Thoughts on Navigation ~ Route finding

Arguably, the most important skill in mountain navigation has nothing to do with maps! It’s a skill called route finding, after all people have been climbing hills and mountains long before maps became common. You’ll often hear people say that ‘so and so’ has a ‘good sense of direction’ in the context of everyday life. They can find their way around and figure the best way to go. But people are not born with a ‘good sense of direction’ or ‘good route finding skills’ – you have to learn them by experience. It comes with knowing your environment, taking responsibility for finding the way and learning from mistakes.

A good route finder on the hills can size up how best to negotiate a route up or down through forest or hill farmland. Once on the open hill, they can eye up the terrain and pick an efficient route. They can size up difficult ground from a distance, choose a route and adapt as they go along. These skills are often at a premium when descending steep or broken ground where drops are not visible from above. In the reduced visibility of mist and rain, the good route finder uses their experience in conjunction with map reading skills. A good route finder can spot and avoid getting into difficult terrain.

So how do you acquire good route finding skills? You can learn a certain amount by watching other more experienced people if you walk with a group. But somewhere along the line, you have to take responsibility yourself – go to unfamiliar areas, make mistakes (hopefully not too serious!) and learn from them. Most of us are comfortable in our everyday living environment, so it’s a matter of extending that comfort to knowing the terrain of hills and mountains.