Survival in the Back Country: Be Prepared

Throughout my years of working in the backcountry, it has always amazed me how many people go into the backcountry with the attitude: “It’s only a few hours, I don’t need much.” From my time with the infantry, then earning a Bachelor of Applied Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership degree at Mount Royal University in Calgary and becoming a professional adventure guide, along with being a Wilderness and Remote First Aid/Survival instructor, a horseman, and now an Equine First Aid instructor, I’ve seen a lot of changes in the backcountry over the years.

Now more than ever there is easy road access to the outdoors for city dwellers and weekend warriors. Top-of-the-line equipment and GPS navigation is easily accessible, manuals are written for everything, and the list goes on. The problem is that everything seems accessible and instant, but in the backcountry a very simple problem can swiftly become significant and then the dominos start to fall.

It’s a beautiful day to head out to the mountains for some playtime. You grab your horse and tack and head out in the afternoon for a quick ride to your favourite spot. It’s 28 degrees Celcius and you don’t see a cloud in the sky. You grab a light windbreaker for “just in case,” get on your horse, and soon you’re enjoying the peaceful sights, sounds, and smells of the forest.

A few hours and some extra trails later – because you were enjoying yourself so much – you come across a mucky section of trail with lots of deadfall around you. Normally not a big deal, but today a moose comes out of nowhere on the trail in front of you. Your horse spins and bolts, knocks you off by a low overhanging branch, and gashes its front leg open on the sharp edge of a broken branch while running through the deadfall. You’ve landed on a fallen log and twisted your knee because your foot didn’t properly clear the stirrup. Your horse is gone.

The good news is that either your horse didn’t go far and he might come back, or he’s waiting for you at the trailhead if he knows where the trailer is. The bad news is that you’re about 15 km from the parking lot. For a normal person the walk of shame back to the parking lot would take almost four hours, plus you need to climb