You're right, it certainly left some lasting memories. I wish I could say it was the only time I found myself in a mess outdoors, but, it isn't. I certainly realized at some point that even one more thing going wrong beyond what already happened and we could have been in a real world of trouble. Weather conditions, for example, were no problem, which would change the scenario significantly. Since then, I've always had the mentality that my gramp tried to drill into me, "when you are going out into the woods, assume you might need to spend the night there".

It's strange, because all of us knew back then what we should have with us, and that we should leave a note with where we were going, and we should be back off the trail long before dark, and we should have the essentials with us, even for a day hike. We were foolish teenagers. At least we still had our brains, and some of the lessons from my gramp and my Scoutmaster got us through the night.

I know that at least one more of them took it to heart, because we both took a NOLS course a couple years later. Since then, I've taken wilderness first aid, cpr, leadership training, trek safety, waterfront training, climb safely, gone to outdoor leadership school, and on and on. Still, I feel like I have a lot to learn, that's part of why I'm in this forum. My buddy also has a boy, like mine, that loves the outdoors. I think we both feel like it's our mission to get these guys to realize that they can still have a lot of fun and adventure outdoors, but, they need to be prepared for what they might need to deal with.

It would be a shame to see young folks miss the amazing value of outdoor adventures because their parents were afraid of the risks. It does so much to build them into well rounded adults. Oliver Wendell Holmes has a nice saying that I read in the Boy Scout Fieldbook: "A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."