My Scariest Backpacking Moment 

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Very much so appreciate this video. My brother died in 2016 at 29 years old from the opposite, heat stroke, while hiking alone in Joshua Tree National Park. He was on a popular trail. I think it is so important to not make people afraid to get outside hiking and backpacking, but like you said, you can’t half-ass it and need to take full responsibility and realize how prepared we need to be to deal with dangerous situations that come suddenly.

I like that you went step by step through your prep, your state of mind before, during, and after the trip, and how you used your resources (lots of food, fuel, and water) and luck (friend forcing a fleece on you, meeting an understanding stranger on the trail) to make it out safely. Many people tell these stories, but don't reveal how there are usually many events that accumulate to get someone into trouble. Me and a hiking buddy were chased across a ridge by a very determined thunderstorm and had to take refuge for a frightening 20 minutes surrounded on all sides by lightning strikes. I will never forget the continual smell of ozone. Later I realized how many things we did wrong, but happily we didn't pay the ultimate price for those mistakes. One thing we did do right when we knew the storm was going to certainly overtake us was to run downhill and situate ourselves in a low section between two peaks. When we emerged from the rain tarp we had thrown over ourselves, the ground was covered in hail. Ten minutes later, the sky was almost totally clear and the rest of the hike was gorgeous. There always seems to be a yin and yang with these situations - good luck and bad luck, right decisions and wrong decisions, staying calm and freaking out. The more we can push our situation to the good side and away from the bad side, the better chance we have to stay safe and enjoy the wonderful outdoors. I have spent a lot of time in the Sierra Nevada mountains. We have a saying, "Hikers don't die from unexpected bad weather, they die from not preparing for unexpected bad weather."

There's nothing more scary than when your insides start to shiver uncontrollably and you think you will never be warm again. It takes panic to a whole new level!

I experienced the onset of hypothermia once a few years back in the Marble Mountain Wilderness of Northern California when I was a co-leader for a wilderness survival therapy program which included three day solos with no food. I and the leader were scouting locations and, at the base of a steep side trail, we stashed our packs and quickly went up the trail to look for suitable solo locations. We had only been away from our packs for a few minutes when it started to hail or sleet, not sure which - in September! Very quickly I began to feel a creeping numbness in the top of my head and my tongue was becoming unmanageable. The leader recognized what was happening and knew we had to get back down the trail to our packs. We practically ran back down the very steep and rough trail with the leader talking to me to gauge my mental condition. We were lucky we didn’t trip and fall on the way down. When we got back to our packs, I quickly put on every layer of clothes I had and stuffed a couple of Tigers Milk bars in my mouth. It is amazing how quickly you can get into trouble when you aren’t prepared for it.

Great job telling your story, and I think that it is one that any backpacker that is honest and has been doing it long enough will be able to relate to. I also laud your honesty to put it all out there and admit you made mistakes. We all do. About 8 years ago or so I got into a hypothermia situation myself due to stupid mistakes combined with bad luck, but it was a car camping trip, so I just packed things up and left--though I did make a vapor barrier layer out of a garbage bag to warm myself up while I packed and hiked back to my car. Cold snaps trying to rely too much on natural materials taught me a lesson I will never forget. Totally agree about waterproofing! I often have three layers of protection for my sleeping bag and spare clothing: water proof dry/stuff sack, my pack itself, and then my rain poncho over everything. Even if one cannot afford a fancy dry/stuff sack, plastic bags can be literally free and weigh very little!

Nice, totally had a similar experience the day we crossed the GA/NC boarder on the AT. Freezing Wet, Everything soaked, & scared as hell I wasn't gonna be able to get warm. Not a good place to be at all! Hike On, Darwin

I have various number and sizes of dry sacks/bags which I use to store all my essential gears in my backpack. No matter how bad the weather is, at least I will have everything importants dry. I always pack everything inside dry sacks even when hiking on summer. Easier way, is to put everything inside a big trash bag..light, cheap, and effective

if you ever get so cold your fingers don't work enough to light a lighter, stick your thumb in your mouth to warm it up enough to use it, hands in your bare armpit is pretty cold but will warm them up enough. living in northern Ontario I find it crazy when I see people from warmer climates not realizing how badly a sever weather change can mess you up.

