Death in the Wilderness: What do you do with the body?

[Glenn MacGrady]

Three of you are on a 30 day wilderness trip in far northern Canada in July, two paddlers in a tandem canoe and one in a solo canoe. The trip involves big lakes subject to winds, connecting rivers with some rapids, and multiple portages. Both canoes are chock full of necessary gear. You are certain you will not encounter any other persons or towns on this 30 day trip until the take-out day at the end. You have no sat phone or other electronic signalling device, no way to contact anyone.

Half way through the trip, on day 15, one of the other paddlers suddenly dies. What do you do with the body?

 

[dschult2]

Well let me start by saying there is NO way I would go on a trip like that without some type of PLB but for arguments sake I'll bite. I would cache the solo canoe and whatever gear we didn't need and hi-tail it to the nearest takeout point with the body, paddling as long of days as I possibly could without risking getting hurt myself.

 

[scratchypants]

At the furthest point of the trip? Bury as well as possible and be on our way, with haste, to the nearest place with communications. But best to set the precedent for these situations - my wife knows to get herself to safety without having to worry about what happens to my shell. And without trying to sound gruesome, the thought of various forest creatures finding nourishment as a result is something I would readily invite.

 

[PeteStaehling]

At the furthest point of the trip? Bury as well as possible and be on our way, with haste, to the nearest place with communications. But best to set the precedent for these situations - my wife knows to get herself to safety without having to worry about what happens to my shell. And without trying to sound gruesome, the thought of various forest creatures finding nourishment as a result is something I would readily invite.

That sounds like the way to go especially in warm weather. If it was cool/cold and we could manage to haul a body out maybe I'd try, but being buried in the wilderness sounds like a fitting end for an outdoors person

My only concern if I were the deceased is what legalities would there be about declaring me legally dead. Could be problems for spouse or heirs.

 

[Mihun09]

Same as here in Manitoba, make a big smoky fire, they will come investigate.

 

[alsg]

My initial reaction was that bringing a dead body along for 15 days in JULY seems like an obvious non-starter, especially if there are multiple portages.

But then it occurred to me, maybe Glenn is on to something: if you bring the body along and leave it just outside camp, the survivors probably won't need to worry about the flies bothering them the rest of the trip!

 

[Guest]

I’m in the wilderness of northern Canada, 15 days to go in either direction, big lakes, river rapids, multiple portages and no sat phone or etc.

No way am I hauling a decomposing body along for two weeks, even if space in the tandem allowed. I’m probably not digging a very deep hole with a scat spade; if it’s wooded I’ll quickly stymied by roots, if it’s rocky it’s a waste of energy.

I have no GPS to record a location, but I’m leaving the body somewhere, either where we are or at some more distinct spot, head of a falls, tip of a peninsula, confluence of another river, within an easy day’s travel, even if we need to return to camp for left behind gear. Physically marking the location; maybe a rock cairn or wood cross at the water’s edge, with some bright piece of clothing affixed. The left behind solo canoe might help in either regard.

I’d leave an explanatory note and ID at the site. If it is rocky pile of stones atop the body in hopes that parts are not too scattered by retrieval time.

Now what? 15 days in either direction, which promises easier/faster travel? All things being equal, civilization and available transport at the ends, I might opt to go out the way we came in. Having recently been there I know what’s what along that route, and there may be better chance of encountering another party coming along behind who does have some communication device instead of catching up to a party further ahead.

 

[billconner]

Donner's Pass

 

[Foxyotter]

If I am the dead guy either cover me with rocks and dirt, leave me to the birds and bees or stick me in my solo and give me a viking funeral. I am dead and do what makes you feel better. Then please enjoy your additional 15 days of tripping. I would hate to ruin a trip I planned with good friends. If you put a cross by my body and I could actually come back to haunt you then your not making it out in 15 days either.

Seriously there is no emergency at that point and no need to hurry or expedite and risk more injury. Please carry on and enjoy the trip and hopefully find something positive and rewarding from your experience. I can not think of too many more fitting locations to be absorbed back to the cosmos. Better then making my friends have suffer fest taking out my body to be put in an airtight box put inside of another cement box to be buried underground. Document the details of the death, location, pictures, etc. Take my left over rations of weed and Scotch and enjoy your trip anything else would be disrespectful.

Maybe that should be a question asked before such a trip. I will ask my regular tripping partners what they think. I am pretty sure they would know to leave me and carry on and they would not forget my share of the rations.

 

[Foxyotter]

Donner's Pass

This is July and they have plenty of rations and I am a bitter old man that is full of crap. Peanut butter and Jelly or bitter, full crap old man who has been sitting in the sun a little too long. Your call Bill but if you choose the old man I am not so sure I want to paddle with you.

 

[billconner]

Foxyotter- just wanted all the options out there. (And not talking about haigis after all.)

And your friends - without you consuming food - can stay out an extra week.

