moon is toward east that this rule can be used to determine the direction.

9- In case of thunder, stay in your shelter, because it’s the best way for your safety. Even taking refuge in the dense bushes is better than staying in the open air. Do not go near the tall trees or anything else which is hoisted. Never forget that lightning has a very strong charge, so do not wait until the storm has arrived to your place. Lightning is usually attracted to the highest point in an area.

10- If you have decided to find your way back, examine your situation carefully, make a map and try different ways which may help you to find the main route. Your map would get larger by choosing different routes.

11-   Always do some reflection before following a river. Sometimes rivers direct you on the wrong route by many kilometers. Some of them are winding and sometimes in some part of their way go through the marches and occasionally end up in dangerous waterfalls. If you arrive to a rocky area, the best thing is to get on an edge, follow it in a lower height and try to leave a trace of yourself.

12- To find the right direction, look at the sky.  As a general rule we have four cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) that by finding one of them out, you can easily indicate the other directions. So that if you stand facing the north, south is behind you, west is on the left side, and east would be on the right side. Also, an easy way to determine where the north side is to point the watch's 12 o'clock position in the direction of the sun .Mark the point halfway between 12 and the hour hand. This position indicates north.

13-   A way to determine direction during day is to Stick a piece of wood in the ground and place a stone in the ground where the shadow of the wood ends and wait for some times. Then again indicate the end of shadow with another stone. The line from the first stone to the second indicates the east direction. At night you can also identify north by finding the North Star. There is a star named Polaris which is located above the North Pole. If you stand facing it, actually you would be in the direction of the north. Polaris is a faint star.

14- In the first half of the lunar month, which is since the beginning of the month till twelfth, the outer arc of the moon is toward west and in the second half of month, that is from seventeenth till twenty eighth, the outer arc of the moon is toward east that this rule can be used to determine the direction. When the moon is full, you can indicate the direction by apparent motion of the moon which is from east to west. Understanding whether it is the first half of the month or the second half, you can act this way. When the moon is visible in the sky, put yourself in the direction of the internal arc and draw an imaginary line from top to the bottom. In this condition if the final image is in the shape of p, it is the first half of the month, and if the final image is in the shape of q, it would be the second half of the month.

15-   By paying attention, sharp-sightedness and with the help of signs from heaven and your memory, you can overcome your fear and concern and keep going on nature confidently.

Translated by: Hadi Anani