How to NOT End Up in a Search and Rescue Report

By Dan Mathers

When I started Northeast Explorer years ago, I imagined publishing articles about favorite hikes, thrilling mountain bike rides, fun paddling adventures, and more. It never dawned on me that we’d be frequently running Search and Rescue (SAR) reports. Yet, these stories pop up surprisingly often.

Mountains are challenging, dangerous places, even here in the Northeast. Maybe especially here in the Northeast, where large numbers of people on the trails and the relatively modest elevation of our peaks perhaps gives many hikers a false sense of security. But spend enough time in places like the White Mountains or Adirondack High Peaks and you’ll quickly learn our mountains can be just as unpredictable and dangerous as much higher peaks elsewhere in the country.

Sometimes the people who end up in these SAR reports are experienced hikers who did everything right. Perhaps they twisted an ankle or were hit by a surprise change in the weather. Anything can happen in the mountains, even with the best preparation. 

But often — too often — these SAR reports involve people who got into trouble because of their own neglect and carelessness (usually inexperience). And usually the mistakes made are the same ones made by countless others who have ended up in a SAR report.

The following are some things you can do to avoid ending up in a SAR report. While there’s no way to guarantee that you won’t need to be rescued, you can improve your chances by following these tips. This isn’t meant to be a complete list, but rather a guide to common problems and mistakes that often appear in our SAR reports.

ALWAYS CARRY A MAP AND COMPASS

Maybe you’re confident because you’ve hiked the area before. Maybe you think the directions sound easy enough. But it’s shockingly easy to get turned around, confused, and lost in the wilderness and on mountains, even if you’ve hiked for years and haven’t had it happen yet. 

One moment you’re confidently marching along the trail without a doubt in your mind, and then suddenly you think, “Wait a minute, this doesn’t seem right,” and the world around you plunges into confusion. 

Sometimes trails don’t have the best markings, sometimes you zone out and miss that turn that would normally be obvious, and occasionally something looks like a path that isn’t your path. Even above treeline things can often look the same and be disorienting. 

A map and compass takes up almost no room and weighs mere ounces. If that’s too much of a burden, you need to hit the gym before hitting the trails.

CARRY A LIGHT

So often, hikers will lose track of time or something happens that keeps them out longer than expected, and suddenly they’re hiking in the dark. If they haven’t brought a good, dependable light, it means they end up unable to see where they’re going, which is a recipe for getting lost or getting injured, or both. This happens frequently come autumn, when days get shorter—especially when the sun dips below the mountains—and early darkness catches hikers by surprise.

If you think the flashlight on your phone will guide you if you get in trouble, think again. That battery-sucking light might be great for finding something in your car at night or shining at a concert during your favorite song, but don’t expect to have it brighten the path for you for more than an hour as you navigate a rocky mountain slope back to the trailhead. People who depend on their phone light to bail them out are often the same people who end up calling 911 when their phone battery is about to die and the reality of being stuck in the dark wilderness fills them with fear.

A headlamp or flashlight is like a map and compass. It takes up almost no room, is extremely light, and is indispensable if things take a turn. Even if you’re just planning a light day hike, you should still carry a light. Hiking is a great activity, but anything can happen at any time, including twisting an ankle on that trail you’ve hiked a million times. 

WEAR APPROPRIATE SHOES

Hiking in the wilderness, especially the mountains, isn’t like walking down your street. It’s amazing what people will wear on a mountain hike. SAR reports have included rescues of hikers who were wearing tennis shoes, sandals, even Crocs. 

The big problem with this is by the time the pain of the chafing and blistering has set in and the hiker realizes he or she is in trouble, they are already deep into their hike. And now their most important means of travel—their feet—have become unusable. If you can’t walk, you can’t get out of the wilderness. And you probably need a rescue. 

Appropriate trail shoes that are capable of tackling the terrain while being kind to your feet are probably your most important piece of hiking gear. 

CHECK THE WEATHER 

The weather in the mountains can be dramatically different from where you live. You might be used to it being in the 60s and comfortable at home, and then be surprised to find dangerous winter conditions in the mountains.