Humour noir.

 

[Foxyotter]

Foxyotter- just wanted all the options out there. (And not talking about haigis after all.)

And your friends - without you consuming food - can stay out an extra week.

Humour noir.

Extra week sounds great! Does that make a motive?

 

[Mason]

Hopefully everyone here has read "Death on the Barrens", by Richard Grinnell, where exactly that happened in 1955. Great read. As well as "Barren Grounds" by Skip Pessl, another account of the same trip.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I was hoping for more detail, and no fighting of the hypothetical.

YOU didn't die; one of the other two did. There is NO ONE, NO CIVILIZATION, NO TAKE-OUTS at all until you reach the end point. There are no electronics (which was true not even 35 years ago).

A fire won't be seen by anyone.

You have two boats full of food and equipment for three people.

There are only three logical options: try to take the body out, leave the body, or stay with the body. Staying with the body makes no sense, as no one else will come by and you have no way of signalling.

So, I'd like to hear details of the other two options. If you try to get the body out, how would you do it?

If you leave the body, would you take measures to protect it? What? Burial? Protect the corpse from decay and animals? Suspend the corpse in the air? Anchor the corpse in water? Why would you make the choice you do and how would you implement it? (You do have the equipment you would bring on a 30 day trip.)

How would you mark this remote spot for future rescue teams if you leave the body? The family of the dead person presumably would want to retrieve the body if possible.

 

[Alan Gage]

Hopefully everyone here has read "Death on the Barrens", by Richard Grinnell, where exactly that happened in 1955. Great read. As well as "Barren Grounds" by Skip Pessl, another account of the same trip.

My first thought too and I can't think of a much better response than what they did. Place the body underneath the upturned canoe on top of a hill, probably with some rocks for extra protection, and continue paddling until you reach somewhere the RMCP can be alerted so they can retrieve the body and investigate.

Glenn didn't specify that we don't have a map so assuming we do it would be easy enough to mark the location, provided we know where we are.

Viking funerals or other forms of disposing of the body to return to nature sound nice but would probably be regretted when the authorities started poking around. They'll want a body that doesn't doesn't look like it was murdered.

Alan

 

[Foxyotter]

Glenn given your scenario there is no logic in taking the body out. There has got to be some sort of bear county rule to not travel with a dead body for two weeks in July not to mention dealing with the physical challenge of carrying an extra 120 to 220 lbs corpse. Therefore you must bury them or sink them. Hanging them is unlikely to protect the body and would be rather gruesome if some random canoe trippers found the body strung up between trees vs buried under dirt and rock. Mike gave the best examples with finding notable location and burying body. You could use the solo canoe to protect the body. It would depend a lot on the person, and their family. Do they have young children at home, religious rituals they wish observed, a partner who needs the closure or like me more content with being left behind. My decision would also depend on the feelings and morale of the rest of the group. Maintaining mental health for the survivors ranks higher in importance then the dead person and their family. I suppose in this case it is one other person but if it was 3 or 5, 10 etc the group dynamics become very important from a safety perspective. We still have 2 weeks of travel and the now creeping worry that what if I come out alone and the other person kicks the bucket too.

 

[ppine]

This scenario has played out countless times. The only serious answer is to bury the body and have a funeral.
Nobody in their right mind is going to transport a dead body in the summer on a difficult canoe trip with portages and rapids.
There is a reason that there are graves along some of the old historic canoe routes.

 

[Guest]

I am dead and do what makes you feel better. Then please enjoy your additional 15 days of tripping. I would hate to ruin a trip I planned with good friends. If you put a cross by my body and I could actually come back to haunt you then your not making it out in 15 days either.

Please carry on and enjoy the trip and hopefully find something positive and rewarding from your experience

Foxyotter, that may depend on the depth of our friendship. I lost a backpacking, paddling and cross country travelling companion of nearly 50 years a month ago. I was not there when he died, but was a wreck for a solid week and in no shape emotionally to enjoy much of anything, much less the remainder of a paddling trip.

About Viking funerals or leaving the body to rot in nature, while that sounds respectful of wishes, and one of my current wilderness paddling companions has requested that I leave him to the buzzards, I can pretty much guarantee there will be an investigation, and not recovering the body will drag that out and cast suspicion.

My friend had health issues, went for a walk and fell over in the woods behind his home. The police still spent 5 hours questioning his wife after the EMT’s called it.

Apologies for the cross, maybe a big X marks the spot? Not a Scotch fan, but thanks for the weed.

 

[Alan Gage]

Glenn, I hope this is all hypothetical and that you aren't planning your last canoe trip.

Alan

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Hopefully everyone here has read "Death on the Barrens", by Richard Grinnell, where exactly that happened in 1955. Great read. As well as "Barren Grounds" by Skip Pessl, another account of the same trip.

Very good reads. As Alan indicated, they did exactly what I would do.