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Stay Put

If lost in the wilderness the worst thing you can do is to travel.

Survival while on the move is very difficult.

Unless you know where help can be found, moving will only get you farther away from the people looking for you. Make a camp.

Direction from the Stars

In the northern hemisphere the North Star, Polaris, will give you a true northerly bearing. To locate Polaris you first need to find the Big Dipper. Sight along the end of the Big Dipper's cup a distance of roughly twice it's length. There is Polaris, the North Star. All the other stars rotate counter-clockwise around this star as the earth spins. Where you'll find the Big Dipper in the sky depends on the time and season, but it's easily identified. Mark your north line by laying a stick down or scratching a line in the ground.

Time - The stars can provide an accurate clock at night if you happen to have star charts with you. You can track the passage of time without the charts by making the simple 24 hour clock drawing shown below. Using the North Star as the center, draw a line back to the Big Dipper. This is the hour hand of your clock set to the current moment. As time passes you can draw new hour hands based on your observations and read the elapsed time.

Walking out - Using terrain features to guide you

If you know the direction you must travel to get out of the wilderness, use prominent landmarks to keep from moving in a circle. When lost, without a reference, that's what most folks do. Find your compass heading through one of the methods mentioned earlier and look along the path. Try to locate some prominent object in the distance, like a mountain top. Use that landmark as you walk to maintain your bearing. When your primary landmark becomes hidden, look along your path for another object like a distant tree and walk to it. Continue moving from this secondary landmark to another until your primary landmark reappears. If you encounter an impassable feature, like a lake, try to identify a landmark on the other side and go to it once around the obstruction. You can also count your steps taken off course and adjust on the other side by walking back the same number.

Finding a trail or road to follow

Begin by walking in the direction of your best guess (listen to your animal self). Count your steps as you walk and mark your path clearly so you will have no trouble returning to your base position. If you don't discover a trail, return to your starting point and try another direction doing the same thing. Mark each attempt like a spoke on a wheel until you've discovered a path or convinced yourself to stay put.