Temperatures and conditions can also be dramatically different on a mountain’s summit than they are at the base. And you don’t need to go to one of the region’s highest peaks to find this. I remember hiking Mount Monadnock in November when it was a comfortable 54 at the base, but the summit was a frigid 17 with strong, cold winds that ripped the heat from your body. 

Checking the weather isn’t something that you should only do before leaving. It’s something that should also be ongoing during your hike. Weather in the mountains can be wildly unpredictable. A day forecasted as clear and beautiful can quickly see a storm unexpectedly form. Continue to pay attention to the conditions around you, and be willing to turn around if things start looking bad.

BRING LAYERS

Hand-in-hand with that unpredictable, changing weather is wearing or packing layers. Given that conditions can change on your hike, you’ll want to be prepared for those changes. 

Hikers often find they warm up once they get moving and need to take off layers to keep from sweating and overheating. As they go on and climb higher on a mountain, they may need to begin adding layers to keep warm. As I stated earlier, conditions between the base and summit can differ dramatically, and it’s important to be prepared for those changing conditions. 

OVERESTIMATE

Hope for the best … but plan for the worst. When imagining a hike, we like to focus on all the good things we’re going to experience, and expect things will go according to plan. More often than not, that isn’t what happens. The trail can be more difficult than you thought, the hike can take longer than expected, and food and water can suddenly dwindle. 

As I mentioned when talking about lights, lots can happen to slow your progress. Unexpected weather conditions, challenging terrain, a slow hiking partner, or lingering at scenic vistas can all cause your hike to take longer than expected.

The best approach: overestimate. Overestimate how tough the terrain will be. Overestimate how long the hike will take. Overestimate how much food and drink you’ll need. 

Sure, this can be annoying, especially carrying extra food and water and the weight that adds. But building in wiggle room allows more margin for error in both time and supplies. And it’s much better to have more time and water than you need than not enough. As you gain more hiking experience, you can begin to trim these precautions back and refine your planning into a more exact science. But there’s no substitute for experience, so allow yourself to err on the side of caution early on.

CONSIDER YOUR HIKING COMPANIONS

Sure, maybe you’re ready to tackle that big mountain traverse, but what about everyone else you’re hiking with? A hiking group is only as strong and fast as its weakest, slowest member. Consider the abilities of everyone in your hiking party and make sure they can not only complete the planned hike, but do it in the amount of time required. (And don’t abandon your slow hiking friend! Yes, this happens.)

The same goes for your pets. Your dog, Sparky, might love going on hikes at the local park with you. But is Sparky up for tackling a mountain traverse? Dogs’ paws can become raw and bloody during a hike, and rescues are often required for pooches as well as humans. 

BE PREPARED TO TURN BACK

One of the hardest concepts for new hikers to grasp is that they might have to turn around on a mountain. The modest heights of our Northeast peaks probably contribute to that problem. This isn’t the Himalayas. Why would we need to turn around on a peak that’s only 4,000 or 5,000 feet? 

So many factors can undermine a hike: poor preparation, fatigue, hunger, thirst, deteriorating conditions, a building storm. When things start taking a turn for the worse, people often think emotionally and with ego rather than analytically. 

Some days just aren’t your days. Sometimes it is because you weren’t ready. But often it is for factors outside of your control. No summit is guaranteed. You take what the day gives you. And when it’s not your day, the experienced, analytical hiker will accept that and turn around. Wrestling with a bruised ego is preferable to being on a mountaintop when a thunderstorm rolls in.

TELL SOMEONE YOUR PLANS

No matter how experienced you are, anything can happen in the wilderness or on a mountain. If no one knows where you are and when you should be expected back, there’s no one to call for help if you don’t come home. 

A fall causing a leg break or head injury can happen in an instant. And a phone connection in the mountains is far from dependable. A simple text to someone before your hike takes two seconds and can save your life.

IT’S ON YOU

Once you head into the woods or mountains, you are responsible for yourself. It isn’t like home where the police or an ambulance are only minutes away. If you do need rescuing, those rescuers are often going to be hours away from reaching you. And remember: Those same conditions that may have put you in danger are also putting those rescuers in danger. 

For more information on how to prepare for a hike, visit:

Hike Safe

AMC: 10 Essentials