Woke up to snow in the Wind Rivers on July 4th. Off the beaten path. Trail-runners. Lost the trail. Luckily found the trail again. Wore the tent over sleeping-bag as a jacket coming off the mountain. One slip? You never know when it's going to turn ugly? Or how long it might stay ugly?

hypothermia is the most dangerous thing anyone faces out in the wilderness...even in Florida, where I live people can get hypothermia, because they associate Florida with shorts and light gear, but it can get cold, and the cold mixed with the high humidity we have here can be rough....plus a rain storm in the winter camping in Florida and you get wet and the temp goes down into the 20s and 30s it can be deadly..even in Florida!

It sure seems to me that every one of these scariest stories begins with "So, this happened to me when I was hiking the Appalachian Trail..."

👍nice. Did something similar when i was just starting out. We left in 70 degree temps, and two days later it was snowing. I had a flannel shirt and a wool hat... learned a very hard lesson.

Good on you for sharing this mate. Not something that many people realise or get exposure to ('scuse pun) but something that given enough time EVERYONE will experience in life (and it can be in the middle of a city when you're too pissed and you are young/foolish enough to get caught out). My takeout from my own experiences of this, and I've had my share, is that it's will power combined with knowledge that get's you through more often than not. You commented on that tilting point yourself when panic starts knocking real hard. You can swat up on as many survival tricks & tips as you like but ultimately, in a survival situation, it's your will to live as much as your knowledge on HOW to live that will determine your survival. That and blind luck TBH. Thanks for sharing and keep doing you =)

I made the same mistake with the sleeping bag in Knoydart in Scotland, i always put it in a dry bag now.

SO good. Thanks for sharing. I'm brand new to backpacking so this was really helpful to see how quickly things can go wrong and how a series of little mistakes leads to a lot of misery. Especially helpful to know-how hard it was to get the lighter to work with cold hands-but also how much eating and drinking helped warm you up, despite the wet gear. Great video!!

Thanks for sharing the details, great to learn from your story. We had a similar experience (but not as serious) where we went on a hike in the Snowy Mountains in summer in Australia. It was a 23km one day hike and we were quite familiar with the area, having camped there and done the track four or five times before. We assumed the weather would be sunny as it always had been. But half way through the trip, low, heavy storm clouds rolled in, and it started pouring huge drops of rain, with a strong wind. We'd all brought rain jackets, but two of us didn't bring any rain pants, so our legs quickly got soaked. We decided to push on and soon met a guy who suggested to "keep moving, keep warm". It was good advice, we kept hiking and it kept us warm enough until we reached survival hut where someone had thoughtfully left got a hot stove going.

Interesting hearing this.....freak out moments.....nice one for sharing this mate 👍

1) check the weather before leaving. 2) Always have a change of clothes. 3) Bring rain gear and put it on before you get wet.

Had a VERY similar exp in North Carolina except I WAS 'prepared' and it was winter. I learned lots of lessons that trip as I'm sure you did! Good story man.

A friend of mine's son went missing in a National Park in Canada in 2011, he was found in 2014 in same area. Hiking can be a bit of a lottery !!!!

....your Plan B seemed to be a good one !!! And most importantly lessons learned - that's why I'm watching :)

Stories like this remind me how lucky I am to be used to severe weather changes and always pack gear for 0°F because the state I live in is freaking insane

Glad you had extra water and fuel and food with you. Always take dry clothes to sleep in, a fleece, base layer, and good quality raincoat. You can get hypothermia in the summer if it is windy and you are sweaty and stop to take a break. Always have multiple pieces of gear that do the same thing. A beanie, buff also help. So do you use a trash compactor bag now? A sit pad for your backpack or a carabeaner to hang it from a tree branch. Some lessons learned the hard way will stay with you.

Thank you for sharing....this will help you amd so many others in future....Hike On! Vancouver BC had snow in June! always be ready for anything

You did some smart things to recover there. And good advice. One thing I have been continually surprised by is the lack of campfire making skills I have seen out on the trail. I used a wood stove to cook on for half my AT trip, I made fires in rain, cold , wind. If you can make a fire, even in rain and wet conditions, you can much more easily survive a hypothermia type situation. And yet it's a skill that so many hikers lack.

people don't realize this kind of weather blows in the rockies even in June / July. If you're above 5000ft in the US, you need to be fully prepared for winter year round.

Great lessons learned. Thanks for sharing.

