That damned fog

[ilenisaatio]

I was at Mystery Lake, which I thought I kneww inside out, and was heading from the Trapper's cabin towards the camp building. Weather was nice early on but a bit cold for my clothing (was pretty early on that run) but just one down arrow on the meter but I would make it nicely before getting too cold. closer to noon, I had almost reached the Deadfall when the fog came. I rose damn fast and suddenly I realized I didn't know where I was anymore. I stumbled where I thought was the right direction and reached a big rock I recognized. I used it to orient myself and head forward. Time passed and the weather had warmed a bit so I was warming up slightly. I knew I had turned in the wrong direction at some point as the railroad should've come already. Then I found I was at the Nameless Pond by the hunter's blind. I knew a bear was near so I back tracked and took off towards the railroad.

Walked on and luckily as I had just cleared the cabin to centralize my gear I had ample supplies, though I was a bit over capacity. And then I was at the rock again... I was mid-afternoon and my spirits were still quite high though a nagging feeling started to wriggle in. So, I took off again and headed slightly off from where I had gone the last time, hoping tro hit the railroad. And again I had walked too long and realized I had missed the mark. Evening was closing and I knew I had to have a plan so I took stock of what I had on me. Food and water were getting low and I had no firewood. Only 7 cloth so no snow shelter unless absolutely necessary as I would have to tear up some of my clothing for that. I started to keep an eye out for a sheltered spot. And then I was at the rock again... coming in from the opposite direction I had left towards.

I had just about enough time to chop a few of the fir limbs around the rock from the blizzard that had kept me stuck at the cabin for a few days and was happy as they would burn a long time. I settled at a nice spot next to the rock that was sheltered from most sides in case a wind would rise during the night. Sun was just starting to set as the fog suddenly started to clear a bit. Then I heard a wolf growl, and grabbed my rifle. Downed the wolf near the rock and just as the sun was creeping behind the horizon the fog cleared and I grabbed my charcoal to get the wolf carcass on the map. After that, I painted an arrow towards the right direction just in case and made camp. It started to snow.

The wolf was close enough that I could carve it up and still stay dry due to the fire being near enough.  I took out my can and my cooking pot and started to fry the wolf meat on one and melt snow in the other. After gulping down the water to quench my thirst. I started to fry more wolf meat on the rock alongside the pot. Snow kept falling and the night was quiet. My fatigue meter was empty and it was about 1/3 of the night passed. I had enough wood 'til morning. Made some herbal tea to get more out of my first 2h of sleep. Woke up, heard the wind was rising and got worried about a blizzard or a strong wind rising and blowing out my fire. I didn't have many options I could think of if the wind started blowing from the direction my camp was open towards. The wind died down again and I was through about 2/3 of the night. Added some more firewood and slept in one hour naps just in case.

As the morning started to approach the fog rose again. Cursing I prepped myself for the day. After breakfast, I took my bearings from the arrow and headed off from tree to tree, trying to keep facing the right direction. I was getting desperate and then... I started saw the faint outline of the wrecked train cars by the tunnel. I was getting to safety! The fog persisted until I got to the Camp office and then it cleared up as if disappointed I had survived it. As the evening came a blizzard rose but I was safe inside, tucked under the covers.

[Dalos]

I have a love/hate relationship with fog. on harder settings, it actual indicates some warmer weather. Until you get lost in the middle of a frozen lake, get turned around and then stumble into something awful.

 

[Stone]

Fog is just brilliant. What a mini adventure it's given you!

I remember the first time I had to travel in it trying to get from the hydro dam cave to signal tower. I made it to the hill cave in fog just by going up hill then was super paranoid I'd bump into a bear or wolf. Set off confident I was going the right way, walked for a while and then, yes here we are, near the top of signal hill and its.. the hill cave again. I've walked in a cricle. Amazing 😁 hats off to Hinterland

@ilenisaatio a tip: pick up every stick you pass. Won't stop you getting lost but it's the best way to gather firewood. When you start playing Loper, you'll really need every stick 😜

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Drifter Man]

Great story - thanks for sharing. And thanks @Stone for bumping it up so I could read it 

[peteloud]

I am familiar with regions of TLD but I still get caught out and lost in the fog, particularly in the area around the Broken Radio Mast in ML. 

[Leeanda]

Nothing quite like walking round in big circles with zero visibility☺

[ilenisaatio]

On 8/7/2021 at 3:38 PM, Stone said:

 

@ilenisaatio a tip: pick up every stick you pass. Won't stop you getting lost but it's the best way to gather firewood. When you start playing Loper, you'll really need every stick 😜

 

Heh. Good to know I'm not the only this happens to. 😁

And yeah, I've gotten into that habit with the sticks. I also always try to keep 10 cloth with me if I go any further from my current base. Sticks for the snow shelter are easy to come by. This has saved me more than once in a tight spot. Also something I've learned during RL hikes: If you're starting to get more than slightly uncertain, you're quite probably inches away from ending up in real trouble. Especially in Winter. At that point it's better to find a sheltered spot before trying to figure out what the situation is. Also, after seeing that circling happens in TLD as well, I've started to just simply wait out the fog, if possible. It's a learning experience.

[exeexe]

The snowshelter only need 5 cloth

https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Snow_shelter