Lost Hikers Epidemic: What's with All These Missing Hikers Lately?

Seems like every day, there's another news report of a missing hiker or "lost hiker." Most people would be terrified to be alone in a room with a snake, but frankly, it seems that's a lot safer than hiking, what with all the missing hikers, missing snowmobilers and missing snowboarders, lately.

I have done a lot of hiking. I belong to the Colorado Mountain Club. In fact, I took the Wilderness Trekking School course, offered by the Colorado Mountain Club. If anyone takes a class like this, it will substantially lower the risk of that person ever becoming one of those missing hikers.

It's amazing how much you can learn from a course like this, and they are offered everywhere. The one I took included actual hiking excursions as part of the course. I wonder how many missing hikers ever took such instruction. The Trekking School showed how to "make water" by using a plastic bag and plantlife; I don't recall exactly how, but it has to do with trapping water moisture and forcing it to condense, and over an hour's time, you end up with a drinkable amount of water in the bag.

It is easier than you think to avoid becoming a missing hiker, dead hiker, or lost skier or lost snowboarder. Currently in the news is a search for lost snowboarders in Colorado. The report said they were snowboarding where they shouldn't have been. This straying is typical when the missing people are snowboarders, snowmobilers and skiers. They fully know they are straying into questionable territory or territory prone to avalanches, yet they do this anyways.

How do you get lost hiking? I can't imagine this. I've gone on off-trail hikes and always found my way back. If you have a poor sense of direction, it's your responsibility to learn how to use a topography map (topo map) and compass. Some hikers do not carry cell phones, figuring they won't work in the wilderness. Well, maybe they will. Besides, you may need to use the phone while you are closer to the trail head, so why not bring one anyways?