WHAT IF?… GET LOST IN THE BACKCOUNTRY
Occasionally, even the most experienced photographer will make an error in judgement. I’ve been hiking the trails around the world in search of epic light for over 7 years and have had pretty good luck and always do a pre-check before setting off, so I thought.
Mt Cook New Zealand is one of the most incredible locations for a landscape photographer and I’ve done the Hooker Valley track many times over the years even in the middle of winter so I can almost do it blind. When most of the track is completely hidden by snow and you have to negotiate three suspension bridges where the snow is level with the handrail and it’s a 15m fall to your death, you really need to have your wits about you!
On my last visit I had a few days off, so before starting a tour I hiked into Hooker Lake for sunset and thought I’d hang around for some astro. It was starting to get dark and I needed my headlamp to level my camera and to my horror it was completely flat, now I usually take a spare but after searching through my bag with a little help from the local Kea birds I came up empty. Checking my mobile for battery life with around 5% I wasn’t checking Facebook and certainly no selfies were happening that evening. With no moon and only the stars to guide me I attempted to make the 5km hike back to the vehicle. When you’re not prepared, hiking after dark can be frightening. After all, if humans were meant to be nocturnal, we’d have huge eyes like Tarsier or echolocation like bats. New Zealand winters can be brutal so I was lucky it was a mild evening and what should’ve taken me 40 minutes turned into 3 hours stumbling around in the dark doing my best to get back to safety and not plunge to my death.
Let this serve as a reminder to all photographers who enjoy capturing remote locations. Plan smart – live long, so even if you make a mistake in the backcountry, proper preparation can give you a cushion of safety and the chance for survival.
Sig Nordal 