"To be honest, it's tough navigating with a compass when surrounded by trees and with no real landmarks on the horizon. That describes much of the midwest. These days there are at least more cell towers, but they aren't on many older too maps"

I feel your pain. In the mountainous West, you can almost always use terrain association. I use a compass only rarely, usually in fog or mist, or when at sea.
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Geezer in Chief