Posted on 08/13/2011 5:42:18 PM PDT by DemforBush
I got caught 50 miles from the nearest town in Northern California while antelope hunting alone and on foot. Storm rolled in; flashlight died miles from camp. It was so dark that you literally could not see your hand in front of your face. I navigated from the glow of the moon on mountain peaks.
Spent a very cold night under a tree with trash bags for a sleeping bag (one for the feet and one w/ hole for the head). Had seen a mountain lion earlier that day so I slept w/ my rifle across my chest.
I never go unprepared now. I carry as many as three flashlights and one is the hand pumped kind w/o batteries.
I recall a case of a family getting stuck in the snow on a forest service road in Oregon. I believe that their location was narrowed down by the signals received from their cell phone, even though there was insufficient signal to actually make a call.
Some years ago I was driving up a hill in northern California with my two-meter ham rig on. I ended up having a brief conversation with another ham who was transmitting with a handheld radio from the top of Half-Dome in Yosemite. If you can get some elevation that will get you some distance.
Elevation is the key. There are many places here in the High Sierra of California (near Yosemite & Death Valley) where it is impossible to get any kind of cell signal without topping a peak. If you can’t reach a high point, you are out of luck.
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