Well in my day we were flown TO THE MOON and had to find our way back barefoot! It was uphill both ways!

...and we were grateful.

Some people are only still alive due to luck and the good graces of others.

Sounds like the guy has good bushcraft skills but isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer overall.

HJ

Sounds more to me like the guy had his "ten Essentials" without the operating manual. He is fortunate to have survived. He did one major thing correctly, he had friends that knew his plan and they notified the SAR folks. Probably the most effective survival thing anyone going out can do in advance. Especially if they have limited knowledge of nav and/or survival techniques.

Lesson was apparently not completely learned though if he was out again without a flashlight. If you are an ounce counter, the LED headlights of today are really light! Makes map reading much easier at night. Well, I guess his map reading skills were the same day or night (without a light), he still couldn't figure out where he was. Glad he is ok though, hope he learns from all this.

Seriously, Jackie, one of my chickens would have done better than this guy!

He decides to go on a two-day hike. Despite carrying a map and compass (which he apparently doesn't know how to use), he gets lost. And not just a little lost.

He comes to a lake and decides to cross it to get to the other side, but it's the wrong lake. He abandons his "skis, skins, backpack and the rest of his supplies" on a tiny island (why or how he got to the island isn't mentioned).

So he takes off all his clothes, puts a few of them and some food in a dry-bag (with his compass and map, which seems fairly pointless), and crosses the lake pushing a log amid the chunks of ice!

By that time, he was off course by miles, and was on his fourth day of a two-day trip.

He climbed a peak to get his bearings, which was just as effective as using his map and compass, but he did stumble upon the Rubicon Off-Road Trail. Did he stay in the campground and signal for help? Of course not!

He kept going (hopefully toward his destination of Emerald Bay), but the trail turned into a river.

That night, he camped on the granite knoll and made a fire, heated rocks to stay warm. Here he was, out in the open, on a raised area, he could have stayed there, make a signal fire, and the let the people looking for him find him. There were multiple ground crews and two helicopters looking for him. Did he stay there? Nope!

"Meanwhile, DesOrmeaux had found his way back to the lake where he left his stuff." Translation: he had been walking in a circle. He also ran across a sign naming some lakes on his map, and realized how lost he was.

He found a cabin and rested there. Did he stay there and signal? What do you think?

At least by now, he sort of knew where he was, and was eventually picked up by the sheriff's dept. and taken home.

The last paragraph explains the flashlight:


I hope this guy doesn't rent out as a tour guide!

Sue

Wow. Talk about piling on. The guy got lost. Remind me not to sit around the campfire with this crowd.

Sounds like he was swimming in Lake Aloha.

Here is someone's photo of it.

http://www.markjs.com/page38/page45/files/page45-1012-full.html

I, and most people I know that have backpacked there, have tried to cross it by wading or swimming to save the 4 mile hike around. You can just see where
you want to go just a few dozen yards away if you follow all the
little peninsulas and islands!

As far as a compass goes, unless it is dark or foggy, you don't
need one as it is so open and so obvious where all the landmarks
are. A map and the ability to read it on the other hand---.

Ended well at least.

All the story needed was a little more humor and he could have sold it as National Lampoon's Vacation 8.

Sue

WOW! Dare I assume that he never once thought of "Hug a Tree"? Even my Beaver Scouts would know better! Sounds like a nasty combo of stubborn machismo and stupidity. If the flashlight part is serious, then he really should be nominated for a Darwin Award because he's one luck SOB!