More on Getting Really Lost

Apparently my last post caught some attention because I was quickly accused of being insensitive and arrogant. Surely not someone who knows me.... :-)

I will say at the outset that the story that prompted my post was a tragedy, but I stick to my comments. In fact, I'll go further. There are many other examples where people have relied completely on technology and have suffered the consequences. Around where I live, some snowmobilers have died in avalanches because they behaved as though they were invincible with their powerful machines, avi beacons and avi lungs. Some young hockey players play a very physical game thinking their equipment will protect them, but concussions are on the rise. And people get misdirected and/or lost because they relied entirely on their GPS units.

GPS devices may be marketed as failsafe tools to keep you from getting lost, but experience shows otherwise. It's not insensitive to point this out in the wake of another tragedy and we need to learn some lesson from such events.

I've done a certain amount of traveling on icefields, in the woods and in other, crowded, foreign countries. I always have a map or road atlas of some kind. I almost never use a GPS, although I do have one and have used them on icefield traverses, but NEVER by themselves. This would be a VERY BIG MISTAKE. Besides, maps give you a "big picture" of where you are in relation to other places, something a GPS does not do. One does not need special skills to use a basic road map, although I will admit traveling with a topo map and using a compass takes some practice. It would be a big mistake to go into the woods or cross a featureless icefield and rely only on a GPS.

I will also say that I don't think I've ever been lost. By this I mean in a situation where I was not able to "find" myself and had to wait for someone to rescue me. I have been temporarily confused about exactly where I was and have hiked or driven off in the wrong direction for a short time, but these have been temporary setbacks and it wasn't a GPS that saved me. It was an awareness of where I was in the big picture of the terrain. Watching for terrain features, noting where the sun was, using a compass occasionally, using a map....there are numerous techniques for keeping yourself found.

Unfortunately, too many people think that technology like GPS units make old tools like maps redundant. They are wrong and sadly, some pay the price.