Author Topic: How do you find your way?  (Read 3349 times)

Islandplodder

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Re: How do you find your way?
« Reply #15 on: 11:13:33, 09/06/18 »

If you can find route instructions online that include a few photos of the route that can be really helpful.
Often the hardest part is to find the start.  You park your car or get off the bus and then wonder what to do next.  And if you set off down the wrong path you get lost quite quickly. 
So start with a walk where you have route instructions,  some photos of landmarks along the way especially at crucial junctions and a clear plan of where the start of the walk is and which way to set off, along the lines of "stand with your back to the door of the pub and head right."   If the path is waymarked, so much the better, but waymarks do have  tendency to be plentiful where it's easy and just as you stride along confident and secure, a vital one is missing.  But at least there might be a signpost to set you off in the right direction.
After that, everything gets easier.

Dyffryn Ardudwy

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Re: How do you find your way?
« Reply #16 on: 17:49:01, 09/06/18 »
I think ive only been lost two or three times over the many years ive been walking, the last time, was quite a few years ago.
I fully research the walk and terrain i intend taking, how far it is, roughly how long it will take, and possible escape routes in inclement weather.

The last time i got lost, was approaching Carnedd Lewellyn some years ago.
A beautiful day suddenly went downhill quickly, with heavy mist and rain that had not been forecast, suddenly appearing from nowhere, it was so fast that returning back to Cwm Eigiau was a challenge in itself.

I knew roughly where i was in the Carneddau, but navigating was just about impossible, and i located certain sheer drops into emptiness somewhere in the Yr Elen direction, that i kept going round in circles for well over an hour.


In fine weather you can navigate and avoid the dangers high mountains sometimes provide, but when your going round in circles, you can often venture onto difficult terrain without realising it.

The weather was so bad, i had to make an ascent into the Ogwen valley, and phone a friend to collect me, and take me back to Cwm Eigiau.


The famous Carneddau mist was especially thick that day.

I much prefer to walk in good weather, not so much because i hate the rain and mist,  but if a walk is a good one, its worth seeing the stunning views.

Getting lost thankfully is a rarity, i know my intend routes, and if the weather is that poor, i arrange another day.
« Last Edit: 17:54:17, 09/06/18 by Dyffryn Ardudwy »

Skip

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Re: How do you find your way?
« Reply #17 on: 21:33:38, 11/06/18 »
Is this another 'one-post-wonder' hit and run?
Quite a few WF regulars have gone to the trouble of offering advice and experience but without so much as a 'thank you' from the OP.

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pauldawes

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Re: How do you find your way?
« Reply #18 on: 08:32:53, 12/06/18 »
Is this another 'one-post-wonder' hit and run?
Quite a few WF regulars have gone to the trouble of offering advice and experience but without so much as a 'thank you' from the OP.


It looks that way, just cannot fathom why people do that.


At least this time it’s walk related, and has led to a glut of goood informative posts.


 The next one hit wonder will most likelily to advertise some unlikely walking product. “I’ve just invented a sock that walks across room to you, to save you trouble of picking it up...”

richardh1905

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Re: How do you find your way?
« Reply #19 on: 08:46:43, 12/06/18 »

So I've never done any planned hiking, and the only thing stopping me is essentially, how do I know which way to go?


I guess most people will say take a map but what do you do if you lose track of where you are?

What do you people do to plan a route?


Map, compass and the knowledge in how to use them.


Guide books can be a good source of inspiration for routes.


I do recommend that you join a local walking club; you'll learn a lot from the more experienced members.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

Skip

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Re: How do you find your way?
« Reply #20 on: 18:43:21, 12/06/18 »
“... I’ve just invented a sock that walks across room ...”
Mine do that if I keep them on for a week or so ;-)
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pauldawes

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Re: How do you find your way?
« Reply #21 on: 21:22:07, 12/06/18 »
Mine do that if I keep them on for a week or so ;-)


I suspect some of mine also have the ability of independent movement...I seem to have a wealth of unmatched ones, so some must be escaping via some mysterious means.


On subject of navigation the one tip a lot of us would give is: make a real effort early on to learn about it, and get to a reasonable standard.


I enjoyed my early years of walking when I spent a fair part of many walks a wee bit lost. But I’d have probably enjoyed them even more if I could have navigated just a bit better.


Yes...going to an evening map reading class, or enrolling on a course..or working through a book on basic navigation can be a bit of a fag...but that effort is really, really worth it.

Nomad32

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Re: How do you find your way?
« Reply #22 on: 02:24:52, 24/06/18 »
Use an is map. Plan a sensible route. If you get bord of the route like I did when I wanted to walk the monsel trail then improvise with the map. Once you get the hang of it it's a doddle. If you get lost find a recognisable land mark like a hill or cave, take a baring with the compass trancefer that to the map and draw a line in the map along that baring with the baseplate lined up on the landmark then find another landmark about 30-40° left or right of that land mark. Repeat then where the lines meet is roughly your position.
I used the youtube crash course on navigation. Steve backshawl explained it well

mananddog

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Re: How do you find your way?
« Reply #23 on: 15:34:02, 25/06/18 »

So I've never done any planned hiking, and the only thing stopping me is essentially, how do I know which way to go?


I guess most people will say take a map but what do you do if you lose track of where you are?

What do you people do to plan a route?


If you are really an absolute novice on this you can do what I advised a friend of mine to do when she wanted to start walking. Go to a local place you know really well where you have walked before - a park, stately home, route around your own local neighbourhood or what ever and armed with a map follow the route you are familiar with on that map - I suggest a 1/25000. Eventually you can move off that map  to adjacent areas just getting a feel for matching the map to the environment. This is often what people find difficult who are total beginners. Once you have got this then it might be useful to go on a map reading course - or you just might get enough confidence to sort out your own routes.

 

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