Glenn Powell Jr. didn't notice that his gloves contained the magnets until he tried to start a fire that night and took them off. The magnets were designed to hold insulating flaps back from his fingers. But, according to Powell, they distorted his compass and limited his navigational ability in the heavily falling snow that day.

Fortunately for Powell, he found a porcupine den that wasn't occupied, and the shelter, which measured about 2 feet wide by 6 feet long, kept him warm enough that night.

"I didn't have to dig anything out -- it was big," Powell said. "I was lucky I had my insulated coveralls in my backpack. My clothes were soaking wet."

A rescue effort was ordered and members of The Southeast Alaska Dogs Organized for Ground Search, the Army National Guard, Juneau Mountain Rescue and the Coast Guard joined in the search.

SEADOG team manager Bruce Bowler said the weather and location made Powell a hard man to locate.

"You had underbrush that was in many cases impenetrable and real heavy snow that was falling down the backs of everybody's necks," Bowler said, adding that local topography also hindered the search. "The area that we were searching is a sound sink. You can't hear things in there."

Powell said a helicopter flew over him twice.

"They powdered me with snow off the trees," He said.

Powell fired off his gun, but the searchers didn't hear all of his shots, and Powell didn't hear the shots they fired in reply.

Bowler said that whistle blasts, flares, horns and sirens were swallowed in the sound sink.

Powell eventually followed creeks and trails until he located fresh tracks and ran into a hunting group, which pointed him in the right direction and out of the woods.

Powell's night in the woods was a learning experience, and he plans on taking survival training in the future. But he intends to get back out in the woods soon.

"Gotta get back on the horse," he said.

-- Juneau Empire