Hi. This is David Jackel on behalf of Expert Village. And, I'm here to talk to you about finding help if you get lost while you're hiking. Now, the key to finding help is making contact with somebody. There are different ways to make contact. If you're lucky enough to have a cell phone that has reception, well, then you're going to be okay. You call somebody up and say, "hey, I'm lost." And, they can get a search party going and you'll be all set. But, chances are if you're out there in the wilderness, you're not going to have reception. So, there are other things you can do. Basically, what you need to do is make noise and listen for noise. If you make enough noise, hopefully, someone's going to hear you. And, if you listen, you'll find out if someone else is around. If you're up high, move downhill. There's going to be more people downhill. You're less likely to come into contact with someone at the top of a mountain then you are down at the bottom where there are campsites and there could even be a town if you're lucky. Another thing you can do to make contact with the outside world is to use smoke signals. Now, the way this works is you get a fire going. This is one of the few times that you actually want to use wetter wood. Because it makes more smoke. Get a fire going and once there's a big fire going, lots of smoke rising, what you do is you periodically cover the fire with a blanket or a coat or anything that you have that's going to block the smoke momentarily. Then, remove it, let the smoke go up again. Then cover it and remove it. And, that way people see very distinct symbols of smoke and they can say, "Okay, here's someone who's trying to find someone else." And, that will definitely help you communicate with the outside world if someone happens to see those smoke signals. Another thing you can do if you're in a clear area where passing planes could actually see you is make some sort of symbol on the ground. You can make something big out of rocks or out of logs or anything you can find. That may help. But, I think smoke signals are probably your best bet. Most importantly, though, make lots of noise and listen to see if anyone makes noise back.
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