Ever been lost and how didyou get on (off?)

[Caberfeidh]

At one point, whilst canoeing on a glassy calm loch, I lost my bearings and couldn't figure out which way was up or down.I may have strayed into the ancient Celtic Underworld at one point...

Canoeing in mirror-calm conditions can be disorientating...

[Mal Grey]

At one point, whilst canoeing on a glassy calm loch, I lost my bearings and couldn't figure out which way was up or down.I may have strayed into the ancient Celtic Underworld at one point...
]

Easily done.

giagsanois hcol

I have since fitted a proper binnacle so that I can ensure correct orientation at all times.

[Giant Stoneater]

At one point, whilst canoeing on a glassy calm loch, I lost my bearings and couldn't figure out which way was up or down.I may have strayed into the ancient Celtic Underworld at one point...

DSCF6395a#p.jpg

A wee tip try spitting

[weedavie]

The compass isn't always right, nobody told me about that bog below Beinn Mhor on South Uist with magnetic properties and that was a bit embarrassing.

Also early mobile phones had enormous electrical fields and I had one compass demagnetised by proximity, which caused great amusement to my despised GPS-user pal as he watched me wander. I also had one have its polarity reversed and fortunately I spotted this before I went into the mist. I still use it as a spare - it's very important to remember its peculiarity when using it.

My worst habit was setting the compass 90 degrees out on the map. I did this once on the Perthshire Beinn Dearg. Maybe a kilometre from the summit I got a flash of visibility and realised my mistake. As is my wont, I panicked. My best move would heve been continue down on my new direction and head along the bottom to the bothy and my bike. Instead I turned at 90 degrees and started moving as fast as I could but not counting paces so I'd no idea where I was. Fortunately the path is a good scar so I recognised it when I crossed it.

[Sgurr]

Compass tells lies on top of Ben More Mull and on the Skye ridge where you can actually see it swing round in ten paces. So 3% of the time your mantra may be wrong.

[Caberfeidh]

Mist is a real bugger too; once in the Galloway Hills - big rounded featureless lumps - I hiked with three companions up to Loch Girvan Eye for some trout fishing. We separated into two pairs, not on purpose, we just walked at different speeds. The mist came down, and we two in front hiked on in a straight line, only to meet two other chaps coming the other way. To our surprise it was our companions! How did they get in front? Of course they had not, we had simply walked in a circle and without realising, headed back on our own footsteps. We stuck close to the burn after that, water rarely flows up hill. Usually...

Waterfalls going up instead of down, Neist Point, Skye.

[JonetCol]

The mind must lean toward walking in circles. One winter years ago the wife and I were walking towards Wester Tor in clear weather. . There was about 6 inches of snow on the ground. After about an hour in, a dense cloud came down. We decided to continue on our merry way in the hope it would soon clear. After only a few minutes it did, to reveal our footprints had made a decent attempt at a geometric circle in the snow.

[mikebeattie1]

well come to the club of harsh lessons and lived to tell the tale
ive taken wrong turns, come of the wrong side of hills
in the end
ive disciplined myself to no matter how nice a day it is, and even if i can even see my next way point
i will always take a bearing

[Colin1951]

To me the whole point of learning nav is the relocation techniques. Last known position, slope aspect, water courses, handrails and landmarks! But best of all in iffy conditions is to have rehearsed your route in your mind and to keep the map in your hand and your position under your thumb - then you can be mentally ticking off the features of your journey as you see them.

[Colin1951]

And yes, everyone gets it wrong - descent of Buchaille Etive Mor on the wrong side of the hill for me once - that’s when the joy of navigation really starts!

[jupe1407]

One error which could have ended up in total disaster in 2014. I was heading from Ben Macdui to Cairngorm at the end of a massive day, which started at 5am which the Braeriach traverse, before dropping down and up by the Tailor's Burn. I was physically and mentally in bits and somehow convinced myself after passing Lochan Buidhe somehow convinced myself to leave the main path at what looked like a fork (it wasn't just some worn ground) - I follow this for 200m before coming to my senses and returning to the main path. It was getting dark, I'd been out for 15 hours and my head was in the bin. Had i continued I'd have been heading to the cliffs above Loch Avon. I eventually made Cairngorm and got back to the Sugar Bowl over 17 hours after starting out.

I still don't know why I thought i had to take that route, I was just mentally shot and couldn't think straight.

[al78]

Compass tells lies on top of Ben More Mull and on the Skye ridge where you can actually see it swing round in ten paces. So 3% of the time your mantra may be wrong.

How do you navigate in clag if magnetic rock is throwing the compass out?

[CharlesT]

The mind must lean toward walking in circles.

It does. Experiments have been conducted showing that blindfolded people tend to meander and walk in circles at times. It is thought to relate to small inconsistencies in our orientation systems when visually impeded and these build up into material path deviations the longer the impairment continues. The same effect has been observed in dark forests on cloudy days. When the Sun is visible the effect disappears, it is thought as a result of there being visible reference points, such as shadows and the Sun's position.

[Culardoch]

It's a good few years ago that two hardened mountaineers set off for a backpacking trip to the Cairngorms. Bus to Braemar I think and then walk into Bob Scotts. (The original one) Someone had left a stuffed Adder in the doorway which spooked us just a tad so we camped nearby.

The plan was to head up Derry Cairngorm and then wing it from there. So we set off. Easy peasy no compass required. Just a minute Derry Cairngorm doesn't have a view point indicator on it....does it? Oh well we'd probably have moved on to Ben Macdui eventually anyway!

[Caberfeidh]

Just a minute Derry Cairngorm doesn't have a view point indicator on it....does it? Oh well we'd probably have moved on to Ben Macdui eventually anyway!

MacDui? A viewpoint indicator? Does it? Bugger, I wonder where I was....