Will to Live: Dispatches from the Edge of Survival Read Free Page B

emotion begins to take the place of reason, then stupid moves are made that can put other people’s lives in jeopardy. Therefore, it’s vital that groups in remote wilderness situations keep things running smoothly and that they clear the air during the trip rather than staying quiet and letting things reach the boiling point. After all, that boiling point may be hit in the middle of a dangerous set of rapids—clearly, no place to lose focus by yelling at your partner.
    At the headwaters of the Tuichi, Karl led the group on the climb that would take them over the mountains to the Cocus. Their poor excuse for a map confirmed little of this, but the group again put its collective faith in Karl. Of the many mistakes Yossi and his new friends made in going on the trip, failing to familiarize themselves with Karl’s map was one of the biggest. The map was not particularly detailed—they couldn’t find anything better in La Paz before they left—but, at the very least, each person should have spent some time studying it, to get a feel for the terrain.
    Nobody should venture into the wild without basic map-reading skills. And if your guide is the only person in your group to have a map, don’t be shy: ask to see the map as often as possible, familiarize yourself with the area and the route you are traveling. It can also be helpful to use a global positioning system (GPS) device, which uses satellites to display your location anywhere on the planet. Satellite messenger devices such as the spot, which use one-way text messaging and e-mail to inform your contacts of your location and progress, can save your life when things go wrong.
    For what it’s worth, Karl knew his way around the jungle. He taught the others how to collect water from the bamboo shoots that grew in abundance in the area; he seemed to know the geography of the area like the back of his hand; and when he shot a monkey from the treetops, he expertly built a domed structure in which to smoke the meat. Yet Karl’s greatest flaw as a leader was that he taught the others very little about route-finding. Similarly, the boys didn’t seem interested in learning where they had come from, or how to find their way back should something go wrong.
    If the others had been smart, they would have made detailed mental notes of the trails they had been on and the ranches they had passed, the time between locations, direction, and landmarks. But this kind of meticulous attention to detail is difficult to maintain, especially when you’re with a few buddies and the experience is about the adventure. Noting your surroundings is not a difficult thing to do; you just have to set your mind to it.
    When I was hunting tapir in the Amazon with the native Waorani people of eastern Ecuador, I made sure to keep detailed mental records of where we had been and how I would get back to the village if need be. I knew that anything could happen out there, and it might have been me who had to run back for help. So I played something like a reconnaissance map in my head: “Okay, I came about fifteen minutes and then turned left. Another hour and turned right. Past the waterfalls, then past the cave, then turned right again.” I knew if I replayed that in reverse in my head, I could make my way back, even by myself. I wouldn’t have expected Yossi, Kevin, and Marcus to do the same, but they should have at least tried to remember how to get back to the last populated village.
    As Karl predicted, the journey over the mountains brought them to the banks of the Cocus River. Karl wanted to follow the river, then cross the mountains back over to the Colorado-Chico, where they could pan for gold. Although the other members of the group started to doubt the route at this point, there was little chance that Karl’s mind could be changed. He was operating on sheer determination and probably figured he was quite right about things.
    When this happens to the leader, the other members of the group