Survivor's Edge Spring 2021

Joshua Tree National Park lies about 130 miles east of Los Angeles and contains some remarkably breathtaking natural features, but enjoying a couple of nights during a particularly frigid winter can be a challenge for the unprepared. To summarize the first night in my tent, I did everything wrong to keep warm. I didn’t get my hat out of my pack. I wore the same clothes to bed that I’d had on all day. I didn’t eat anything before bed. And for most of the night, I kept my face inside the sleeping bag, so around 4 in the morning, the inside of my sleeping bag was dripping wet from condensation. Because of that truly awful night’s sleep, I woke up in the morning tired and unenthusiastic about the day.…

1. DRYSHOD Southland Men’s Hunting Boot Southland’s hunting boots provide the perfect all-day comfort you need during the warmer hunting months. Complete with moisture-wicking lining, these 100-percent waterproof boots also feature an all-over whitetail camo print, a removable molded EVA sockliner, a genuine natural-rubber overlay, convenient back-pull tabs and double Achilles-heel and instep reinforcement for added comfort and protection. MSRP: $170. (dryshodusa.com) 2. GOOD TO-GO Dehydrated Meals Eating on the go typically means sacrificing quality and taste, but Good To-Go wants to change that. With a full line of chef-inspired recipes, including the Mexican quinoa bowl, herbed mushroom risotto, Indian vegetable korma and Cuban rice bowl, not only can you choose your adventure but you can also select the meals that will keep you moving in the great outdoors. All…

After saying goodbye to his son Chris and Chris’ girlfriend, 56-year-old Don Myron wasn’t expecting any more Labor-Day-weekend visitors. So, it was a surprise when the local sheriff appeared on his doorstep a few hours later to tell him that the Beachie Creek Fire was drawing closer and that everyone in Oregon’s Little North Canyon should think seriously about evacuating. With how fierce the wildfire season had been, Myron assumed that this was just a precautionary measure. But to be safe, he spent the rest of the afternoon hosing down his property—to protect it from stray sparks—before heading back inside. “I had my last conversation with my oldest son around 8:45 p.m. I still felt OK at that point, although there was some smoke,” he remembered. It was a few…

Sixty-one-year-old Mark Johnson was keeping a wary eye on the canal near his home in Port St. Lucie in southern Florida. That was because, while out on a walk with his golden retriever, Rex, he’d noticed something floating along the water’s surface: an 8-foot alligator. At first, the reptile seemed to be sticking to the middle of the canal, but when Rex wandered closer to the water, the gator turned and started to make a beeline for the pair. “I stepped down onto the mud bank and yelled at Rex to get on home,” remembered Johnson. But when he tried to follow his pooch to safety, he was pulled back—his foot had gotten stuck in the mud. Johnson was still trying to wrench his leg free when the gator reached…

It was the worst rainstorm in Passaic, New Jersey, since Hurricane Irene in 2011. Water levels were rising quickly enough that the city even issued emergency flash-flood warnings. But 24-year-old Nathalia Bruno didn’t know about that. She was delivering food in her Toyota Prius for DoorDash and was just looking forward to heading home and getting out of the miserable weather. Soaked to the bone, Bruno was on her last delivery when the rain started to come down so hard and so fast that she could barely see out the front windshield. Following her GPS instructions, Bruno turned onto High Street, only to find it covered in standing water. By the time she realized that driving down the flooded road was a mistake, it was too late: The water was…

“NATURE’S CONSTANT STATE OF FLUX CAN POSE A SERIOUS RISK TO OUTDOOR ADVENTURERS. It was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. Pastor Luke Barnett was out hiking the 800-mile Arizona Trail, spanning from Mexico to Utah, with his 20-year-old daughter, Annalee. It was a bonding experience for the pair but also a chance to do some good in the world by fundraising for the Colorado City Dream Center—an organization that works with victims of sex trafficking. The father-daughter duo were 500 miles into their hike when they hit a scramble down a short ravine—not so unlike other rough patches of trail they’d been through already. But as they shuffled down past shrubs and cacti, the ground started to slide beneath their feet. Then one of the large boulders…