Find the Way

 The Great Outdoors: part eight

    Finding your way or ‘not getting lost’ starts when we get in the car to leave the house.  It should start even before then with some basic route planning, where do we want to go and what’s the best way to get there?  It doesn’t take much time to look at a map to familiarize yourself with the route to the trailhead/parking.

Sweeden Falls

    This is more important when going alone, most of the time however when two or more are travelling together one person drives and another is the ‘navigator’.  The only requirement for the navigator is a knowledge of map reading, don’t laugh, lots of people can’t read maps.  But getting to the trailhead ‘should’ be the easy part, and once you arrive on the trail that too is easy navigation as long as you stay on the trail.

    Most hikers stay on the trail never wandering out of sight of the designated route (trail) and therefore none of the ‘tools of navigation’ are needed nor carried by ‘most’ hikers.  It’s when they go ‘exploring’ away from the trail that they end up getting lost, so don’t do it, stay on the trail.  If you don’t have a map and compass, and the knowledge of how to use them you should probably stay on the trail.  But of course, everything wonderful out there isn’t always on the trail, sometimes though ‘the trail’ will be something other than a ‘path’ underfoot.

    The trail can be the creek that will guide you to a waterfall or the bluffline that you hike along to a shelter or cave.  So, the trail can be anything that gives a clear route to whatever we’re looking for, there are always signs out there that show us the way in one form or another.  Sometimes not as obvious as a creek or bluffline these signs are more subtle or ‘topographic’ like a hill or a ridge, and map reading skills become necessary for finding our way.  This is especially true when on an off trail or bushwhack adventure.

    Whenever off-trail (bushwhacking) without any visible guide such as a creek or bluffline the pace slows down and good navigation becomes essential.   Now your tools become indispensable, I’m talking about things like topographic maps, compass and handheld GPS.  I use my phone as a GPS and topo map, but I always carry a compass too, and a printed map of the planned hike is always a good idea.

    As we all know cellphones die at the worst possible time, so don’t rely on your phone, it’s a good idea to learn how to navigate using nothing other than a compass and map because you never know when these skills will ‘save the day’ or even your life.  Learning and using navigation tools can be lots of fun too, it takes time though, as you get better and more skilled at ‘finding the way’ a whole new world of hiking adventures will be out there waiting for you.

    Sure, I’ve been lost more than once, or at least thought I was.  Whenever this happens, we eventually realize this doesn’t look right, then we stop and look around (get our bearings so to speak) seeing the error of our ways make the necessary corrections, and we’re back on track and on our way.  The important thing when you think you’re lost is not to panic, backtrack to where you just came from, this is when you want that map and compass.

    The basic topographic maps are going to show the basic features around you, such as hills valleys ridges blufflines and streams, pretty much whatever is out there that is big enough to show up on the map.  Look around, are you in a hollow or on a ridge, these types of geographic features should be on your map and will help you get a general idea of where you are.  To narrow it down a little more get out the compass and find ‘north’ then turn the map to align it with the compass.  Now using the map find your ‘destination’ while keeping the orientation aligned with the compass you can determine the heading or bearing you will need to follow to reach the destination.

    All this ‘basic route finding’ will become second nature with practice and the more you use your map and compass the less you will get lost, and naturally have more fun at the same time.  I believe that we’re never really lost, we just temporarily don’t know where we are exactly.  Using a handheld GPS unit is no excuse not to learn how to use a map and compass, in fact to be used effectively a GPS requires a basic knowledge of map and compass use.  A handheld GPS is a great way to go as it combines the topo map and compass into one easy to carry unit, or at least the ‘high end’ ones do.

    I remember the first ‘field GPS unit’ I ever saw was at a yard sale at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque back in the early 1990's.  You couldn’t call it ‘handheld’ the thing was the size of a large shoe box with a strap to hang it around your neck and featured a 6” monochrome screen on top that showed your route progress along with exact longitude, latitude and azimuth (bearing)...and the ‘power supply unit’ had to be carried ‘separately’.

    Thankfully technology has brought the GPS a long way since then, and they are extremely useful on the trail.  By all means get one if you can afford it, a good one is not cheap.  I have settled for a ‘GPS app’ on my smart phone, there are hundreds of them available in the App Store ranging in price from ‘free’ to well over 100 bucks.  When choosing an app keep in mind it must work without internet since you will rarely have a signal in the back woods of the Ozarks.

    And don’t forget to charge your hand held or phone before heading out, these apps are really good at draining the battery in a cellphone.  One of the best features of handheld GPS units and some of the better GPS apps is the ability to ‘enter’ waypoint coordinates before going hiking, so the location of the desired destination is ‘stored’ on the device making it easier to find your way while hiking.

Old scenic highway 7 bridge over the Buffalo River, gone but not forgotten