in retrospect, i think this is kind of funny. but it could have turned out not so funny.

go here for the story.

A few years ago now I came across two female walkers at the end of the trail while heading to the top of Ben Chonzie for a Sunday afternoon walk. The hill top was covered in mist and visibility was a couple of hundred yards. They both had maps and compasses, they just didn't know how to use them despite one of them being a geography teacher, but at least they had the common sense not to go wandering off the trail in the mist. They knew their own navigational limitations. I am always surprised how many don't actually know how to use a map and compass even though they have the sense to bring them along.

Up here in the PNW, it can be impossible to locate your position on a map when you are surrounded by 100 foot tall trees.It's nice this had a happy ending and no one was injured or killed

Which is why growing up in the PNW, you learn to keep track of ur position on the map as u go, rather than pulling it out only when lost. In all my trail wanderings I have seen far too many people w/o maps, maps that were inappropriate or purchased and never unfolded until several miles from the trailhead.

It's a lot easier to get lost while descending the mountain than climbing it. Just 30' to one side or the other of the correct route sometimes will take you to the entirely wrong side of the mountain.

(Haven't done it but been close)

A book I once read-as I am sure it has been said repeatedly-stated specifically that the 10 essentials call for a map & compass-but you need to know how to use them. Simply carrying them doesnt do you any good at all. I guess I was blissfully unaware that someone would actually carry something they couldnt read. Maybe I am naieve, maybe I assumed people who venture into the outdoors posessed the knowledge to do so. Granted, I was younger when I read it, but it still blew my mind that people did that.

Growing up in the PNW, we always studied the map really good first, and identified landmarks and such that we could use to reckon our location from time to time. Topos were preferable, because in the dense forests, slope and contour may be the only thing you can tell. It must've been the right thing to do, because we never got lost.

I've navigated by map and compass in deserts, deep forest, snow covered terrain, jungle and swamps. While it is "difficult" to precisely mark where you are, you can always "guesstimate" if you have a good pace count and kept track of your directions.

The trick, keep the map out, mark where you are as you go along. Oh yeah, if you haven't found what you were looking for, you haven't gone far enough.

hey JBMat, thank you for that. as i see it, that's great insight.