Misdirection

It was day 3 of a 5-day backpack and I had lost the trail. The “trail” I had been following petered out to nothing more than an animal track in the alpine tundra. The rest of my party were coming up behind me and my mind racing as to what to do. And this was supposed to be a nice easy trip too.

After my dog ate a hole in the dry wall large enough for a herd of wildebeest to migrate through, my sister and I started backpacking during the doggy-terrifying 4th of July holiday. This year we had decided on a 5-day excursion in the Buckhorn Wilderness of Olympic National Forest and invited a couple of friends and another dog to join us. 

We planned on 5 days for a 30-mile, leisurely paced, loop that our friends who weren't accustomed to backpacking would find enjoyable. It had been 20 years since Holly had backpacked and this would be Evie's 1st time. Our route took us up Copper Creek to Buckhorn Lake then over to Marmot Pass and out the Upper Dungeness. This route had the added bonus of being far enough away from fireworks to protect the drywall from the dog.

We gathered mid-morning on day one and my sister, Kristi, handed to each of us a  map she printed off from AllTrails with our route highlighted. We made it to our 1^st night’s camp near Tubal Cain Mine easily and explored the area. Day 2 found us at Buckhorn Lake, relaxing in view of Buckhorn Mountain.

Everything on Day 3 started out perfectly. Wispy clouds drifted in and around Buckhorn Mountain, but the weather was warm and sunny while we broke down camp. I had become the defacto leader of the group since my dog, Zillah, and I were in front and I had traveled most of the route before. Day 3 would be on the section of trail I had never hiked. I folded my map to the section we were hiking and stuffed it in an easily accessible pocket. Really, I didn’t think we’d need the map as most trails in the area are well-marked.

We hiked out from the lake to the main trail and continued our climb to Marmot Pass, our expected camp for the night. Zillah and I led the way and soon Kristi, Evie and Holly were several switchbacks behind. By late morning, I had climbed beyond most of the trees and sat to wait for the rest of my group. I watched other hikers and backpackers pass me on their way up or down keeping an eye out on their route so I could point it out to my friends and feel more confident as we continued. I also watched the clouds as they had been building throughout the morning often obscuring Buckhorn Mountain and the ridges on its flanks. It was still sunny where we were but the wind was picking up and I wondered if we might need to push on to Boulder Camp further along on our route.

Just before the rest of my group met up with me, a small group of day-hikers came upon me - they told me they were camping at Camp Mystery just below Marmot Pass and were heading down to Buckhorn Lake. We exchanged information and they continued on. Once we all gathered together, we found a secluded area out of the wind for lunch. I mentioned the hikers and pointed out the route that we’d be taking – just a few more switchbacks and over a little knoll then it would be relatively flat for a bit.

At some point after topping out over the knoll, I spotted a trail that I believed to be our trail – the trail we would never reach. But we had reached the alpine tundra and were enjoying a stroll through the higher altitude. The clouds covered most of the sky above us, occasionally drifting down to shroud the landscape in a misty fog. And it was here I lost the trail.

My first error was following the group of day-hikers I had talked to earlier. They passed us on their return and I thought that they must know where they’re going. I was paying more attention to where they were going than where the trail was going. They ended up going cross country and climbing up on a ridge along Buckhorn Mountain. I began to realize that they weren’t going the direction we wanted to go.

Our second error was to think we still had to go forward instead of turning back to the last place we knew where we were. I suggested we skirt around the snow patch that blocked our way and continue on, while Holly found what looked like a trail off on one side. And instead of turning back, we too climbed up to the ridge along Buckhorn Mountain and again lost the trail.

By now the cold wind had picked up and the clouds around us were alternating between a thick fog and a thin fog. There was no way for me to get our bearing by compass. Holly again scouted and found what this time looked like a real trail but which way should we go. Without a line of sight, I couldn’t get my bearing or figure out where we were on the map or which way we would need to go to get to Marmot Pass. I was figuring we go right on the trail but after my previous misdirections, my friends were hesitant to believe me. And I really couldn’t blame them for my confidence was shaken.

Our relief came as a pair of hikers approached us from the left. They had also made the mistake of climbing the ridge as we had and were hesitant to go the same route back to Buckhorn Lake. I explained our dilemma and asked if they knew which way Marmot Pass was but they weren’t positive. We pulled out our maps and he pulled out his altimeter. We were 600 feet above the pass.

We turned right to head down the trail not up. Soon we were out of the clouds and heading to Marmot Pass. One look at the angry clouds over the pass and the frigid wind coming through, we opted to continue to Boulder Camp for the night. The rest of our trip was quiet and uneventful.

One happy occurrence while we descended off Buckhorn Mountain, we met a nanny goat, her kid and a juvenile. It was a thrilling moment for Evie and Holly who hadn’t been that close to goats before.

Lessons learned:

1.     Don’t blindly follow people on the trail. They may not be going the same direction you are or they might not know where they’re going themselves. If I had stopped to evaluate the other group, I would have taken better note that only one of them seemed well-prepared to be out hiking.

2.     Do drop your pack if necessary and scout behind you. We may have lost the trail only a few hundred yards back. If any one of us had been willing to do that, we may have found the point where we went off trail.

3.     Altimeters aren’t only for climbers. If I had one I might have noticed earlier that we should have been dropping in elevation instead of climbing. We would have had more information to make decisions earlier.

I’m still curious as to where we lost the trail. I’d like to make a reverse trip soon so I can find the trail.