SAFETY SUGGESTIONS For Hickers, Campers And/Or ??

If caught out toward nightfall, the treaveler is urged to find a shelter quickly -- a ledge, a large boulder or a fallen tree. Clear a space of ground and build a fire. If without a blanket, build a fire in a deep hole, cover 6 inches of hot coals with six inches of earth, and sleep on the warmed earth. Failing fire one should use leaves and branches for shelter. A boy lost on a southern California mountain peak spent three nights safely in this manner.

Signal fires are the quickest way to attract attention. Build them in an open spot, cleared of all flammable material so that the fire won't spread into the forest. You don't want to burn yourself up, of course. In the daytime, throw green branches and wet wood on the blaze to make smoke. It is difficult for an observer in a plane to see a lone man in the forest, so the lost person must use ingenuity, and the smoke signal is the best method of attracting attention.

A word from the Forest Rangers to the new camper, hiker, or vacationist --

It is better to carry a clear head on your shoulders than a big pack on your back. But when going alone into the forest it is well to go prepared to get lost. A fish line and a few hooks, matches in a waterproof box, a compass, a map, a little concentrated food, and a strong knife carried along may save a lot of grief. A gun may help as a signal, seldom for game.

A thinking man is never lost for long. He knows that after a night in the forest he may awake to a clear dawn and readily regain his location. His compass may be used useless because of local magnetic attraction, but he may know what kind of vegetation grows on the shady and what on the sunny side of a ridge. He knows that streams going down and ridges going up do not branch. He knows that wild food which sustains animals may be eaten sparingly; that he will not die of hunger as quickly as of thirst; that he must remain where he is or push on to some definite objective, but not to the point of exhaustion; that someone will be looking for him, and strength in that knowledge makes hardships easier.

Keep the old brain in commission and the chances are you will come out of the woods on your own feet.