Marco.......polo............

[Jkrew81]

A buddy and I are going to be meeting up for a trip this weekend. The catch is that he is not getting out of work till late and I have the day off. So what we have decided was to have me hike in with all the gear and set up camp and he can hike in when he gets out of work later that night. The one thing we are abit concerned about is finding one another. Our current plan is to put a note on the trail telling him where to turn into the woods for our backcountry site. We even though of taking my extra headlamp and using the strobe feature to put on the trail along with some whistles to locate one another.

Has anyone ever done anything like this? If so how did it work out for you? Does anyone here use walkie talkies and if so how do you find them to work?

 

[Jay H]

If you know the area and you have enough time, you can send him a topozone spot on a map via email.

You could leave a cairn on the trail for the agreed turnoff to be removed later.

You could actually go back to the trail to meet friend and then back towards your site.

GPS would work too, if your friend has one and you are sure of your location.

Radios are good, you could broadcast every minute or so to see when your friend is in range close to the agreed timeframe.

I've actually met MCorsar on the summit of East Wildcat in the catskills once. East Wildcat is a summit that is just off the Phoenicia East trail by Slide Mountain. It's a bushwack peak that is about 1/2 mile or so off trail. If your friend is a skilled navigator, you can do that too, but obviously pick an obvious spot, like a summit. East Wildcat is way off trail and certainly below 3500' (it's only a 3k peak) so it's legal to camp at the summit.

Only precaution if it is dark and this time of year is to ensure your friend is prepared to stay the night out IF you somehow don't meet up. MCorsar and I were prepared for that, although Matt only came up for the day so he was dayhiking anyway while I camped out the previous night.

Jay

 

[WhiteMTHike]

I agree with Jay. If your friend has a GPS and you know the lat/long of the spot you'll be staying, e-mail him those coordinates, he can input them into his GPS and shouldn't have a problem locating you.

 

[spaddock]

Radios are the best way. The old FSR's have a 2 mile range. The newer ones have 6-8 I think.

-Shayne

P.S. If you really enjoy hiking in with full gear for everybody else it sounds like you're my perfect hiking partner.

 

[Jaytrek57]

If your friend knows the trail, but not the bushwhack to the BC, and you promise to pick them up , Glow Sticks will do the trick if it gets late.

Have a pretty good "general" idea of his ETA...will make things a bit less stressfull for all concerned.

Whistles? JMO, but try to avoid this approach. Although there is a specific "blowing" pattern for requesting help, any whistle I hear in the outdoors generally means someone needs help/lost. been my experience anyways.

Peace.

 

[Halite]

I've used walkie talkies effectively in similar situations. Probably the best method is have an approximate time when you will start monitoring your radio for his broadcast. When you hear from him, you can plan to meet him at the trail and guide him back to your site.

Depending on how far your backcountry site is from the trail, you may want to consider leaving some reflective "bread crumbs" to help you find your way back to camp. I've found that the reflective cord lights up tremendously well even with a dim LED and weighs next to nothing. A few strands of this stuff
http://www.ems.com/products/product...mplate=search/results.jsp&bmUID=1129814044522 hung from branches or wrapped around trees would easily guide you back to camp.

 

[Jkrew81]

Haha, We have it dialed pretty well that even carrying community gear, my pack will be under 30 lbs. I also figure the poor guy is getting out of work and hiking in at night for our next days hike, and I have all day to kinda goof around, so I fugured it was only fair.

 

[DougPaul]

Radios are the best way. The old FSR's have a 2 mile range. The newer ones have 6-8 I think.

Optomistic advertising. The ranges above 2 mi generally refer to GMRS (requires a license). (Channels 1-14 are FRS, anything higher is GMRS.)

The 2 mile range is line-of-sight. On flat ground in the trees, 1/4 mi is more realistic--1/2 mi if you are lucky. If the line-of-sight is blocked by terrain, the range can be even less.

In practical terms, one or both of you will need to be on a local peak if you want any reliability. Stay out of ravines and low spots.

But even if the range is less than 1/4 mi, that is better than trying to see one another in the trees.

Doug
WB2QJE

 

[slamdog]

The 2 mile range is line-of-sight. On flat ground in the trees, 1/4 mi is more realistic--1/2 mi if you are lucky. If the line-of-sight is blocked by terrain, the range can be even less.

We have used radios throughout the daks for a number of years. I have found DougPaul's information to be very accurate. Regardless of the new technology, if one of the users is "in the rocks" or in a col or valley it cuts the range significantly. To keep battery usage low, we set it up to turn radios on at specified times, on the hour, or half hour.

