Wilderness Survival Stories That Amaze

Today we are relating to you four stories about brave people who survived in the wilderness with hardly any food, water or survival gear. It is a testament to the human spirit, which is why people love to read about them.

Our first story about widerness survival generated so much interest that we thought we would follow up on it with more stories about people who survived in the wilderness with little or no equipment.

Two women in their late 50’s got lost in the wilderness for five days after they took a detour trying to find a link off of the trail during their attempted trip to Coyote Springs.

All they had were two bottles of water, some granola and a towel. The women were only wearing bathing suits and T-shirts. When they unsuccessfully tried to find their car they realized they would be spending the night outdoors.

Things got worse for the two women over the next two days they drank all of their water and what remained of their food was snatched up by a squirrel.

They eventually found a small creek, but not until after they had already resorted to drinking urine. The two women sucked on grass and ate wild huckleberries; they didn’t tell anyone where they were going, had no map and were very ill-prepared for their ordeal. They got lucky by being rescued!!

In a story by The Christian Science Monitor about Folsom, CA hiker Miyuki Harwood who was rescued after surviving for nine days lost in the wilderness. Ms. Harwood went on a simple day hike into the Sierra National Forest with a hiking group from this Sierra Club. A simple day hike in warm weather can turn into a dangerous situation at night when it gets cold. Ms. Harwood, while not planning for a situation like that was at least prepared with layers of good clothing which became her shelter. A survival expert said “The key to surviving a day hike gone wrong, is to pack for every day trip into the wilderness like it could turn into an overnight situation.”

This expert also suggests buying a GPS tracking device which can help rescuers find you if you become lost. He also recommends packing a jacket, hat, ultralight tarp, lighter, pocket water-purification device like the one mentioned below, extra food, a flashlight or headlamp and a fixed-blade knife that will stand up to more rigorous use than a folding knife.

In this article about wilderness survival tips the author talks about how long you can survive without food and/or water. He notes that you can survive 2 to 4 days without water depending on the circumstances, but much longer-even weeks-without food. So finding water is much more important than finding food. Finding safe water is another story. That is why we recommend this Frontier™ Water Filter Straw that removes 99.9% of the two most common parasites. The straw enables you to drink straight from a water source and has a 20 gallon filtering capacity-more than enough to last you several days. It weighs less than an ounce and is only 5 inches long.

When in the wilderness it is important for you to stay dry and warm. It may seem counterintuitive but it is also important for you to stay put rather than wander around. For one thing you will be safer than if you wander but more importantly, your chances of being found increase greatly.

This story from ABC news about a California man who started out on a one day fishing trip turned into a nightmare of Five Days In The Wilderness. While he was fishing he decided he needed more grasshoppers as bait. He zigzagged up and down the mountain until it got too dark to continue. That’s when he started to return to his fishing site. He decided to spend night one underneath a pine tree covering himself with pine needles and willow branches. He spent day two searching for help but was weakened by a lack of food and water. After the fourth day he started writing down notes to his family on a piece of driftwood because he didn’t think he’d make it. He used cypress needles to spell out the word HELP. He heard the rotors from a helicopter passing overhead but couldn’t get their attention. Finally he did get their attention by waving his red shirt and was reunited with his family shortly after his rescue. Despite being lost for five days in the wilderness, he plans on going back for another fishing trip, only this time with a friend.

Our final story is about a 10-year-old boy who hid among the rocks to protect himself from brisk overnight winds before he was found alive and healthy Monday, almost 30 hours after he wandered off into the rugged terrain of Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness.

The young boy was hiking with his family near Paul Lake when they hiked about three miles to go fishing Sunday morning, authorities said Monday. But then Malachi walked away to forage for wild mushrooms to cook with a fish he’d caught about 10:30 a.m. when he went missing in the wilderness.
The area is noted for its dense foliage and giant rocks. The young boy hid among the rocks to protect himself from the wind. His father taught him survival skills that would serve him well in this ordeal.

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you are lost in the wilderness? If you go into the backcountry for any reason, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to do some survival planning.