On the Trail: An Outdoor Book for Girls

by Lina Beard; Adelia B. Beard

When you are ready, stand still and look about you once more to make sure of your bearings; close your eyes and tell yourself exactly what you have seen. After leaving camp and arriving at the foot of the mountain, take your bearings anew; then look up ahead and select a certain spot which you wish to reach on the upward trail. Having this definite object in view will help in making better progress and save your walking around in a circle, which is always the tendency when in a strange place and intervening trees or elevations obstruct the view, or when not sure of the way and trying to find it.

Begin blazing the trail at your first step up the mountain side. Even though there may be a trail already, you cannot be sure that it will continue; it is much safer to depend upon your own blazing.

Often in trailing along the mountain you will find huge rocks and steep depressions, or small lakes which you cannot cross over but must go around, and in so doing change your direction, perhaps strike off at an angle. Before making the detour, search out some large landmark, readily recognized after reaching the other side of the obstruction, a tall, peculiarly shaped tree or other natural feature. Now is the time to try earnestly to keep the landmark in sight as long as possible and to be able to recognize it when you see it again. Watch your compass and the sun that you may continue in the right direction after circling the obstruction. Go slow in climbing, take your time and don't get out of breath.

On many mountains the possibility of unexpected fogs exists, and safety requires that the party be linked together with a soft rope; the same precaution should be taken when the trail is very rough, steep, and rocky. The camper at the head of the line should tie the rope in a bow-line around her waist, with knot on left side, and eight or ten feet from her the next girl should link herself to the rope in the same manner; then another girl, and another, until the entire party is on the rope.

The leader starts on the trail and the others, holding fast to their staffs, carefully follow, each one cautious to keep the rope stretching out in front of her rather taut; then if one girl stumbles the others brace themselves and keep her from falling.

When descending the mountain, be careful to get a firm footing. Instead of facing the trail, it is safer to turn sideways, so that you can place the entire foot down and not risk the toes only, or the heels. Often coming down either a steep hill or a mountain is more difficult than going up.

Lost in the Woods

It is not at all probable that you will lose your way while on the trail, but if you should find yourself lost in the woods or in the open, the first thing to do is to remember that a brave girl does not get into a panic and so rob herself of judgment and the power to think clearly and act quickly. Believe firmly that you are safe, then sit down quietly and think out a plan of finding your way. Try to remember from which direction you have come and to recall landmarks. If you cannot do this, do not be frightened and do not allow any thought of possible harm to get a foothold in your mind. If there is a hill near, from which you can see any distance, climb that and get an outlook. You may be able to see the smoke of your camp-fire, which, after all, cannot be so far away. You may find a landmark that you do remember. If you see nothing which you can recognize, make a signal flag of your handkerchief and put it up high, as high as you can. Your friends will be looking for that. Then give the lost signal, one long blast with your whistle, and after a short pause follow with two more blasts in quick succession. If you have no whistle shout, loud and long, then wait a while, keeping eyes and ears open to see and hear answering signals. If there is none, again shout the lost signal and continue the calls every little while for quite a time. Another call for help is the ascending smoke of three fires. This, of course, is for daylight. Build your fires some distance apart, twenty-five feet or more, that the smoke from each may be clearly seen alone, not mingled with the rest. Aim to create smoke rather than flame; a slender column of smoke can be seen a long distance, therefore the fire need not be large. Choose for your fires as clear a space and as high an elevation as can be found, and in the relief and excitement of rescue do not forget to extinguish every spark before leaving the ground.

If you decide to keep moving, blaze your trail as you go, so that it may be followed and also that you may know if you cross it again yourself. You can blaze the trail by breaking or bending small branches on trees and bushes, or by small strips torn from your handkerchief and tied conspicuously on twigs. If you are where there are no trees or undergrowth, build small piles of stones or little hills of earth at intervals to mark your trail.

If night overtakes you, look for the North Star. That will help if you know at what point of the compass your camp lies, and if you remember whether your course in leaving camp was to the north, south, east, or west, you can calculate pretty accurately whether the camp is to the north, south, east, or west of you.