This weekend, a foreign rambler required the assistance of the emergency services to be rescued from the mountains after having become lost while hiking in the Río Higuerón area of Frigiliana. The unlucky gentleman, faced with the prospect of the quickly encroaching darkness, and not knowing how to get back to Nerja on foot, called the Emergency Services at 20:40 to alert them of his predicament.
A full search and rescue team was mobilised from various departments which included the Provincial Fire Services Rescue Team, Civil Guard Search and Rescue, Civil Protection Services, and a search team from both the Nerja and Frigiliana Local Police departments. Luckily for him, he was found the following morning by the Civil Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter Team, but not after having spent what must have been a cold and uncertain night in the mountains.
There have been many cases of foreign ramblers becoming lost or injured in the mountains. In some cases, the lost or injured person was within very close proximity of Frigiliana or Nerja, and were still unable to attract attention to their plight, though they were eventually rescued. I remember a case of a foreign gentleman having gone out on his own for a hike in the mountains around Frigiliana and was assumed as having become lost after not having returned at the end of the day. His body was found some time later at the foot of a cliff from which he must have fallen, perhaps tripping or slipping while trying to negotiate his way through the thick scrub and not realising that the cliff edge was so close.
In regard to this most recent event, it is not known whether the gentleman had a map. However, even with a map, if one does not have good navigation and map reading skills, a map can literally serve no purpose, even in an area with well-defined trails, especially if one is not familiar with the area. He was very fortunate to have had his mobile phone, but most importantly, that it had sufficient battery charge AND that he was in an area where he was able to get a signal. Importantly, the terrain of the Natural Park around Nerja and Frigiliana is typical of a high mountain environment, with lots of gorges, steep and high mountains and deep river valleys. Additionally, the characteristics of the terrain can, in some locations, severely limit one’s ability to find good reference points for getting one’s bearings.
If you do want to go into the mountains around Frigiliana and Nerja or anywhere into the Natural Park of Sierras Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama to enjoy what the Natural Park has to offer, please be sensible. Here are a few simple guidelines to be aware of, whether solo hiking or in a group:
- Avoid going alone: the best policy is to always go with at least one other person, if not with a larger group. The “sense of direction” is an innate ability that is difficult for some people. The advantage of having more people with you is that some people have greater perceptive abilities than others and find that remembering turnoffs, terrain, landmarks, distance travelled, time passed, and visual markers are much easier for them to remember than others. A quick group discussion is usually all is required to resolve any problems. However, if you insist on going solo but are not entirely familiar with the area, do leave a detailed itinerary and mobile telephone number with someone together with a sensible estimated return time.
- Take a phone and ensure that it is fully charged before setting out: the previous point would be useless if you forget to take your phone!
- Take a GPS if you have one: ensure that the relevant maps have been uploaded and that the battery is fully charged.
- Be realistic about your skills and abilities: Know your limits, physical abilities, pain threshold, fitness level and endurance. Also, be sincere about any physical ailments, medical conditions or physiological limitations that could be brought on or become further aggravated as a result of physical exertion, which could thus limit your ability to “get yourself out”.
- Take a map and compass and know how to use it: even if you have a map and a compass with you in the event that you do get lost, having these two items is still no guarantee against getting lost in the first place, nor does it guarantee that it will help you find your way again. A map is completely useless if you don’t know how to use it.
- Take a small torch and emergency whistle: If lost at night, a torch serves a much more useful and effective purpose than a whistle, especially for signalling to a noisy helicopter flying hundreds of metres overhead. The international distress signal is six short blasts or flashes made in quick succession, repeated after a one minute interval. Alternatively, the S.O.S. Morse signal may be used, consisting of three short, three long and three short blasts or flashes in quick succession ( . . . _ _ _ . . . ) with the same combination repeated after a one minute interval. The standard signal for replying to the distress signal is three blasts in succession, repeated after one minute.
- Keep to official or well groomed paths: straying off of the main paths can inevitably lead to trouble. I remember an occasion when I “momentarily” got lost because I had left the main trail to explore a disused path. After venturing along this path for some time, the landscape and vegetation had both changed imperceptibly. As a result of the subtle change in vegetation, I continued believing for some strange reason that I could still see the non-existant path continuing on ahead of me. Not realising this, I continued on, and a short time afterwards, I decided to turn around and go back. However, I couldn’t “see” the path! I had to use my skills, memory and the features of the landscape to find my way back to the path. Even with my many years of experience hiking in these mountains, I was quite surprised and embarrassed to think that I had actually gotten lost, whether momentarily or not!
- Wear adequate footwear: The main contact between you and the ground is your feet. Having the right footwear for the job will dramatically eliminate the possibility of ankle sprains, slips and injuries directly related to not having adequate footwear. If you suffer a sprained ankle or a broken leg and are unable to walk, move or help yourself, you are just as good as being lost.