Hell Hath No Fury than when that realization starts that you might need to bivy. (no bivy sack or sleeping bag, I think this is usually referred to as "unexpected bivy")

When? Where? Why? How long? Did you endure?

Hmm, I have had a cold unplanned bivi (Mt Barille, AK in May), a wet unplanned bivi (Mt Stuart, WA in Aug), and a long unplanned bivi (Mt Shuksan, WA in Sept). Never hit the trifecta of suckage though and looking back they all seem like character building experiences.

Bubba Suess wrote:Does being incarcerated at the airport jail in Catania, Sicily count?

For Amanda Knox it does.

whitetail wrote:"trifecta of suckage" - one of the best descriptive phrases I have heard in a while. Worthy of repeating given the right circumstances.

Rearding the wet bivi on Mt Stuart: My partner and I were gunning for a one day ascent of the Razorback Ridge. Failing to access the start due to a large moat, we moved over to the North Ridge. On the way we passed a couple of slow moving climbers. By the time we hit the Great Gendarme storm clouds were slamming against the upper mountain. We topped out just as it started to snow. We ran into another party and the four of us ran down the Cascadian Couloir, being chased by the storm. My partner slowed down and I waited for him at the Ingall's Creek Trail, now in a full on rain storm. I found a dry tree to hunker under until he showed up. We began to hike out via Longs Pass and ran into the other two climbers we descended with. In the dark and rain we could not find the faint climber's path crossing Ingalls Creek and up to Long's Pass. We all stopped in the trees getting rained on waiting for the light of day. We started a fire to keep warm.

The other party of two climbers would spend three more days 6,000 feet above on the storm whipped summit before being resuced. One of the climbers had taken a rock to the face knocking out teeth. Their down bags got soaked inside their bivi sacs. They were wet, cold, and hungry for three long days and nights. My definition of the trifecta of suckage.

Oh, no, my friend. I'd take the trifecta of suckage any day over Joshua Tree.

ran into the other two climbers we descended with. In the dark and rain we could not find the faint climber's path crossing Ingalls Creek and up to Long's Pass.

carrying a GPS usually solves this. Simply leaving a waypoint for trail or camp, makes it impossible to get lost.

The last half I was up and dancing the way Native Americans are portrayed dancing in old Westerns. I don't think I slept a wink all night.

lol!!

Sometimes it's best to just keep moving, I've pulled all nighters that way simply by electing not to bivy. I think after the sensation of the cold and shivering, the second worst thing about a bivy is that nauseous "i feel like crap" feeling you get in the morning when you start moving again. Ugh.

I don't know why the human body has to be so picky about temperatures when sleeping, if you are cold just a bit, it will prevent you from sleeping.

Daria wrote:carrying a GPS usually solves this. Simply leaving a waypoint for trail or camp, makes it impossible to get lost.

Hard for kids your age to understand, but I grew up before color TV, cellular telephones, and Satelite enabled GPS devices.