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Backpacker Magazine – May 2010

Lost in the Frank Church Wilderness: What Does It Really Mean to Be Utterly, Hopelessly, Truly, Lost?

We air-dropped a blindfolded Jim Thornton into the middle of a 2-million-acre wilderness to find out.

by: Jim Thornton

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Illustrations by Edel Rodriguez

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Illustrations by Edel Rodriguez

Survival

LOST! THE VIDEO SERIES

Part 1: On his first day lost in Idaho's Frank Church--River of No Return Wilderness, Thornton confronts dwindling water supplies and the daunting task of getting un-lost.

Part 2: On his second day lost in Idaho's Frank Church--River of No Return Wilderness, Thornton battles cold temperatures, conflicting routes, and the onset of genuine fear.

Part 3: On his third day lost in Idaho's Frank Church--River of No Return Wilderness, Thornton finally finds a potential way home. But fear, exhaustion, and an incoming winter snowstorm threaten to derail his progress.

You can take the blindfold off now, yells Dan, the bush pilot, over the propeller's whine. When we first left the central Idaho mountain town of McCall this afternoon, I'd tried to maintain my bearings behind the blindfold by tracking the angle of the sun's rays on my skin. It didn't work. Five minutes after takeoff, my overheated skin and I were as lost as we'd ever been.

Removing the blindfold now does nothing to change this.

It's late morning on a clear September day, and my pupils spasm at the sudden flood of light. We're a hundred feet off the ground and descending fast toward a meadow rimmed by mountains. Fir trees stretch in every direction, many of them toppled by fire, wind, or pine beetles.

The plane's rubber wheels bump through the autumn-gold grass and prairie dog holes before rolling to a stop. Torr, the copilot, asks me my first impressions of The Frank--the nickname local folks use for Idaho's 2.3-million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. If you throw in the Bitterroots to the north, the whole magnificently tangled mess of protected brush and boulders, skeletons and scat, elk and edelweiss, is nearly the size of Connecticut.

“I think a better nickname is The No Return,” I answer.

Torr and Dan smile in bemusement as I heft my 48-pound pack. I'm not exactly an experienced hiker, yet they have been charged with leaving me--lost--in the Idaho woods.

“You guys have any last-minute advice?” I ask.

“We could blindfold you again and spin you around a couple of more times,” suggests Torr.

I decline. Short of surgically extracting my hippocampus (more on that later), I can't get more lost.

Three minutes later, the Cessna 206 is reduced to a tiny dot in the sky. I indulge in a short scream--half-joke, half-catharsis--confident no other human can hear. Then I shoulder the pack and begin hiking in the hopes of figuring out where I am and how to get out.

In terms of navigational technique, I'm relying strictly on instinct and old wives' tales. Two chestnuts come to mind. First: If you follow water downstream long enough, you will eventually reach bikini-clad surfer girls. Second: Despite the first tip, your best bet when lost is to stay put and let the rescuers find you. Many lost victims ignore the latter out of ignorance or obstinacy; I'm ignoring it on purpose.

That's because my goal, my assignment, is to try to find my way out of the Frank on my own--in the process, illuminating what really happens when a hiker goes astray. The rules are simple: BACKPACKER arranged to air-drop me into the middle of a vast wilderness, with no clues as to location. The editors furthermore provided enough food and gear for five comfortable days, at which point I could presumably survive on stored fat and cannibalized muscle tissue.

To give me some chance of determining my actual whereabouts, the magazine threw in dozens of maps and a compass, with which I might be able to hike out (success!) or at least locate an extraction point (tie?). For humanitarian and liability reasons, they included an emergency beacon and satellite phone.

After hiking for 18 minutes in the 87°F air, I'm thirsty, exhausted, and on the verge of prickly heat. It's all I can do to avoid sat-calling for an immediate medevac. Instead, I take a break, drink half of my water, then soldier onward through the dying--and no doubt snake-ridden--meadow grass.

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READERS COMMENTS

I like the article. Is there a way to find out what gear he was given, including the brand, etc.?
Posted: Jul 30, 2011 Karl

This is so bogus, he was not 'lost', just play acting
Posted: Jun 02, 2011 James

Making it to Root Ranch is NOT the same as hiking out of the Frank under your own power. He would still need a plane ride, horseback packout, or long hike to civilization.

As for a means to similate genuine panic over being lost, that's as good of place as any. Besides being scores of miles across, the entire place is cut by the second deepest canyon in North America (the MF Salmon). The lower end, to east of his lcoation, is known as "Impassable Canyon" for a reason. The only way in or out of Impassable is by boat, and even then it's Class IV whitewater!
Posted: Mar 31, 2011 idaho native

Now I have an idea for my next vacation. Pay some fellow with a Cessna to drop me off in the middle of nowhere. For at least the first couple days, I would love it. The main concern, in this seemingly very dry and arid place (i.e., bitteroots are an arid/dry-existing plant) would be to locate a water source. Next, I would be so happy to be away from the junk of civilization (noisy neighbors, loud thumping bass systems in car stereos, the sound of the freeway that never goes away). I'd sleep like a baby every night, I'm sure. Personally, I wouldn't be too anxious to find my way out. Instead, I'd be considering staying a few extra days. (Minus loud bass systems in car stereos and the neighbor's screaming bratty kids...) Water... more than finding my way out, I would be looking for water. Because is just a few days, you can go without food, but without water you're done for. And if any of the maps he was given were USGS Topographical maps, jeesh, might as well paint my way back home. Once you gained the bearing on the Topos, its pretty hard to stay lost, once yiu find key locations on the Topos, and you have a good compass.

Let's go, I'm game. So, how much for my story after the fact... I can just submit it to Backpacker "on spec" and if they approve for publication, we can negotiate the terms later.

:-)
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Posted: Oct 15, 2010 Jim H

If you think Charlie made a good point, first make sure you know what the definition of 'simulation' is.

Fun interesting article! I like that there's video to go along with it.
Posted: Oct 15, 2010 Taylor

This did not simulate being lost...he knew that people were aware of his location, that he was not really in danger. Being really lost means no one else knows where you are either...not just you. Good luck getting any lawyers to approve simulating that.
Posted: Oct 15, 2010 Charlie

the same as above , before that plane was off the ground , my maps would have been out and locating that before I moved an inch !!! how hard is that ?
ive been in worse and made it just fine
Posted: Jul 14, 2010 steve quinne

Why are you guys assuming there are buildings?? This is the wilderness! Have you ever seen wilderness?
Posted: Jun 08, 2010 northsister

There's no mention of buildings. It's a remote airstrip, just a flat stretch without trees. No buildings I think.
Posted: May 28, 2010 Seth

This kinda reminds me of Man vs. Wild, and Survivorman. Both of which I highly, no, Astronomically recommend to watch, for the casual "outdoorist" and the serious survivalist.
Posted: May 27, 2010 Shane

lost 4 days in bitterroots - would add, daily crying jags that would end with a laugh and me talking out loud "might as well lay down and die". The biochemical dump had me so wound up that I could not eat and survived on a jar of honey that I would force myself to eat knowing that I needed to eat. Checked the compass (after deciding that I was going to move southwest)every 5 minutes, had the common sense to back track when path was too steep and lastly, I was so tired at the end of the day I stopped imagining bear and cougar.
Posted: May 27, 2010 scott r

When I read this article my first thoughts were, "You're at a known, named location with buildings. You have maps. Sit down, pull out the maps, search for buildings." But perhaps there was a rule against doing this on the first day?
Posted: May 27, 2010 Mike