Just what should the hiker carry in the backcountry?
On a vivid day last fall as the leaves ripened to their fiery hues my fiancee, Susan, and I hiked through woods nearTerryville.
Our itinerary was explained simply in an online hiking guide: walk in, hike a loop for a few miles and return to our starting point. Trouble is, the trail markers we were supposed to follow were about as common as fallen leaves zigzagging in a labyrinth through the woods. A few hours later and we had wandered into another county — ending up on Johnny Cake Mountain Road in Burlington.
It was dusk. No way were we going back into the woods to retrace our steps. Following the road back to our car would take more than a couple of hours because there is no direct route. We took the easy way out and called a friend for a ride.
I didn't expect to get lost during such a short day hike in a patch of Connecticut woods. As an Eagle Scout raised in a camping family and a wilderness canoe guide for five summers in Maine, I thought nothing of a short afternoon jaunt in the Nutmeg State. We couldn't possibly stray too far, right? Wrong.
To read the rest of Matthew's article go here.
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