And more lost, and found

One of our friends on the Backpacker Basecamp message board community responded to our post about lost and found with this note. We liked it to much we asked him if we could post it here, and he agreed:

I've never been lost either. But I've been misplaced a few times. Things I've learned:

• • The earth's magnetic field, and hence my compass, does not reverse itself in dense fog. Could be the human.
• • Mountain ridges often have sub-ridges. Descending a sub-ridge on the right side may be descending the main ridge on the wrong side.
• • A setting Jupiter may bear a remarkable resemblance to a rising Venus.
• • Rivers have tributaries. The distinction is not so important when going down the river as it is going up the river.
• • Cliffs are often inconveniently placed and don't listen well to reason.
• • Squiggly lines on a topo map don't tell the whole story.
• • Dense stands of thin pines bear an uncanny resemblance to the bars on a jail cell.
• • Nature is full of reminders that I did not learn well enough the first time.
• • And assorted other things . . .
• Travis N Wood, Wyoming
• here's a link to the whole conversation:
• http://bpbasecamp.freeforums.net/thread/2119/where