Found yourself lost in the middle of nowhere? And to make matters worse, no compass, the GPS battery is dead… in short, you are in trouble! Here are the essential rules to remember to regain your bearings while hiking or trekking.
Learning to read a map
This is a prerequisite that can save you from many navigation errors while hiking. To learn to read a map, practise near home, in an area you know well. Try to get a sense of distances at your map's scale by covering a route you are familiar with. Spot a slope and climb it to get a clear idea of contour lines. Reading a map is not insurmountable — it simply takes a little learning. Before heading out on a hike, take time to study your map, visualise your route, and identify the key landmarks: hiking and trekking navigation is often a matter of preparation, and it is essential to get to grips with the terrain by studying the map in advance.
Knowing your pace
For some, it will be 5 kilometres per hour, 300 to 400 m of elevation gain per hour, and 600 to 800 m on the descent… but this can vary from person to person. Your experience should lead you to know your own reference values, which will be useful for navigation while hiking. The day you get lost, half an hour's walk from the last known point, you can locate and draw on the map a "circle of uncertainty" around that known point with a radius of 2 km if your walking pace is 4 km/h. It is also useful to calibrate your stride: count your steps over one kilometre on a road. This figure will inevitably come in handy if you ever get an indication such as "the bridge over the river is 800 m from the junction between the 2 paths". You simply need to do a quick calculation and count your steps to determine the approximate distance to cover.
Hiking navigation using the stars
Not always straightforward, but it can be useful. On a clear night, look for the constellation of the Great Bear: it clearly resembles a saucepan with a broken handle. At the end of the handle, the Pole Star indicates the direction of North. Worth remembering: the Great Bear is often low on the horizon — there is no point looking for it directly overhead!
Hiking navigation using your watch
Of course, this requires an analogue watch! Be mindful of summer time and all that comes with it: set your watch to solar time. In summer, put your watch back by 2 hours; in winter, by just one hour. You can of course do this mentally, but it is simpler to physically move the hands.
Once your watch is set to solar time, point the hour hand (the short one) towards the sun. South is then given by the bisector between that direction and the 12 o'clock mark — that is, the line that divides that angle into 2 equal parts.
It is very straightforward once you glance at the diagram below, and especially with a little practice.
Distant and intermediate landmarks
When choosing a direction to follow, pick both a distant reference point (a peak, a tall mast, or a church steeple) and an intermediate one (a hilltop, a building): this allows for more practical continuous navigation and, above all, prevents you from losing your bearings around a bend if the intermediate point disappears behind a fold in the terrain.
If you are in a group, send someone ahead with directions, then correct their bearing. Have them wait, say, 250 m further on, then join them. Proceed section by section to ensure you are following the right bearing. This is very practical when navigating by compass or map and needing to hold a given direction. Obviously, do not do this for your entire hike; reserve this method for tricky situations.
Planning a "buffer stop" route
Sometimes you need to plan an alternative route or give directions to others (who may need to split up, for example). It helps to identify on the map a route that works in stages with clear "as far as" markers and is easy to follow. For example: "follow the stream as far as the edge of the forest, then turn right, follow the forest edge as far as the cliff, then turn left, follow the cliff as far as the path… etc." It is often not the shortest option, but it allows you to give clear, physical landmarks that are easy to understand and spot.
Knowing when to deliberately offset your bearing
Example: you are looking for a footbridge crossing a river. Try to aim straight for the footbridge and in all likelihood you will not land exactly on it (vegetation, terrain, obstacles…). Then you will not know whether to look left or right. Instead, deliberately deviate a few degrees from your bearing and aim, say, to the right of the footbridge. When you reach the bank, all you need to do is follow it to the left to find your target. This kind of dead reckoning is very practical once you master it and use it wisely. Originally a military technique, it can be extremely useful for simplifying navigation while hiking in order to reach a precise point.
Finally, make frequent intermediate check-ins. There are still people who get out their map after 3 hours of walking — that is too late! You should absolutely make regular checks every 20 to 30 minutes if you want a reasonably accurate picture of the route you are following. Every change of direction or notable point should be an opportunity to check your position on the map. Even if some in your group grumble, explain that a minute lost can sometimes be a lifesaver when you start to go astray. Moreover, good hiking or trekking navigation often results from combining several methods, cross-referencing them at regular intervals.
Navigation is also about observation. And that makes hiking all the more rewarding: you combine the pleasure of taking in the scenery and understanding the landscape with the practicality and safety of reliable, sound navigation.
