If at any point you feel you've lost the trail, the most important rule — and the hardest one to follow — is to stop. Continuing to walk 'to see if the trail shows up' almost always makes things worse.
Stop, breathe, and assess: how long ago did you last see a clear trail marker? If you can safely retrace your steps, do it. If you're not sure, stay where you are — it's much easier for a rescue team to find someone who stayed put than someone who kept moving without direction.
This is exactly why we're so insistent about leaving your route plan before heading out (read our article on this): if someone knows where you were headed and when you expected to be back, the search starts with information instead of starting from zero.
If you're in a group with a guide, this is exactly the kind of decision we're trained for — trust the guide's call over the instinct to just 'keep going.'
