ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I have gotten seriously lost in Siberia, side-tracked in France, Austria, Italy and had our own adventure on the Milford Track in New Zealand when the river went into spate and we almost drowned. But our exploits pale in comparison to the ones Thea, my Number One Gutsy Woman Who Travels, has. Her story about hiking in New Zealand could almost be a field manual of “what to do and how to survive” when something goes wrong in the mountains.

Thea and her friend Mike bought a book on hikes in New Zealand and while on the North Island decided to do a volcano “hike.” What Thea calls a “hike” and what I call a “hike” are diametrically opposed. She sets off into remote wilderness carrying a tent just in case… a very smart move and one that could save your life… I go up and down a heavily trafficked route in one day – that’s a “hike.”

Thea and Mike were going to hike up a volcanic mountain (Thea never “underachieves”) but the weather wasn’t great so they chose another route. Lucky for them, they walked into a store and bought a compass and detailed map. WARNING: Always buy, carry and know how to read a topographic map. The Park Board gave them specific directions, “Get dropped off at the trailhead, spend the day crossing a very exposed mountain that is marked, and don’t sleep on the mountain under any circumstance as it is too dangerous.”

Thea and Mike set off on an exhausting “walk” (I’d probably would have referred to it as the “Bataan Death March”) that took around eight hours and led to a little hut at the end of this trail. Since it was pouring rain, they called it quits for the nights and slept in the hut. Up early the next morning, the hiking book said,

“… cross the river, keep to the right of it and there will be a sign directing you to the trail back over the mountain…” This was supposed to be six-hour walk and Thea and Mike had arranged to be picked up at this spot.

Thea on a mountain in New Zealand before everything went wrong
Off they went, following instructions to walk on the side of the river, a near impossible task. There was no trail path, just thick bush and bogs. Thea and Mike would literally break through the bush, fall into a bog, cross the river stepping on rocks and repeat. They fell into the cold river many times and after eight more hours of walking still couldn’t find the directional sign. (Not surprising in the overgrown bush.) Thinking they had passed the sign in this remote area without another soul but them, they continued on for another three hours before deciding to pitch a tent. Completely alone in dark wilderness, they tried to use the compass and work out on the map exactly where they were with no luck. ..Thea now owns a GPS…mandatory technology for wilderness hiking…

Thea and Mike made a correct decision that probably saved their lives. Not knowing where the trail was, they retraced their steps back even though this would add another two days to the “hike.” It was back along that awful river with Thea having flash flood premonitions while Mike insisted she was daft. They did have a cell phone and tried to call the people who were going to fetch them but couldn’t get a signal. Back in the hut for a night, they continued retracing their steps early the next morning. (Survival Information is to always turn back if you know where you are going or SIT STILL and wait to be found.)

Thea and Mike managed to get cell phone coverage on top of a mountain, and phoned the rescue team who had already set out that morning to search for them. Thea said,

It was quite amazing when we met them since they were the first people we had seen in four days. They had food for us, thank goodness as we had run out and had been sharing small packets of noodles. They took us to an official place where we were questioned and fed a great steaming meal. The decision was that the marker had been washed away, and we were the second lot of people to have got lost on this trail. The others had tried to cross the mountain without the trail, and it took ages to find them. The Rescue Team had films of us in the shop buying the compass, and had gone into our vehicle, and phoned the next of kin and found out what equipment we had. Also knew what boots we were wearing and had taken our prints! FYI: Every hiking boot has distinct lug patterns on the sole and this gave the New Zealand Rescue Team the prints to follow.

Thea and Mike’s New Zealand Rescue Team
Thea continued, Our story ended happy, as they said we had made the right decision by tracing our steps back even though it meant extra days. Sadly after this happened to us, two tragic things happened in that area. There was a flash flood that killed six students. Weird, my premonitions, and a couple did take a wrong route, and have never been found.

Thea and Mike on Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand
And, this is one of Thea’s tamer exploits!