You didn't mention anything about a fire, when I was a kid I was hunting a hours walk or so from my truck when I broke through the ice on a creek, I went totally under head and all. I had to break the ice to the bank to get out, it was below freezing and I was freezing and since dipping in the creek my lighter wouldn't work. So I dug a small hole filled it with cat tails and birch bark and fired my 22 into it until it lit [I think it took 3 or 4 shots and blew my tender everywhere} but it did light so I built up a good fire dried my clothes. The lesson of my story is if you are wet and cold in the woods do what ever you have to, to build a fire!!!!

good training video. It is good that you have shared your experience of a risky situation and how you dealt with it and what you learned. There aren't enough videos like this with real info - too many back garden gear reviews.

Good video I hope you thanked the girl for her fleece 👍

Had something similar happen when I first started hiking and now take way too much gear as a result. But slowly dialling in what I actually need. Taking a digital thermometer along helps with the process

Hello my outdoors friend. You had quite a harrowing experience. Good thing that you maintained your composure. Thank you for sharing your adventure. I know that you learned a lot from your misadventure. Take care out there, be safe and hopefully, have fun. 🤗

Good story man. I had a similar situation happen out in Oregon. it was my first time backpacking and flying, so I went minimalistic and brought my hammock. It rained all day and when I got to camp, my bag was wet and I didn't have anything to insulate me from underneath the hammock. I ended up taking what ever clothing I had, and stuffed it under my core to help stop the breeze from breaking through. Not fun, but lessons learned. Never will I hike with out my sleeping bag/clothing in a dry bag. - Jake

also, make sure you have wool socks, wool shirt, wool base coat....even wet, wool retains most of its insulation

Great video. It can happen anywhere. Keep survival gear in your car too. Candle lantern saved me many years ago. Hand warmers are great. Going solo ups the game a notch or two. Live and learn.

Golly that's a major fail... And I mean that with respect... Love the story man; great lessons to pass on. Glad I watched this tbh.

A brit, rain and tea.

The US coast guide found the best way to warm up, people is from the fingertips first.

Great vid, honest perspective. I live just off the AT in NY, which camp did you work at?

How do you waterproof your sleeping bag?

I saw Darwin’s scary backpacking story, so your next!

Crazy story. I'm going to recommend that our Boy Scouts and leaders watch this. It might save someone's live.

I have a problem regulating my body temperature, I’ve gone hypothermic in July in the house because my dad had the AC too high and I was on the computer and didn’t notice till I was shivering and my arms and legs were giving out. My mother came across me, hurried me into the bed, heated tea and actually had to put hot water bottles in with me. This has happened to me three times and once when I was alone, I hardly made it to the microwave to heat water and had to sit on the floor waiting for it to heat.

Great advice David Pualides recommends taking a personel location Beacon when camping or Hiking even in groups He has written many books on missing 411 Thousands of Men women children go missing under very Strang circumstances in State Parks across US into Alaska . Stay safe out there everyone Yvonne mullion Cornwall

This is terrifying! Feeling helpless like that?!

Darwin sent me here

Great vid! thx! So how do you waterproof everything?

The other lesson I hope you learned if not to rely On Bic lighters alone !!¡! They can become very useless very. And are prone to breaking. One is none and two is one .....so I've heard it said. But I do believe in redundancy in certain items. You are fortunate that you've got the lighter to work. You are fortunate the stove worked !!! esbit cubes are very light and it's good to keep two to three on hand at all times. Because as you pointed out you just never know.. The best thing learned is learn the hard way, assuming you survive through the first go around !!!!! If so you'll never forget it 🙃😃

Every hiker needs basic survival skills before going alone. Fire making at the top of the list.

I always say, the first thing you put in your pack, is a plastic garbage bag......water proof your gear. hypothermia kills

Why did you go out without gloves??

why nobody talks about having the stove in the tent and drying fabric whit friction?

I figured it would have been a lot more traumatic if you got out of your tent the next morning and there's no trace of snow or blizzard around... I'm just kidding. Glad you made it out okay, mate.

first mistake is being totally unprepared for backpacking, totally clueless, he is lucky to have survived

so, did you end up using that girls jacket that you threw in your pack just to humor her?

Can relate 100%00

You had a stove the whole time 😂 come on son

Fake accent

This should be a 4 minute video. Sincerely, The Internet.

Yawn

....your Plan B seemed to be a good one !!! And most importantly lessons learned - that's why I'm watching :)