Contents
I. How to get lost in the taiga?
II. What to take with you on a short hike in the taiga (essential)
III. What to take with you on a full-day hike in the taiga (recommended)
IV. How to find your way out of the taiga?
V. What not to do in the taiga
VI. Instead of a conclusion
The internet is full of spine-chilling tales of people who have got lost in the taiga. If you search for ‘how not to get lost in the taiga’, you’ll find both wise and utterly useless advice from survivalists, Evenks, Tofalars and others. Advice on how to catch fish with a spear or start a fire by rubbing sticks together. How to determine the cardinal directions using moss, anthills and tree branches, drink dew and feed on the contents of a musk deer’s stomach.
Теперь серьезно. Все это вам не нужно. Это советы для таежников. Тех, что живут в тайге. The average person’s aim is to get out of the taiga, not to live there. This article is unlikely to be of much use to those who enjoy hiking along nature trails; they already know what to pack and where to go. We’ve already covered tourist spots around Lake Baikal in this article. It’s hard to get lost near Lake Baikal, as the lake itself serves as an excellent landmark.
Therefore, a true taiga expert is not someone who never gets lost in the taiga, but someone who can find their own way out and has the resources to survive in the taiga for several days if necessary.
Similarly, an experienced woodsman never assumes he won’t get lost or stray off course, or miss the right path. Anyone can get lost; it’s only natural. And you need to be prepared for that.
It’s not easy to get lost in the taiga. To get lost, you first have to find your way into the taiga itself. There are two ways to reach the taiga:
1. To arrive by transport (boat, car, helicopter)
2. Turn off the main road or from the village.
It is much easier to reach the taiga from the road, especially from a motorway. The real taiga begins just 100–200 metres from the roadside. However, it is difficult to reach the thicket from the villages, as enterprising locals have, over the course of hundreds of years, cleared the taiga trees for some 30–40 kilometres inland. Instead of conifers, it is mostly birch undergrowth that grows there, and this is not taiga.
Given these conditions, it is possible to get lost in the taiga either near a road (a dead end) or far from any settlement. It is impossible for the average person to venture deep into the taiga thicket by even 100 kilometres. Special training and a specific route are required for such an expedition. So let’s leave the stories of surviving in the remote taiga for months to those who are truly passionate about it.
It is usually mushroom pickers, berry pickers, pine cone collectors and unlucky hunters who get lost in the taiga. Navigating the remote taiga, with its wind-felled trees, fallen ancient pines, boulders, and icy rivers and streams, is an extremely difficult task. Covering even 8–10 km a day through the taiga is hard physical labour. Find out where and how to collect cedar cones in this article.
Let’s consider the items that should be in your pocket for any taiga hike.
- A lighter (preferably with a piezo element)
- A bottle of water
- A charged cell phone
- Some breadcrumbs and lollipops
III. What to take with you on a full-day hike in the taiga (recommended)
3. A mug. Going for a long time? Take a wide metal mug with you. It can be used instead of a pot, to boil water, to cook food. The weight of such mugs is usually small.
4. Knife. If you are not going hunting, it is more convenient to take a small multi-tool instead of a hunting knife. Make sure that the knife of the multi-tool is well-sharpened.
5. A walkie-talkie is useful if you’re going in a group. A tanga attached to the backpack strap won’t distract you from gathering forest resources. Modern walkie-talkies are lightweight and useful.
6. A flare gun. The author always carries a flare gun and a set of cartridges for it. The flare gun is not afraid of moisture and weighs a little. It is suitable for signaling a distress signal and scaring away particularly bold animals at night and during the day.
7. Flashlight. If you have a cell phone, a flashlight is not required. But if the flashlight shines far and powerfully (and now there are small flashlights of this kind), it’s worth taking. A lantern that will shine for a long time is preferable for a campsite. For movement, a light flashlight with a main light bulb and a diffusing LED on the side is preferable.
8. First aid kit. It’s a good idea to bring a minimal set of medications with you to the taiga. Make sure to include a band-aid and a sterile bandage. In addition to band-aids for cuts, it’s important to apply band-aids to red areas on your hands and feet to prevent blisters and calluses. Additionally, consider bringing activated charcoal, a pencil-sized bottle of iodine, paracetamol, and citramon. Don’t forget to include antihistamines like suprastin. If you’re bitten by wild wasps or bees, take a tablet to alleviate the symptoms. The author has seen hundreds of cases where people swelled up after being bitten by insects, almost losing their ability to breathe. In some cases, bites without medication can lead to shock and even death. It is especially dangerous to venture into the woods without a first aid kit. A bandage can also be used for rough filtration of water before boiling.
9. Salt. It is useful to take a few grams of salt with you in a small jar or box. Salt is useful for cooking and disinfection. Moreover, the body loses a lot of salt through sweat during a hike, so it is important to replenish the body’s salt reserves.
10. Drone. A controversial burden. Yes, it weighs a little, up to 150 grams. The remote control itself weighs another 350 grams. You already have a phone. But it’s not easy to navigate with a drone. It’s dangerous to fly too low without knowing the terrain. According to local regulations, you need a permit to fly at certain times, and you might not get it right.
