Every close call I've ever had traces back to the same root cause: a gap in my preparation that I didn't know was a gap.
A broken ankle with no evacuation plan. Fog that made a familiar plateau completely unrecognisable. A family in trouble who had a beacon but wouldn't press it. A group that got separated because nobody agreed on what to do if someone fell behind. A water source that existed on the map but was impossible to reach.
Five different situations. Five different lessons. In this post, I’ll show how I turned them into a system:
Five questions to answer before every trip
Why each one exists (learned the hard way)
How to close the gaps before you leave the house
✅ 1. If someone can't walk out, what's the plan?
Comms: PLB or satellite messenger, and someone at home who knows the route.
Exits: Do you have bailout route options? Not just the way you came in. And the hard truth: can you actually move an injured person to either exit?
Not "do you have a GPS." Can you actually use a map and compass when your phone is dead and the fog is so thick you can't see your own feet? If not, that's a skill gap, not a gear gap.
✅ 3. Will you actually press the beacon?
Carrying a PLB is step one. Being willing to use it is step two. Pride has no place in an emergency. If you're in trouble, press the button. That's literally what it's for.
✅ 4. Does your group have a separation protocol?
Before you start walking each day, agree on three things. What's the regroup point if you get split? How long do you wait before you start looking? What's the signal that someone's in trouble? Takes sixty seconds to agree on. Could save you hours of panic.. or worse.
✅ 5. Have you verified every water source, with a backup?
A dot on a map doesn't mean you can actually get to it. Never plan around a single source. Always have a backup. And if you can't verify a source is accessible from recent reports, carry enough to skip it entirely.
The Test
Run through these five questions at the kitchen table before your next trip. If you can't confidently answer any one of them, that's your gap. And now's the time to fix it, not when you're twenty kilometres from the nearest road.
Which of these five is your weakest? Hit reply and let me know I'd love to help you close that gap.
THAT’S ALL FOR THIS WEEK
Thanks for reading Mowser’s Musings. I hope this helps you hike further and happier.
Until next week, keep exploring.
Mowser
Discover more. Hike further.
P.S. Peakbound.app is launching soon. You can join the waitlist here.
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