Not long ago, a group of trail riders got themselves lost in the Badlands Wilderness Area in Central Oregon. Luckily, they had working cellphone and service. But, what if someone’s out there and isn’t so prepared?

We’ve all either been there or heard the tail of a trail ride gone wrong. Your buddy knew this trail like the back of his hand! He told ya it would only take a couple hours to do this loop. You trusted him (or her). Now, you’ve been out for four hours and the trailhead is nowhere in sight. Neither of you has a compass or a GPS. What do you do? Short of letting your horses roam in hopes they know where the trailer (and their food) is. Here is a few helpful directional hacks to help get you through it.

I’ve got a couple of caveats here before we get started.

First: If you feel unconfident in any of the hacks I’m proposing. Stay where you are. These tricks should only be attempted after they have been practiced and you are confident with them. So play with these tricks before you get into trouble.