Author Topic: difficult navigation places  (Read 2964 times)

dinger

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difficult navigation places
« on: 23:31:06, 25/12/17 »
I need to test my navigation out next year, can anyne recommend hardest places to navigate in the uk apart from scotland

sussamb

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #1 on: 07:58:16, 26/12/17 »
Dartmoor can be tricky, as can parts of the Peak District and Brecon Beacons, all worse if there is mist or low cloud around.
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geordie33

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #2 on: 08:21:08, 26/12/17 »
The North Pennines AONB is challenging.A very large mainly empty area with extensive open access and few defined paths in large parts.As with other areas you can have 4 seasons in 1 day which adds to the fun.

midnight rambler

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #3 on: 15:25:38, 26/12/17 »
No matter which path I take in a generally northerly direction from the top of Box Hill, I always seem to come out of the woods at Juniper Top. Very nice, but not what you want when you want to get to Box Hill Station and the light is fading!

Ralph

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #4 on: 16:35:28, 26/12/17 »
I have had to use map & compass a few times in large forests with junctions leading 3 or  more ways without signs.You don't always need large areas of moorland etc to find yourself navigationally challenged.

Requiem

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #5 on: 17:03:05, 26/12/17 »
Kinder Scout plateaus known to be a fun place when there's a bit of mist  O0  Glossop Asda's a bit of a [censored] too  ::)
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Ralph

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #6 on: 17:30:56, 26/12/17 »
Agree with Kinder & mist. Many years ago I was walking there in bright sunshine and great visibility , within minutes the mist came and visibility down to around 10 yards for around an hour. I  think that walkers should be aware how quick things can change up there. Stay safe, learn to use map & compass.

Skip

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #7 on: 18:09:30, 26/12/17 »
Kinder Scout plateaus known to be a fun place when there's a bit of mist   ::)

Bleaklow is good too when the cloud is down - it's more or less featureless, with few paths and fewer people. Note that Requiem and I both stipulate cloud or mist if honing skills is your objective.

Further north, try the Northern Pennines or the North York Moors (in the clag, of course).
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Ralph

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #8 on: 18:28:06, 26/12/17 »
One evening earlier this year I was in Edale at the Old Nags Head, my campsite was only around 5 minutes walk away. I left around 11pm ,it was a clear night but it still took 20 minutes back to camp.It just goes to show what can happen.

Ridge

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #9 on: 18:33:34, 26/12/17 »
Picking up on Ralph's posts.


Forests I find tricky, somewhere like Epping Forest where there are loads of paths on the ground but few on the map, so it is hard to pick the right path but you can not just walk on a bearing either. Or a plantation where there are tracks which change quicker than you buy new maps but the paths disappear and again you can not follow your compass for the undergrowth.


I have heard it said that Kinder's underlying rock is slightly magnetic so may increase your problems if you are using compass as opposed to GPS.


I would definitely choose to be misplaced in an open area than one with lots of obstacles. The top of Kinder in the mist can be hard walking but if you head in any direction you will hit the edge and can then follow it to a get off path.


And on his final post, if you want to test your navigation skills a couple of pints first sounds like the way to go.

Ralph

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #10 on: 18:47:02, 26/12/17 »
Ridge, I agree with you on all counts. Kinder has a reputation for being hard to navigate  but isn't  that challenging if you are prepared. Edges are easy to find but I've come across people totally lost and only 50  yards away from them. Most seem to be first timers and have no hill skills.

fernman

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #11 on: 20:53:44, 26/12/17 »
Ikea?

Owen

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #12 on: 21:26:43, 26/12/17 »


I have heard it said that Kinder's underlying rock is slightly magnetic so may increase your problems if you are using compass as opposed to GPS.



Not so it's all Millstone Grit, (technically course grained sandstone).

barewirewalker

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #13 on: 12:11:15, 27/12/17 »
Get someone else to give you a route on a simple old fashioned bread crumb trail GPS. Follow it till you come to the end and then, switch it off and then find out where you are with map and compass and proceed to another destination.

Also walking at night with map and compass alone will start to make you appreciate the minor details on a map. Walking in a full moon will put a completely different "light" on a mixed route of cross country and lanes.


Mid Wales and around Radnor Forrest can be quite a difference experience to open moor and mountain areas. Local people out hunting get lost if they get confused if the mist comes in, heard stories of riders landing up 30 or 50 miles from there intended destination, despite living in the area all their lives.


Many walkers see the real challenges in the national parks, yet there is a vast area of marginal hill land in central Wales which does not come into the popular menus of walkers. They may pass trough it following the signs of Offa's Dyke of Glyndwrs way, but they are passing complex and interesting terrain. The locals will tell of great feats of survival, but it is the conditions that are creating the challenges.





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phil1960

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Re: difficult navigation places
« Reply #14 on: 14:35:53, 27/12/17 »
I would agree with barewirewalker about mid Wales, if you can’t navigate, walk there at your peril.
Touching from a distance, further all the time.

 

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