Here’s a very recent survival story that you can learn from so it doesn’t happen to you. If this survival situation happened just a few months earlier, this hiker may have surely met his match against Mother Nature and all She possesses.
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On 29 April 2019 (Monday), a hiker named John W. decided to go on a very short hike into the beautiful Utah National Park – namely Byrce Canyon National Park. His daylight hike was planned for only 02-hours of enjoying the beauty of the Utah wilderness. As John put it: “Go for a short hike and just enjoy the weather and enjoy the scenery.”
John’s short 02-hour daylight hike turned into a 04-days & nights survival trek through the Utah wilderness. One thing going for John, he kept cool and AVOIDED the 02 Greatest Enemies of Survival – FEAR & PANIC! Initially John took his survival situation as a small set back: “I just started wandering off and I thought ‘OK, as long as I keep following as fairly straight of a path as possible, I’ll be okay.’ The next thing I know it’s dark and I’m completely lost.”
On his trek in the wilderness, John’s intent was just a short 02-hour daylight hike. He was only wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. He had no backpack of extra clothing, camping gear or any survival gear. He did have a map, but no compass.
The night of 29 April 2019 (Monday), John wisely avoided the 02 Greatest Enemies of Survival – FEAR & PANIC! He found a spot to hunker down and went very wisely static for the night. Wandering the wilderness at night and already lost – you’re asking for it. But John very wisely went static and waited for the sun to come up the next morning.
The next morning – 30 April 2019 (Tuesday): “I woke up Tuesday morning thinking ‘Okay, this was just a small setback.’” John started walking off into the Utah wilderness again, but he went deeper into the Utah wilderness.
Tuesday night came and John again, hunkered down for the night. On 01 May 2019 (Wednesday), John woke-up and was getting rained on. With only his shorts and sweatshirt, John may have not known it, but hypothermia (loss of body heat) could kill him.
Wednesday night came and again John hunkered down. On 01 May 2019 (Wednesday), John woke-up covered in snow. As John put it: “I thought I was going to die down there.” “I was ready to just lay my head down and accept my fate.” On his lost survival trek, John ate pine needles and drank water from streams.
John was now on his 4th day wandering through the Utah wilderness. John was suffering from sleep deprivation, hunger, severe dehydration, and exhaustion.
During his 4th day of his lost trek through the Utah wilderness, John thought he was hallucinating, he was hearing things. John heard voices. “I wasn’t sure when I first heard their voices if I was really hearing human voices.” “When I saw them and realized it was humans, it was the most overwhelming positive thing that I’ve experienced in a long time.”
John alerted the attention of 03 men on horseback. The 03 men immediately came to John’s rescue. They immediately provided him with a bottle of Powerade. They put John on a horse and took him to their car. The Garfield County Search And Rescue (SAR) then retrieved John and transported him by ambulance to the hospital. John was kept in the hospital for a few days and treated for severe dehydration.
John stated: “Once I got to the hospital, they gave me a pork loin and I never knew I could just die over a pork loin.” John states: “Thank you for saving my life” addressing the 03 men on horseback and the Garfield County SAR Team. Lessons learned, John states: ‘Next time I go hiking, I will bring supplies no matter what.’
As I stated initially – If this survival situation happened just a few months earlier, this hiker may have met his match with Mother Nature and all She possesses. Just a few months earlier, temperatures in this same environment were killer cold. In John’s same survival situation, even if he was wearing pants, jacket and gloves, the killer cold temperatures would have killed John real quick.
I applaud John for staying calm throughout his 04-day survival ordeal. Most others would have been overwhelmed with FEAR & PANIC and met their fate.
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“If John Was One Of My Subscribers, This Near Tragedy Would Have Been AVOIDED From The Very Beginning!”
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I can confidently say this with 200% certainty. I can easily rip John’s outdoor adventure apart with:
• what he didn’t do before starting his hike
• what he didn’t do during his lost trek in the wilderness
• what he did do during his lost trek that could have cost him his life
but I won’t. Luck was on John’s side this time.
• what he didn’t do before starting his hike
• what he didn’t do during his lost trek in the wilderness
• what he did do during his lost trek that could have cost him his life
but I won’t. Luck was on John’s side this time.
However, let me give you just a few survival tips.
John should have:
- Never venture outdoors alone
- Tell somebody EXACTLY where & when you are going, to include a detailed map of your exact route.
- Tell the same person when EXACTLY when you should return and what to do if you don’t return
- Even though it was an anticipated short hike, still carry a backpack that has items in it to satisfy the
8 Elements of Survival (Fire, Water, Shelter, First-Aid, Signal, Food, Weapons and Navigation). Shelter not only includes overhead shelter items but also includes protective clothing (head to toe) - Carry a primary and secondary weapon
- When aware you’re lost – STOP STOP STOP STOP and make camp. The SAR (Search And Rescue) will always start searching at your LKP (Last Known Point). The more you wander in the wilderness, the search area expands immensely and the greater chances of not getting found and getting hurt or killed by Mother Nature and all She possesses
Here are a few blog posts links that are worthy of your survival attention:
• “How To Plan Your Outdoor Adventure!”
• “09 NEVER Get Lost Navigation Tricks!”
• “12 Real Survival Tragedies You Have To Know!”
• “15 Emergency Killer Cold Survival Tricks You Gotta Know!”
• John was treated for severe dehydration. See “06 Survival Tricks To Gather & Purify Emergency Water?” Under this title, see What is 35 divided by 7? and The SERE Instructors Kept Laughing At Us!
• “Save My Life… Survival Program!”
• “09 NEVER Get Lost Navigation Tricks!”
• “12 Real Survival Tragedies You Have To Know!”
• “15 Emergency Killer Cold Survival Tricks You Gotta Know!”
• John was treated for severe dehydration. See “06 Survival Tricks To Gather & Purify Emergency Water?” Under this title, see What is 35 divided by 7? and The SERE Instructors Kept Laughing At Us!
• “Save My Life… Survival Program!”
• “15 Isolated Lone Survivors Who Beat The Killer Odds!“
I also suggest that you go to the “Table Of Contents” and take a good look over the other wilderness survival blog posts under the Category – ‘Wilderness Survival.’
Article Source: Tribune Media (07 May 2019)
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IRISAP Copyright 2019 – All Rights Reserved
IRISAP Copyright 2019 – All Rights Reserved