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Main Boards => General Walking Discussion => Topic started by: parkthebus on 22:02:08, 06/06/18

Title: How do you find your way?
Post by: parkthebus on 22:02:08, 06/06/18
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?
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: Ridge on 22:10:21, 06/06/18
Hi and welcome to the forum.


If you have concerns then why not start with routes either from books or the internet which have instructions as well as a map.


If you get temporarily misplaced then you can retrace your steps, ask someone or see what turns up. Start small and low down and chances are that the worst that will happen is that you may be late home for your tea.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: pleb on 22:21:57, 06/06/18
Spend time looking at OS map, familiarise yourself with where you are going. Take a compass!
Smartphone GPS? If u have one.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: rural roamer on 22:28:17, 06/06/18
Sign up for a Basic Navigational course? Or get a book from the library.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: scottk on 22:42:03, 06/06/18
Alternatively, get with some other people or a club and get some hints and tips. A navigation course could be the fastest way to learn though.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: MarkT on 22:47:02, 06/06/18
You guessed it.....Use a map.


But plan your route in advance, use maps and guide books, plenty of books in your local library covering majority of areas.  Research the internet, read about different routes, look at the photographs on people's trip reports, not just on this website but look at various sites. Just google the area you want to walk and various routes/walks will be available to you.


Once you know where you want to go, decide on where to start so you know how far you will be walking.  Once you know this then research, research and research. Take notes, print route maps, look at photo's, then try to condense all the information you have gathered so you can take it on your walk but without adding too much weight in your back pack, you don't want to be carrying 4 or 5 books. I will often use youtube to see if anyone has posted a video of the walk i'm doing.  This way, when out walking, I will hopefully recognise some parts of the walk.


When I go walking in new areas or new fells I will often refer to my map every 5 minutes or so just to be sure I am on the right path. That way, if I have gone wrong or I'm not 100% sure where I am, I can turn round and get back to the last point where I know I was on the map. I will also ask people I meet when out walking and double check with them just to make sure I am on the correct path/route.


Some may suggest use a GPS device but only worth investing in if you will be using it on a regular basis or maybe a friend has one you can borrow.


I've also found local knowledge is very helpful and have asked many a farmer or local the best way but of course you can only do that once you are in the area you are walking.


A lot will depend on where you want to go, maybe to start with pick an area or route that is well signposted, i.e. a National Trail.


But as Benjamin Franklin supposedly said "Failing to plan is planning to fail"


I'm sure others will come up with some advice but that's what I do and have never got lost.....been a few times when I wasn't sure or have taken the wrong path but because of my notes and research I have realised my errors before it's too late.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: happyhiker on 23:06:23, 06/06/18
My suggestion would be to start by selecting a walk with detailed directions. There are loads of books and Internet sites, including my own, with lots of choice. Before you go, study the directions in conjunction with the relevant 1:250000 Ordnance Survey map and try to work out where the route will go on the map. This will give you a feel for how the information on the map works, including the symbols and lines.


Then, do the walk referring to both as you go. Again this will give you a feeling for how the map works on the ground. Pick a fairly short walk at first as this will slow you down. You will soon get the hang of it.


I give this advice with some confidence because that is how I started!


Once you have this sorted, you could use electronic navigation on your phone or a dedicated GPS receiver but please do not take any notice of those who proudly boast of never using a map but only electronics. Lots of rescues have been caused after walkers became stranded because their devices failed. Also, to plan your own walks, which I think is part of the fun, you really need a map.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: scottk on 23:21:07, 06/06/18
Another good source is OS maps online. You can use it to plan routes, print off maps of the area and it also now does a fly through so you can actually see what the walk will look like. You can use this on your mobile too if it is a smart phone. It costs around £20 for the year.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: fernman on 23:21:31, 06/06/18
Study map reading. There comes a time when you can stand somewhere and say to yourself, Well there's a valley below me, that'll be where this river is that's marked on the map, on the far side I can see the church spire that's marked, and that white van must be going along the lane on the map, while those trees will be the wood that's marked.