 

[el-bagr]

To present a neo-luddite's view, I dislike battery-operated gizmos in the woods. We often set up a system involving 2mm accessory cord with reflective strands to mark the route to an offtrail site. Typically, I'll hike into the site, set up camp, then hike out (setting the cord as I go), explore until well after dark, then return, but the cord system should work just as well even if the user hasn't seen the route before.

We've tried various methods of marking with cord. The cord-as-railing approach is foolproof, but (1) requires a lot of cord and (2) is easily followable by anyone else. Another approach involves tying short lengths of cord around trees such that it presents several feet of reflectiveness perpendicular to the route (so that it's visible), then turns and points in the direction of the next marker. This requires more effort, but leads to a more secure site. (For example, we use this setup when camping under-the-radar in an area where others might pass.) Space the markers about a headlamp-view apart. In any case, you obviously retrieve the cord when you return -- LNT, plus the cord is valuable.

Note that dewy spiderwebs have led to some thrashing with the latter method. Not foolproof, but silent, and minimal impact.

 

[blueridge]

Optomistic advertising. The ranges above 2 mi generally refer to GMRS (requires a license).

Are the GMRS license requirements strictly enfourced? Or is it one of those "you will go to jail if you rip the tag off the pillow"?

If I'm in the mountains and I use a GMRS channel will they send a blackhawk helicopter to take me out?

 

[DougPaul]

Are the GMRS license requirements strictly enfourced? Or is it one of those "you will go to jail if you rip the tag off the pillow"?

Most of the consumer radios use the same power on GMRS as on FRS, so there is no advantage to using them.

No, I will not condone your breaking federal law.

Doug

 

[Oldsmores]

Are the GMRS license requirements strictly enfourced? Or is it one of those "you will go to jail if you rip the tag off the pillow"?...:

Doubtful that the FCC has the manpower/desire to chase you down - keep in mind that even if they were monitoring everywhere, the only way they know for sure that you have a license is if you are using proper radio protocol and using your call sign. If you were in a populated area and were either: A) causing interference with someone else, or B) there were complaints about the content of your transmissions (e.g., obscenity, etc.), the lack of a license would give the PTB some enforcement options.
I am not "condoning" anyone breaking federal law, just commenting on the likelihood of enforcement...

 

[blueridge]

Thanks for the info, I strive to stay within the bounds of federal regulations whenever possible, even (believe it or not) during tax time...

 

[BorealChickadee]

Wildernessphoto once used those glow in the dark thumbtacks to help me find a campsite since we were coming up very late at night after work. They work like a dream. I had no idea that he would use them and there on the tree was my name spelled out in shiny tacks! Simply remove them when you're done.

I've seen them used in the woods usually in the southern Adks for side trails to get to favorite deer spots during hunting season. I'd check the hunting departments for them. This post reminded me that I wouldn't mind picking up a few of them myself.

 

[KayakDan]

If you agree ahead of time on signals,you can use a bright surveyors marker tape(pink/orange) to mark a trail turnoff.
Use an agreed number,say 3 tied side by side,to avoid confusion with other left over tapes. Put them on the side of the trail to turn off of. Then another tape every 15-20yds heading toward the campsite. Might be helpful to use a marker on the tape to ID them. You can mark the taped with LT or RT (left turn-right turn) if the trail turns,as this can be difficult to see in the dark.
Of course,in the spirit of LNT,your friend should pull the tapes as he gets to them. With this in mind,he should at least be carrying a sleeping bag and tarp,in the event he gets "misplaced" and has to stay put for the night.
If you haven't done this before,just don't get too ambitious with the distance in. It all looks very different at night.
Can I be the "slackpacker' on your next trip?

 

[DougPaul]

Of course,in the spirit of LNT,your friend should pull the tapes as he gets to them.

Might be safer to remove them the next morning (or at least after he has found the camp). They might be handy in case he gets "confused" on the way in.

On the other hand, if you use reflective tape/cord/thumbtacks, they might be hard to find in the daylight.

Doug

 

[Jkrew81]

Sounds like some of you guys should make freinds with a Sherpa.

Thanks for the recommendations, they are very helpful. What I have planned on is to tie one of my tikka headlamps on a tree in the strobe mode with a note attached to it. I am then going to use the reflective rope idea to mark his way to the camp. This is a place we have both been, but as many of you have said, it is a completely different world in the dark.

 

[DougPaul]

What I have planned on is to tie one of my tikka headlamps on a tree in the strobe mode with a note attached to it. I am then going to use the reflective rope idea to mark his way to the camp. This is a place we have both been, but as many of you have said, it is a completely different world in the dark.

An active source of light is overkill. I have a cyclist's reflective leg strap which I attach to the outside of my tent/hammock at night. Throws back a whopping reflection--I've seen it 100yds away in the light reflected from my headlamp. Just attach one of these to a tree along the trail and it will be nearly impossible for anyone using a headlamp to miss.

Doug