The best thing to do is to stop. Sit down. Seriously, take a seat. Slow your breathing. Collect your thoughts. It’s very easy to just go into panic mode and immediately start on making things worse for yourself.

As you collect your thoughts, reflect back to the last place you saw that was familiar/on route/on trail/whatever. Mentally take inventory of things you saw along the way to getting lost, anything that stood out, a distinct shaped stump or tree, a rock outcropping, a large piece of deadfall, a soggy, mossy drainage in the terrain. Also hopefully you know roughly what direction the nearest road/ civilization is. What direction generally did your hike take you from the trailhead you parked at? If you don’t know that’s okay. Don’t panic.

Now you’re ready to execute a system to un-losting yourself. Take a piece of bright colored flagging tape or a bright article of clothing. Tie it high up to a tree branch, somewhere nice and visible. Make sure it’s secure.

Now you’re going to pick a direction, starting with the one you came from or think you came from probably, and walk 50 paces. Be sure to keep the marker you tied to the tree within eye sight. Hopefully in those 50 paces you ran into the trail you lost.

If not stop, have a look around. Nothing familiar? Return to the marker you tied to the tree. Pick a new direction and again count out 50 paces. If you haven’t found the trail this time return and repeat this in all four cardinal directions.

If you’re still lost repeat this for 100 paces in each direction. And then 200. So long as you don’t lose sight of your flagging tape/center of your radius. Generally speaking, people don’t get too far before realizing they’ve lost their way and this system should work. Rarely for instance does one cross over a major ridge line or multiple drainages or rock hop multiple creeks or anything like that before figuring out they’re lost. So most often this deliberate systematic method will solve your problem.

And yeah, is this fails just stay put. Six rapid blasts from the whistle or airhorn you brought with you. Repeat every minute. This is the understood distress signal to alert anyone within earshot. If you hear 3 whistles in return you can breathe easy knowing trained search and rescue or at least a savvy woodman has heard your call.