Get a compass. You don't have to learn to use it properly immediately, that can come later, but you can use it to check which way to go when your indistinct route crosses a convex bit of land where you can't see the other side, or you can make certain you turn the correct way at a junction of paths or tracks (it's easy to get it wrong, I still do sometimes).

Learn about grid references and how to read them. Then when you become uncertain where you are, aka lost (something  else that happens to me), you can quickly get your current grid ref from a free app on your phone so you can pinpoint where you are on the map.

Largely I don't plan routes, nearly all of my day walks are circular routes from guidebooks. Sometimes the same is true of my multiple-day walks, while others are bits and pieces of published walks cobbled together. If someone else has walked it, the paths should be OK, whereas a path you decide to include that is marked on the map might be non-existant on the ground (this is often my experience when I go to North Wales).
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: Mel on 23:30:30, 06/06/18
I guess most people will say take a map


Yes, we would.  But a map is next to useless if you don't know how to read it. 


....how do I know which way to go?



Again, knowing how to read a map really helps.


...what do you do if you lose track of where you are?


The simplest thing is to re-trace your steps to your last known point of reference and study the map to see where you should have gone (a compass can come in useful here too).


What do you people do to plan a route?


A map.  Be that digital, on line or paper.


Honestly, learning basic map/compass/navigation skills is worth it's weight in gold.  Then simply practice, practice, practice  O0
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: Peter on 21:45:10, 07/06/18
It's actually a very good question.
A map will show you the paths, but not where to start or which way makes for the best walk.
It doesn't matter in lots of areas, one place is as good to start as any other.. but on the bigger hills it can matter a lot.
Guide books are the simple answer. Follow their predefined route.. BUT at the same time take notice of other paths and check them out on a map.
Some 15 years ago I stepped into Crummack Dale for the first time, I followed the guide book carefully and was blown away by the beauty of the dale.
Now, I sometimes visit it on a daily basis and have explored it all. I haven't looked at a map of it in years, I know it well enough.
Though when I wanted to walk Pen Hill, I could find no guides. So, it is down to study a map, find a parking spot and start. Follow the map carefully. I assume you would have studied it before hand. It brings a bit of excitement to the game :)
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: gunwharfman on 10:15:47, 08/06/18
One purchase for me is really good, The A to Z booklets. I used one when I walked the Pennine Way, even for my colour blind eyes, easy to read, never put a foot wrong.

When I'm hiking in France I use the app SityTrail, the footpaths are highlighted in blue (IGN maps) wander of the trail and the phone bleeps, wander back to the trail and the phone bleeps again. Can be very reassuring especially in thick fog.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: KimE on 22:04:37, 08/06/18
If you are lost in the forest follow a tractor track it always leads to a road or follow a stream/ditch ,walh with the flow, it leads to a lake, river or roads.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: Skip on 06:49:05, 09/06/18
The Ordnance Survey website is a good starting point for basic mapreading skills:
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/resources/map-reading/

More detailed guidance from Scottish Mountaineering Council:
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/safety/navigators-dozen.shtml

And another beginners' guide from the internet:
http://www.walkingandhiking.co.uk/beginners-guide-map-reading-grid-references.html (http://www.walkingandhiking.co.uk/beginners-guide-map-reading-grid-references.html)



Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: dartmoorrambler on 08:29:13, 09/06/18
Often the ability that is overlooked is the ability to use your eyes and understand the landscape arround you.A map represents this landscape, and is only useful if you can understand how the map portrays the landscape, and you can match what you see on the map to what you see on the ground.If you are new to the outdoors, stick to well used paths that follow obvious routes. Learn how to use a GPS as well as a map. Following a GPS route on your GPS unit shows you quickly how far off the path you have gone, and which way to go to get back on track.With experience you learn to recognize a path even when little used or overgrown, and with a lot more experience you learn how to pick the best route over a landscape where there are no paths.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: Islandplodder 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.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: Dyffryn Ardudwy 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.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: Skip 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.

Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: pauldawes 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...”
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: richardh1905 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.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: Skip 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 ;-)
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: pauldawes 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.
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: Nomad32 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
Title: Re: How do you find your way?
Post by: mananddog 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.