N.B.! It is important to understand that you should not carry a lot of extra things that are not useful. Take only the essentials.
Regarding the rest of the equipment – tents, pots, awnings, food supplies, solar panels, sleeping accessories. In this case, there is a large selection of such things. But it’s better to go camping with a group of several people, distribute the weight.
My grandfather went to war alone, with a percale tent, a rifle, and a canvas backpack with mining equipment. But in any case, he initially laid out the route so that most of the way was along the road. He set up markers and notches, and left enough time to prepare the camp and find a suitable spot to stay. During the Soviet era, there were many wintering and dugout camps in the taiga, specifically designed for geologists. However, most of these camps have been abandoned or have fallen into disrepair, although they are still marked on maps.
IV. How to find your way out of the taiga?
If you don’t have this sense, there are some general tips. Are you going to the taiga? The bucket should be red or orange, and the clothing and backpacks should be brightly colored, as mentioned earlier. Apply red and yellow duct tape to the bucket. Also, cover the handle of the scoop with red or yellow duct tape, which will keep your hands warm and help you thank you in the morning. The duct tape helps prevent blisters and abrasions where the skin rubs against the metal. The instructions for applying colored duct tape to knives, walkie-talkies, and other inconspicuous items are the same.
If you get lost, don’t run away. If you don’t have a phone, that’s okay too – people have been doing without them for thousands of years. When you enter the taiga, look at the hills or mountains around you.. These are the only reliable landmarks that can be seen from very long distances. Never cross the top of a mountain or hill until you have identified new landmarks. In the taiga, everything looks the same. A landmark made up of four twisted pine trees may reappear a couple of hundred meters away.
Are you completely lost? The plan of action is simple! If you don’t know where to go, stop where you are. Hang a bag or some human trash you find on a higher branch. Look at the location of the nearby mountains and hills. It’s difficult to travel more than 5-7 kilometers in the taiga from the point of entry. However, if you start to wander and panic, you may end up quite far away.
Try to find animal or human trails and follow them down to the foot of a hill or mountain. There is usually a stream or river nearby. Look for roads, large trails, and fords near the river.
If you even find an old overgrown road, do not leave it. Just follow the road. So save your strength and health. Find a place where an old road or trail turns into a worn-out road. Usually it takes 15-20 minutes to walk to the nearest road. Even walking back and forth on the road in search of the right direction is much easier than breaking through a windfall.
If you go deep into the taiga, do it along a stream or river, along a ravine between the hills. In no case do not leave this ravine without determining exactly where to return. Even if the area seems unfamiliar, go along the valley (ravine) from which you came – do not panic. Sooner or later you will come back, along the river or stream to miss the point of entry is impossible.
The most nefarious pests in the taiga are ticks, mosquitoes, and flies. Check yourself for ticks every 3-4 hours, don’t be lazy. The smoke from a campfire helps to get rid of pests. If you decide to sit or lie down on the collected branches, first hold these branches over the fire or burn them. This way, you will definitely get rid of ticks, which love the lower branches of trees and grass. Be sure to treat your clothes and backpack with a repellent against ticks and mosquitoes. You can take a few pieces of mosquito coils with you. As long as they are burning, mosquitoes and flies will stay away.
V. What not to do in the taiga
In the taiga, you can’t panic. Not only can you get lost, but the local wildlife can sense your panic and become interested in you.
It is strictly forbidden to walk at night or in the twilight. You will injure yourself, damage your eyes, and remain in the taiga forever.
Always maintain a distance of at least 5-10 meters from the person in front of you. Otherwise, a branch may whip your face and cause injury.
Never walk on the trunks of fallen trees. The bark is easily destroyed, and the trunk is wet underneath. If you fall, you may suffer serious injuries.
Similarly, you can’t run through the taiga. If you fall into a hole or a burrow, or if you hit a branch or a tree, or if you damage your limbs, you’ll end up as real estate.
Don’t know where to go? Lost completely? Start a fire, throw a lot of wet leaves, grass and pine needles in it. There will be a great smoke. Sooner or later you will be found. Most likely early, local foresters to give you a fine for improper fire-making. Make a fire from old branches, dry pine needles, fallen, but not thick coniferous trees. They burn well even in the rain.
Don’t cross rivers at a ford unless necessary. You might get injured, catch a cold, get swept away by the river, or even drown. The bottom can be very slippery or muddy. If you decide to cross at a ford, make sure it’s only knee-deep or less.
VI. Instead of a conclusion
n conclusion, I would like to say the following. Most of the movies in the golden treasury of cinema about people getting lost in the woods would not have happened if the main characters had entered the woods with a lighter or dry matches in their pockets.
Information on how to treat plantain (which is not available in the taiga), how to fight a bear, how to make a noodge, and how to sleep in the snow in -50 degrees Celsius can be found on specialized websites. However, ordinary people do not need this information. It is not useful.
Remember! There is no task to survive in the taiga. The task in the taiga is to spend time pleasantly. To breathe fresh air. To walk along the taiga paths. To collect the gifts of the forest. To sit with like-minded people near the campfire with a mug of hot tea…
