Lost

[galanthus]

my ex-hubby and I were sub-aqua diving off the dutch coast. We had a fab dive but emerged only to find we were trapped in a huge mass of kelp and sea weed, we'd gone way off our route. We could see land but were isolated; I began to panic and so my air was disappearing very rapidly, at this point I got caught in filament, I was terrified and thought it was the end. However, hubby insisted next day we get straight back into it and so did a deep dive, we turned around after hearing strange noise, to see what looked like an enormous telegraph pole coming towards us horizontally in the water, we realised it was a massive fishing net . Sheer panic set in and how we escaped it I don't know, needless to say we abandoned diving for a few weeks after these scenarios.

[clover green]

Wow, John, that's a very freaky story! Did you know this person well? He seems to be rather weird and strange? Mind you, it could have ended in a dangerous situation, please be careful next time, if there is a next time?

[John]

Originally Posted by galanthus

my ex-hubby and I were sub-aqua diving off the dutch coast. We had a fab dive but emerged only to find we were trapped in a huge mass of kelp and sea weed, we'd gone way off our route. We could see land but were isolated; I began to panic and so my air was disappearing very rapidly, at this point I got caught in filament, I was terrified and thought it was the end. However, hubby insisted next day we get straight back into it and so did a deep dive, we turned around after hearing strange noise, to see what looked like an enormous telegraph pole coming towards us horizontally in the water, we realised it was a massive fishing net . Sheer panic set in and how we escaped it I don't know, needless to say we abandoned diving for a few weeks after these scenarios.

I don't know about lost but that is a frightner of a story if ever I've heard one. Something tells me that I would be thinking twice about repeating that exercise.

John

[John]

Originally Posted by clover green

Wow, John, that's a very freaky story! Did you know this person well? He seems to be rather weird and strange? Mind you, it could have ended in a dangerous situation, please be careful next time, if there is a next time?

I didn't know him at all other than through communications through another forum.

One well known photographer had been out to his place a few times and everything seemed ok (but he is a much younger and thinner person than me) but I was the first to actually venture out there to meet him.

Others have been out there since and I haven't noticed anything untoward in their reports (mind you I never said anything in my reports).

The guy is an adventurer. He has walked from North Norway to Cape Town via the Middle East and has had marathon walks at other places around the world as well. He is a supreme birder with a vast amount of knowledge and at times it was a pleasure to be in his company but there were times when he went into focus mode and then I didn't exist so all responsibility for my safety went out of the window.

The guy was less than half my age and didn't take into consideration my limitations and that caused a few problems in the two weeks I was over there.

John

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by nightshade

The half hour walk into the wood doubled in the dark that is why I now peg white paper
plates along my route before it gets dark
.

sounds a bit hansel and gretel to me - if you meet an old woman living in a house made from candy my advice would be not to go in

[clover green]

Originally Posted by John

I didn't know him at all other than through communications through another forum.

One well known photographer had been out to his place a few times and everything seemed ok (but he is a much younger and thinner person than me) but I was the first to actually venture out there to meet him.

Others have been out there since and I haven't noticed anything untoward in their reports (mind you I never said anything in my reports).

The guy is an adventurer. He has walked from North Norway to Cape Town via the Middle East and has had marathon walks at other places around the world as well. He is a supreme birder with a vast amount of knowledge and at times it was a pleasure to be in his company but there were times when he went into focus mode and then I didn't exist so all responsibility for my safety went out of the window.

The guy was less than half my age and didn't take into consideration my limitations and that caused a few problems in the two weeks I was over there.

John

It seems as though this guy is supremely confident & very self-reliant, though I can't understand why he didn't at least acknowledge your calls! He must have heard you, even if it was just the once! That is the strangest (& worrying) part in the story.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by clover green

though I can't understand why he didn't at least acknowledge your calls! He must have heard you, even if it was just the once! That is the strangest (& worrying) part in the story.

maybe he was trying to tell you something

[clover green]

Originally Posted by eeyore

maybe he was trying to tell you something

Yeah, it makes you wonder, doesn't it? Strange, eh?

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Venger

Lol I'm sure He wouldn't be put out (Ray Mears)

Same goes for moss on trees - more on the north side (apparently)

Thanks Venger By the way What beautiful eyes you have!

[Dogrose]

I got lost once (in a minor way) on the top of a small hill- it was an Iron Age hillfort that was wooded with a mix of forestry and broad leaf trees and the odd clear patch. It was like in the movies- I was sure I was going straight but then realised I had passed the same tree in the same direction a while before! It was a strange place- more than once I felt genuine 'panic' (in the actual real meaning of the word) for no reason and had to leave the wood. most of the woodland has been cleared there now and it feels like a totally different place.

