Hiking / outdoor ‘learning experiences’

[HockeyPuck]

I spent Memorial day weekend camping at Coleman State Park to attempt some of the peaks north of route 26. Many of these peaks are accessible only through poor condition logging roads and with it being so early in the spring season, many of these roads had downed trees, ruts, car eating potholes and washouts. My biggest concern wasn’t getting up and down the mountain, my concern was getting ‘Carlene’ (my vehicle) stuck or breaking down and having a 10 mile walk back to the main road (and hopefully cell service).

The good news is Carlene didn’t get stuck but the bad news is the exhaust system didn’t survive .

What’s the worst situation you’ve encountered and what preparations did you make to prevent it from happening again?

 

[egilbe]

Forgot my spoon once on a three day trip. Now I have a spare in my first aid kit.

 

[skiguy]

Forgot my cook pot the first night on a Winter AT traverse of Ct. Fortunately someone left a Bud Can at the next shelter. I cut one end off and cooked out of it for the rest of the trip.

 

[wardsgirl]

Came back to a remote parking lot after a long winter hike to find my Hyundai Elantra trapped in the slush that solidified into ice during my hike. No cell reception, 10PM, 0 degrees.

Walked until I could call for a tow truck. Waited 2 hours for it to arrive to haul me out.

Now, I pony up for AAA every year. And I drive a RAV 4.

 

[JoshandBaron]

Forgot my cook pot the first night on a Winter AT traverse of Ct. Fortunately someone left a Bud Can at the next shelter. I cut one end off and cooked out of it for the rest of the trip.

Similar to this, I forgot my Trangia on a winter trip and had to make a stove out of a beer can. Because I did remember that. Priorities.

 

[yogi]

A friend and I spotted my car an Lincoln Woods once and drove his up to the North Twin Trailhead for a one night Twins/Bonds traverse. As we were getting ready to lock up his car, I said "I am going to throw my keys in your glove box so I don't loose them". "Good idea" he said. It never clicked until we were eating dinner on top of Bondcliff. Finished the hike anyway, and in the days before we owned cell phones hitchhiked down to Truant's and drank beer and ate hot wings until our girlfriends arrived a few hour later to bail us out.

 

[Raven]

This one turned out to be quite an adventure. Fortunately I had a positive attitude and time.

https://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?59378-Drifting-in-Northern-Baxter-State-Park&highlight=baxter

 

[weatherman]

Done the "keys left in the first car not the spotted car" thing before, but the worst was not bringing pants on a Presi backpack in July. Hypothermia sucks.

 

[jfb]

Probably the worst situation I encountered was on a backpacking trip when I left my spare headlamp batteries in the glove box of my car. The first night was when I realized my mistake, but it was not a big deal because the old batteries still had some life. Unfortunately, the second night was when I realized I should not store food in my pack overnight. After the bear had stolen my pack and eaten my food, I spent a few hours recovering everything and hiking out in the dark. Nowadays, I always store my food outside of my pack, using either a bear box, bear canister or just hanging from a tree.

 

[Stan]

With two Whisperlites in my camping crate (one of many repurposed milk crates) you'd think I could remember one for a paddle camping trip, especially after preparing and packaging 3 days of delightful gourmet meals. Nooooo, but at least I somehow came to that realization while passing through Gorham and, coincidentally passing a Walmart .... not my source for outdoor gear, I decided to take no chances on further opportunities that I could get something cheap and functional. Sure enough, I got this neat two burner stove which quickly became my go-to equipment for car and paddle camping. Did I mention the price? $10-15 I think it was. Over 20 years later and its still exceeding my expectations.

 

[skiguy]

With two Whisperlites in my camping crate (one of many repurposed milk crates) you'd think I could remember one for a paddle camping trip, especially after preparing and packaging 3 days of delightful gourmet meals. Nooooo, but at least I somehow came to that realization while passing through Gorham and, coincidentally passing a Walmart .... not my source for outdoor gear, I decided to take no chances on further opportunities that I could get something cheap and functional. Sure enough, I got this neat two burner stove which quickly became my go-to equipment for car and paddle camping. Did I mention the price? $10-15 I think it was. Over 20 years later and its still exceeding my expectations.

A lot of tree huggers complained when they built that store. I’ll admit Walmart is my go to place when I go fishing on the North end of Lake George. One stop shopping.

 

[Stan]

... A memorable forgetting-gear item was leaving my boot at home for a winter overnight up to the Cabot Cabin. I had spikes, so I bought some duct table to waterproof some old sneakers and threw the spikes on over. Worked like a charm, albeit quite ridiculous. I think it's the only time I've hiked with a full roll of duct tape. ...

I think this begs a new description of an ill prepared hiker: "That person's not hiking with a full roll of tape."

 

[briarpatch]

When my girls were younger, I took them snowshoeing on the trails around French Ledges in Plainfield. I thought it was best to leave the pup in the station wagon while I help them put on their snowshoes. The pup jumped over the rear seat into the trunk area when I open the rear hatch to get our snowshoes and he was very concerned that he was still in the car when I closed the hatch. As I walked around to the front of the car with our snowshoes he leaped over the rear seats and with another bound leap to front. His front paws slide on dash and his head hit the windshield. Not a small crack pattern or single long crack. No! He spider cracked the entire windshield.

Ten plus years later the girls still comment that they “learned” a lot of new words that day.