Today I was chatting with my doctor and he told me about a situation he got into that is in line with this thread.

Doc and his brother were on a big-time hunting trip in Canada in September, an area accessible only by bush plane. In the afternoon they were a few miles from basecamp and a member of the group bagged an animal. The guides were helping with the processing and told Doc and his brother that unless they wanted to stand around for the next 2 hours, they should just go on back to basecamp. "Which way is it?" they asked, and the guide pointed "that way". So they began walking along the treeless, nondescript rolling terrain with clear visibility.

Then the clouds & fog rolled in. They got disoriented. Where was the GPS & compass? Back at basecamp. Doc said it felt like they had walked forever, and he knew there was no major road or settlement for at least 100 miles in any direction. He was scared.

By a special stroke of luck Doc saw what he thought was a rockpile where he had hung out the previous day. Turned out he was right, and from there they made it to basecamp.

In addition to sussing out my 1st/2nd/3rd line loadouts, I think I'd try a different guide next time.