[seamusagleann]

sure fire way to get found in a forest!!.....do the toilet and nine out ten times..someone will appear!!

[Goosegogs]

Originally Posted by seamusagleann

sure fire way to get found in a forest!!.....do the toilet and nine out ten times..someone will appear!!

I was desperate for one during a walk around Porth Dinllaen on Sunday. Couldn't see a soul and OH & son went ahead. I stopped.... and midstream, a couple came round the corner

[Jez]

So it was you then! Only kidding

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Goosegogs

I was desperate for one during a walk around Porth Dinllaen on Sunday. Couldn't see a soul and OH & son went ahead. I stopped.... and midstream, a couple came round the corner

Ah. Very clever. Marking your territory-very Fox-like.

[ziggybigwig]

Ooo,talking of the Mendips,my partner and I decided to take a stroll up onto the mendips whilst on holiday one year.We had no map,no coats,no food,totally unprepared,well we were only going for an hour or so weren't we? Well,we got up there no worries (stepping over a sunbathing Adder on the path,as it was a nice sunny day I might add).Milled around for a while in a nice grassy wide area.Decided to go back......uh oh,about 5 different paths materialised out of no-where.Well,ok no worries,just try each one a little way to get some bearings,should be easy.Then,the mist came down.Just like that.In retrospect,it must have been clouds,as it was thick as pea soup.And it was so dis-orientating.We stumbled around for quite a while having decided it was no longer funny,as we only had light clothes on and it was freezing! After a while,we heard voices and a local family complete with dogs appeared through the mist,quite unpreterbed by the lack of visibility.They were very helpful and seemed to find it quite funny,directing us back the way we had come (about 10 times that way already) making it sound so easy!! Well,it didnt help and after they dissapeared back into the blanket of fog we realised our stupidity.Why hadnt we just followed them?? They were going the other way,but at least it must lead back to humanity,not this silent,dripping wilderness of bracken,and the now not so innocent knowledge of Adders?? I cant remember all the details now,but I know there were barking dogs involved,we remembered passing some kind of kennels on the way up,and by following their noise we eventually found our way back down!! Lesson for myself there,go prepared,take a map,avoid mendips at all costs.

[emmz]

Being totally usless with maps or anything like a compass, I did get lost in Epping Forest. I never knew you could get lost there, well disorientated. Worst thing is too, "panic" & you get worse...did get out or I would not be here now lol

emmz

[Tinkerbell]

Here's a tip that Stu told me about from his days in the army.

Go to a big open field that doesn't have any ditches or other obstacles and ask a friend to come along to help you out (you'll soon see why). Starting on one side of the field aim to walk in a straight line to a point on the other side, but do it with your eyes closed. Chances are that when you get to other side you'll be nowhere near where you thought you'd be.

Apparently, most people don't naturally walk in straight lines and have a tendency to curve around to the left or right. We only stay on track because we can see where we want to go. Once you know which way your veer off, and by how much, (i.e. 5m to the left in every 100m walked) you can make allowances if you're ever lost. Apparently, it's thought to be one of the reasons why some people lost in a wilderness can walk for days, only to find that they're virtually back where they started.

[Pete Collins]

Thanks for that interesting info Tinkerbell (and Stu), I'll try to remember it next time I get lost. Knowing me, it won't be long ...

I got lost in a forest in Finland once. I was on holiday with some friends, and I think we'd taken a bus to near the top of a mountain to see a spectacular view (lots of trees, lots of lakes, what did we expect to see in Finland!). The plan was to then walk down the mountain to a youth hostel where we were to spend the night.

It wasn't too long before it became evident that we were hopelesly lost. No wonder! The friend that had arranged the trip wasn't guiding us with a proper map, but just a diagram drawn on half a page of a tourist brochure. We carried on for ages, stumbling through the trees - at least we knew we had to go downhill. Eventually, by great good fortune, we stumbled upon a family at a wood cabin in the middle of nowhere (well, the middle of Finland somewhere!). They didn't speak English (and funnily enough none of us were fluent in Finnish), but we managed to show them the Finnish word for Youth Hostel (rats! it was just on the tip of my tongue ... ). They twigged where we wanted to go and showed us the path. There was a bit of blue plastic hanging from a tree, and then a little distance away another one - this was how paths were marked in Finnish forests, with different colours for different paths. We managed to follow the trail of markers, each one visible from the previous one, and safely reached the Youth Hostel.

Oh, and by the way, that toilet trick works just fine on the tops of mountains as well as in forests!