My "improvement" ... when I did the return leg, I intercepted a dirt road. This was much better, because you are guaranteed of crossing that road. BUT the problem with this idea ... when you hit the road ... do you go to the LEFT or the RIGHT. Hahahaha! MORE time wasted!! :-)
FINALLY, I got smarter and realized - when you do a navigational exercise, DELIBERATELY MISS you target (the final ending point). I changed the compass reading so I KNEW that when I intercepted the dirt road, I needed to walk to the right down the road. Problem solved.
The method you used is a fairly standard land navigation technique, often called "aiming off" or "angle off" (probably other names as well). Your dirt road would be called a "handrail", and is a "line of position" (LOP). That is, some linear feature that you can recognize on the ground. You may not know exactly where you are, but you know you are somewhere along that linear feature. Significant streams, long well defined ridgelines, and power lines would be other examples of handrails.
I find that with a typical baseplate orienteering style compass with a sighting mirror, if I'm careful I can walk a course in thickly wooded terrain to within about a plus/minus 2 degree error. To aim off, I would plan a course about 5 degrees off of the true course. (Twice my estimated error plus another degree to be on the safe side.) If it was exceptionally difficult terrain to follow a compass course, or especially dire consequences if I messed up, I might plan to be a bit more than 5 degrees off.
Previous Topic
Index
