Really interesting read, thanks for sharing,
Cy!
Many of the experiences she shared resonated with me. I've been lost before, and that moment of panic and the desire to do something, right now, to become un-lost can be the most pivotal moment in any such misadventure. The more forcefully you can override that impulse and not do anything until you calmed down, the better off you'd probably be. Because you do eventually reach a point where you're not panicked anymore, like she did, and you can make better decisions then.
OtherHand wrote:I've always felt strongly that cross country travel up or down is MUCH safer and superior when done on a spine. You have more options (good cell coverage) and much better visibility as to the terrain ahead. No such possibility down in a canyon and it's easy to get trapped (not that it's ever happened to me). There's also a good mathematical argument to be made that the average gradient of a spine is less than the adjacent ravine.
From personal experience, I agree. In my previous life as a cross-country newbie, I stuck to canyons. Nowadays, I'm up on the spine. Canyons - usually choked with boulders or surprising drop-offs. Water makes canyons and water doesn't worry about vertical drops or getting back up.
It took me some gazing at distant hills with a calculating stare to figure out the bit about spines. If I'm gaining 1000 vertical feet regardless, and I can do it via a canyon that is 80% "very reasonable" and 20% "stupidly steep", or a spine that is 100% "kinda steep, but not too bad", I'm on the spine for sure.