Lukas McClish lost 30lbs while missing for 10 days in California’s Big Basin Redwood State Park, on a “water-diet” made up of… water… and wild berries.
“If you drink a gallon and a half of water every day, you don’t need food until you run out of carbs,” he explained, after his rescue. The woods can be dangerous places with all sorts of hazards – be they animal in nature or elementary. It pays to have your wits about you.
Experienced hiker survived 10 days lost in the woods by drinking water from his boot
Lukas McClish, 34, went for a 3-hour hike on June 11, only to be declared missing five days later.
His family started to worry when he didn’t show up for a Father’s Day dinner. He spoke to the New York Times about the experience, explaining that he lost 30lbs during the course of his ordeal.
“I was kind of doing the water-diet thing,” he said. “If you drink a gallon and a half of water every day, you don’t need food until you run out of carbs.”
When he realized how lost he was, he tried to see his experience as an opportunity to test his survival skills. And to spend time with himself.
“So, I kind of just hiked,” he said. “Each day, I go up a canyon, down a canyon to the next waterfall, sit down by the waterfall, drink water out of my boot.”
In other words, if you’re planning a major hike in a remote woodland, pack your watertight boots. They might just save your life.
‘I didn’t know how far from the ocean I was’
California is coastal, and McClish described his attempts to use this to his advantage.
“I knew if I kept following the sun I’d get to the ocean eventually,” he said. Since the sun sets in the west, walking towards it during the latter half of the day will point you broadly due west. “But I didn’t know how far from the ocean I was,” he added.
And Big Basin Redwoods State Park covers an area of 18,000 acres, so reaching its edge is no mean feat, especially without food or a compass.
“I did enough hiking for probably the whole rest of the year,” he said.
Sky News writes that the local sheriff’s office received multiple reports of witnesses hearing someone calling for help. When rescuers finally tracked him down, McClish told ABC7 he was “tired and a little sore,” and that he had lost his voice.
Survival tips for woodland hikers
Besides drinking “a gallon of water every day” from the waterfalls he found, McClish carried with him a hat, a flashlight, and a pair of folding scissors.
“Like a Leatherman tool,” he said. “And that was about it.”
The Hiking Life has a checklist of what you should do if you lose yourself – and lose your way – while hiking in an unfamiliar area. Its pointers are:
- Stay calm – this will help you think clearly about what to do next. It will also keep your heart rate low; clear thinking is the “foundation upon which your survival depends.”
- Find, or fashion, a shelter.
- Get warm.
- Take stock of your surroundings and try to formulate a survival or evacuation strategy. “If you are not sure of your exact location, think back to the last location of which you are certain.”
- Hydrate.
- Ration your food according to the worst case scenario.
- Consider the ways people might be looking for you, and what you can do to make yourself visible to them. Attract attention, make noise, and if you make a signal fire, add green wood to it to increase the amount of smoke.
- Remain positive. This is similar to the first point. “Whether you are waiting to be rescued, riding out the mother of all storms or planning an evacuation, nothing is to be gained by worrying or thinking negatively.”
