sir: because the most dangerous animal you will meet walks on two legs now draw aim and shoot....... good girl.
On our way to the next stop we come up on wolf sitting in the middle of the path. What this meant was there was trouble a head because normally she will range off in all four directions looking for a problem. Now you must understand a wolf is not a dog they come with there own set of manners and protocols (example with most dogs you through a stick the dog will at least look at it or run after it. a wolf will watch it land then look at you like wtf are you doing) so training a wolf is different and must meet its protocol and you must follow them or risk the look. In this when we came up to her she just turned and sat again this means wait it is coming to us sure enough 20 min later a small group of hikers came stumbling down the path. one was injured and bleeding from a leg wound. So journey interrupted we made camp. R.J. put the injured hiker on my horse and took them to a clearing and called for rescue from camp we heard the chopper come in and pick up there friend to take to the hospital
It turned out that they had set out on an overnight trip and got lost they had already been out there 3 days when there friend got hurt none of them was ready for this trip. so they were starving by the time we encountered them. they were very lucky we did, lost in the Rockies normally equals death. they had no weapons and ran out of food unarmed people uselessly become part of the food chain. So 2 days later after they have fed and rested we started to take them back to town.
O.K. this is the boring part unless you plan on real wilderness hiking then this may save your life.
safety equipment you should carry 100 ft nylon rope two ways to use properly used this will help if you need to drop down from a cliff or splint a broken leg there are other uses but these are the top two reasons to pack it.
a Garmin g.p.s. ( make sure it has the proper mapping system in it or it will just give you your position but not show you where to go)
a transponder if you get hurt you can buy or rent these in some places. even if you are going on an overnight take 3 days worth of food.
2 canisters of pepper spray also known as bear spray they will make any animal run unless starving.
take a survival gun most rangers will not object to this if they encounter you on in the woods.
and most important of all buy a survival guide and read it at least once before going out it will have plenty of good tips.
And the most important thing if you do go take your phone for pictures and communication when it works plus a small solar charger for all your equipment and have fun.
