So much of the outdoors looks so … innocent — the trail through the woods, a snow-covered hill, a stretch of rippling river, the blue sky beyond the peak.
Then innocence evaporates. The trail turns into a ledge that breaks off. A trickle of snow rolls down the slope in front of your snowshoeing path. The river turns a corner and roars through low falls and a boulder pile. Blue sky starts to fill with angry-looking clouds.
Go forward? Go home? It’s often a series of small decisions that lead to a life-threatening situation.
Author Brett Nunn serves up 20 hair-raising stories in "Panic Rising: True-Life Survivor Tales from the Great Outdoors" ($16.95, Sasquatch).
There’s a thin line between danger and safety. Whether fate or foolishness leads to trouble, a simple injury in the backcountry can morph into a life-or-death situation, Nunn said.
But being prepared can make the difference. Learn your sport from experts by taking classes. Tell someone where you are going and when you are coming back. Go with a group. Plan your trip; stick to the plan, he said.
Take the 10 essentials: map, compass, headlamp with spare bulbs and batteries, extra food, extra clothing, sunglasses, first-aid supplies, pocket knife, matches in waterproof container, fire starter.
"I’m a retro type of person, but I’d say take a cell phone with you. It might be the 11th essential … But keep it in your pack until you need it. The last thing I want to see on a mountaintop is some ding-dong pulling out a cell phone and saying, ‘Guess where I am!’ I’d like to grab that thing and chuck it."
When lost, too many people keep moving.
"That’s pretty common in a situation that looks kind of bad but not that bad. They keep hiking, and they get more lost. They’re canoeing or kayaking, the weather looks not that bad, and it gets worse.
"Even when they could easily die, the first thing they worry about is embarrassment. They don’t want people to know they’re in trouble, and that often leads to trouble."
Stop the progression, Nunn said. Stay calm, stay dry, stay warm, and stay put. If you can keep dry and warm, even with a broken leg, your odds of survival are excellent.
Make yourself visible with a fire, or stay in the open and spread out colorful clothing. Use rocks and logs to spell out messages on a snow bank or beach. Reflect the sun at passing aircraft with a mirror or knife blade.
If you have to move, leave clues so that searchers can follow your trail, pieces of cloth torn off a shirt and tied to bushes, arrows in the mud marking direction of travel.
Nunn has his own experience with a challenging situation. He and a few college friends climbed Mount Constance in the Olympics. A cool fog rolled in, visibility disappeared; they started to panic and lost the trail.
Calmer heads eventually prevailed. They slowed down and stayed within voice contact, spread out and found the trail.
"We were lucky. Ever since that trip, I don’t go unprepared," said Nunn, who will take about 10 pounds of essentials even on a short day hike.
Panic seems instinctual, a fight-or-flight response, Nunn said.
"When panic happens, people don’t think like they normally would. Reason starts to fail. There’s nothing to fight so you run."
"When you know there’s a chance that you’re going to die, people freak out and do strange things."
Most outdoors adventures have an element of risk.
"That’s why we like it. It clears the cobwebs out of our heads, makes our blood flow, and tells us that yes, we are alive. Yet along with the risk comes the responsibility to return happy and healthy to our friends and family," Nunn said.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964, or www.songandword.com.
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