Way Finding
(aka. Orienteering)
Plan Ahead and Prepare… before going a-wandering
- keep a compass in your grab and go bag
- Maps - review before & during travel (local topographic maps are particularly handy)
- Practice and **learn** some of the other orienteering methods at home when the directions are available and you’re not under the stress of being lost
North Star
Tristan Gooley’s method using Cassiopeia to find the North Star is new-to-me and pretty cool. Nevertheless, one of the ‘traditional’ ways is using the Big Dipper to point the way -
https://www.adlerplanetarium.org/blog/discover-big-dipper/
Once you’ve located the North Star, a Boy Scout Handbook (*) method can be used to establish a true North-South line:
“Push a two-foot long stick into the ground. Place a shorter stick in such a way that when your sight over the tips of both sticks you can see the North Star (you’ll likely need to be lying on the ground on your belly to do this). A straight line scratched between the sticks is a true north south line.”
Sun-Stick Shadow Methods (*)
The Boy Scout Handbook offers a couple of methods to establish directions when the sun is shining
- Note “high noon” is never at 12:00 o’clock noon (unless you have an appointment, such as a duel, at ‘high noon’), it varies from day to day and is dependent on your geo-location. Here in Ohio USA, it’s usually around 1:30 PM
… just occurs to me the reason dueling at high noon is preferred is to avoid having the sun in your eyes (i.e., from behind your opponent)
- Shadow-Stick Method (*)
Push a short, straight stick into the ground. Angle it toward the sun so that the stick makes no shadow, then wait until it casts a shadow at least six inches long. The shadow will be pointing east from the stick. A line at right angles across the shadow will be north-south.
- Equal-Length Shadow Method (*)
In the morning, push a straight three-foot-long stick upright into the ground. Tie a string around the base of the stick with a bowline, then extend the string to the end of the stick's shadow. Tie a peg to the string at that point and use it to scratch a circle on the ground around the stick. Push the peg into the ground where the tip of the stick's shadow touches the circle.
In the afternoon, place another peg where the tip of the shadow again touches the circle. A straight line drawn between the pegs is a west-east line, with west at the morning peg. A line drawn at right angles across the west-east line will be north-south.
Watch & twig method (*)
Hold your watch level. Place a short, straight twig upright against the edge of the watch at the point of the hour hand. (If you're wearing a digital watch, note the hour, imagine where the hour hand would be pointing, and place the twig accordingly.) Turn the watch until the shadow of the twig falls along the hour hand's position-that is, until the hour hand points toward the sun.
Notice the angle formed between the numeral 12 (the top of a digital watch) and the shadow lying on the real or imaginary hour hand. A lIne from the center of the watch that divides that angle in half will poInt south.
Note: This method requires standard time. If your watch is set on daylight savings time, turn it back one hour.
(*) Source: The Boy Scout Handbook, Eleventh Edition 1998
- Note: the above methods may have been omitted from later Handbook editions as wilderness survival skills and methods continuously were removed over many years/editions. This 1998 edition, I acquired as an Adult Scout Leader, already had way less than the ca.1960 edition I had as a Boy Scout.
- Another topic -
Chivalry - which held a prominent place (a whole chapter!) in the earliest editions, was lost in the mists of time - we sure could use more of that fetchin’ up in today’s world
‘Floating’ Needle on Water Compass
While this was a fun experiment back in Science 101, it could be useful “lost in the woods” if you happen to have a magnet and a sewing needle handy. You can find details online. However, when you’re trekking about you can float the ‘magnetized’ needle on a leaf
Moss (often grows) on the north side of trees - BUT moss can grow on any and all sides depending on local conditions - moss likes shady moist conditions so the forest canopy could shade all sides and in the Pacific Northwest, climate conditions are so wet and humid that "moss grows on all sides of trees"
Read More:
https://www.outdoorguide.com/1506792/moss-only-grows-north-side-trees-myth/
