Post by Saknika on Mar 13, 2006 18:04:00 GMT -5
Just wanted to share...>.>
So today was foggy, and rainy, and all out rotten, but I decided I was going back down the trail to the creek to get pictures. Because fog and water is always awesome. I never got my picture. In fact, for the first time ever, I got completely and utterly LOST.
Factors to consider:
(1) It's pretty much one big swamp.
(2) The wind storm changed things.
(3) I'm already sick with a nasty cold.
(4) It's a shitty day.
(5) Fog is very misleading.
(6) I never made it a quarter of the way back.
So, I went in and got a few shots, what good ones I got (if any) will be up soon on my DA account (http://saknika.deviantart.com). I came to this big fallen pine tree across my path though, and was like "No way, the fog is misleading enough as it is, I'm turning back." So, I turned around and backtracked my steps. Somehow along the way, I got off of my trail. I still don't know how. But I kept moving to try and find my way back, and then I heard this sickening "creeeeeeeeeak" under my feet, like groaning boards. I stopped dead still, and took a few deep breaths. Then, I just shifted my weight a bit, and heard "craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack", and winced. Thinking to myself, Don't want to look down..., but I knew I had to, I looked. The heel of my shoe had punctured through the stuff, and I was standing over the top of the blackest water I have ever seen. And if there had been someone with me, my already pale skin grew even whiter. I ran across the rest of it to solid ground. All I was standing on was the branches and foliage that had fallen over the years and decomposed into a thin shell over deep, quicksand-like swamps and marsh. Basically, if you fall in you're not getting back out without assistance. And no one knew exactly where I was.
I wandered for quite a bit when I finally found a landmarker. It was this target my neighbor uses for shoot practice, and when you find that you know your trail is nearby. I could even see the edge of my house! However, I really didn't want to try and forge a new path after the swamp incident, and the fact that it had happened more than once. So... I decided (foolishly, now that hindsight has kicked in) that I was going to get back on my path and walk out. This had happened once before, only I was going the opposite way and heading in, not out. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, I was totally wrong. I ended up getting myself even more lost, and by this time I was ready to panic.
But the worst thing you can do is panic.
Now, picture yourself in the woods, the nocturnal animals (like bears, wolves, and other carniverous creatures many times more scary than you are) are starting to wake, you're lost, it's getting dark, it's foggy, misting, and you just want to get the hell out before a big swamp wipes you off the face of the Earth. That was me.
But I did not panic. I talked myself through it, swore at myself for being such an idiot and not walking out through a new path, and walked in circles. I didn't have a compass, because I know these woods really well (but not as well as I thought I guess, maybe it was just the fog), and because I've never gotten myself so lost that I didn't know how to get back. And you're not lost if you can find your way back.
Well, I wandered in circles for what seemed like forever, but according to my watch was more like 15 minutes, before I found that target again. This time though I wasn't stupid. I pushed through entire trees (you know, the little ones) to go in a straight line to get to my house. I was through with paths. I ended up coming out in a pricker bush which didn't heasitate to leave me with cuts, right infront of the hole Dad had to did to find the septic tank, but I was home. And I went inside, made myself bagel bites, and lived to tell about it.
I will be out in those woods again soon enough. Just you wait. But, no swamps this time. I know how to spot that crust now.
Word to the wise, learn from my mistakes. I made enough of them. u.u;
So today was foggy, and rainy, and all out rotten, but I decided I was going back down the trail to the creek to get pictures. Because fog and water is always awesome. I never got my picture. In fact, for the first time ever, I got completely and utterly LOST.
Factors to consider:
(1) It's pretty much one big swamp.
(2) The wind storm changed things.
(3) I'm already sick with a nasty cold.
(4) It's a shitty day.
(5) Fog is very misleading.
(6) I never made it a quarter of the way back.
So, I went in and got a few shots, what good ones I got (if any) will be up soon on my DA account (http://saknika.deviantart.com). I came to this big fallen pine tree across my path though, and was like "No way, the fog is misleading enough as it is, I'm turning back." So, I turned around and backtracked my steps. Somehow along the way, I got off of my trail. I still don't know how. But I kept moving to try and find my way back, and then I heard this sickening "creeeeeeeeeak" under my feet, like groaning boards. I stopped dead still, and took a few deep breaths. Then, I just shifted my weight a bit, and heard "craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack", and winced. Thinking to myself, Don't want to look down..., but I knew I had to, I looked. The heel of my shoe had punctured through the stuff, and I was standing over the top of the blackest water I have ever seen. And if there had been someone with me, my already pale skin grew even whiter. I ran across the rest of it to solid ground. All I was standing on was the branches and foliage that had fallen over the years and decomposed into a thin shell over deep, quicksand-like swamps and marsh. Basically, if you fall in you're not getting back out without assistance. And no one knew exactly where I was.
I wandered for quite a bit when I finally found a landmarker. It was this target my neighbor uses for shoot practice, and when you find that you know your trail is nearby. I could even see the edge of my house! However, I really didn't want to try and forge a new path after the swamp incident, and the fact that it had happened more than once. So... I decided (foolishly, now that hindsight has kicked in) that I was going to get back on my path and walk out. This had happened once before, only I was going the opposite way and heading in, not out. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, I was totally wrong. I ended up getting myself even more lost, and by this time I was ready to panic.
But the worst thing you can do is panic.
Now, picture yourself in the woods, the nocturnal animals (like bears, wolves, and other carniverous creatures many times more scary than you are) are starting to wake, you're lost, it's getting dark, it's foggy, misting, and you just want to get the hell out before a big swamp wipes you off the face of the Earth. That was me.
But I did not panic. I talked myself through it, swore at myself for being such an idiot and not walking out through a new path, and walked in circles. I didn't have a compass, because I know these woods really well (but not as well as I thought I guess, maybe it was just the fog), and because I've never gotten myself so lost that I didn't know how to get back. And you're not lost if you can find your way back.
Well, I wandered in circles for what seemed like forever, but according to my watch was more like 15 minutes, before I found that target again. This time though I wasn't stupid. I pushed through entire trees (you know, the little ones) to go in a straight line to get to my house. I was through with paths. I ended up coming out in a pricker bush which didn't heasitate to leave me with cuts, right infront of the hole Dad had to did to find the septic tank, but I was home. And I went inside, made myself bagel bites, and lived to tell about it.
I will be out in those woods again soon enough. Just you wait. But, no swamps this time. I know how to spot that crust now.
Word to the wise, learn from my mistakes. I made enough of them. u.u;
