Is the human race better off now?

True....in the Middle Ages BATHING was considered a sure way to get Pneumonia or Disease.

The disease thing wasn't all that off as they used their rivers as sewers.

Here in the United States programs thought up in the 1960's and imlemented in the 1970's have made almost 99% of all rivers clean enough to swim in and over 95% clean enough to drink the water wthout treatment.

I live in Western Mass.and the return of Bald Eagles, Falcons, Hawks, Bears....WAY TOO MANY DEER....Moose and now even Mountain Lion is amazing.

I am an avid Hunter and no one is more worried about Wilderness and Animal Conservation and Protection than a Hunter.

I spotted a 180 lbs or so Mountail Lion in Ashfield Mass last Winter.

TooReal

 

I'll play. This will be fun.

First thing is that I'd get fire going using a sneaker lace. Done it with a boot lace in a wet forest a few times before, takes 2 hours worse case scenario if finding dry kindling is tricky. Then I'd break off boughs of pine and use them to make a shelter, nothing fancy, basically a ground pad and a blanket. If there's snow, great, I can se it to build a shelter. If I had extra time before dark, I'd look for a high spot to get a better view from, marking a trail there and back. I wouldn't worry about food or water the first day or two if I knew there was a road 150 miles in some direction.

Clouds usually break at the coldest part of the night so I would spend the night under/on some shelter, near the fire, and I'd watch the stars. Probably end up with my underwear and socks as a makeshift hat by some point...lol. When I figured out where north/south was, I'd make some marks, rocks on the ground, sticks, etc. Just before dawn, I'd hike to my high spot and look for fires/lights, smoke, and verify my direction with the sunrise.

In the morning, I'd dry out some tinder over the fire and pack it up to use to make starting the fire the next night easier. I'd also grab the firestarter stick and blocks. I'd start heading whatever direction looked like the easiest travel, downhill, and most likely towards civilization. As I went I'd either look for or create trail markers. If you always keep the last two in sight before placing the next one, you won't go in circles. Most places in nature have natural features that are much easier to track by though. For instance, find a canyon or ravine and follow it, watching mountains, big trees, etc. There's more likelyhood to be water and critters in ravines and canyon bottoms too. I'd look for berrys, cattails, mushrooms, and other stuff to munch on along the way. While hiking, I'd be as silent as possible and carry a baseball sized rock, a bushcrafted spear, or a rock/bark bolo, at all times, just in case I came upon some game.

If I started walking at 6am and walked 4 mph until 6pm, I'd have made it roughly 50 miles, finding little things to munch on, supplies, and most likely, water along the way. At the end of that day, again, I'd make a fire, gather some branches/foilage around me to retain some heat and keep the wind off, and crash out.

Repeat process for a few days, maybe corner some fish or a critter somewhere along the way, and I'd be hitchhiking in no time.

Better yet though, I don't let myself get out into the middle of nowhere with nothing. I pretty much have gortex boots, a gerber scout 600 multi tool, and a lighter on me at all times and if I know I'll be in nature, I have a pretty well stocked bugout bag that I could live out of pretty much indefinitely.