Night navigation

There recently was some activity of the climbing club! Other than indoor climbing. I haven't gone indoor climbing with them for years. But when we had an AGM I thought it was a good idea to show my face. I will show up again when the climbing goes outdoors again in next year’s season!

Just before the AGM, Charlotte, who is our chair, had sent some emails around about courses we could do within the context of the club. And one of them looked interesting. It was an evening of night navigation. And I have no bad experiences with trying and failing to do this, but I was totally aware my skills could do with some honing anyway. And as well, it might be a nice social occasion. So I registered! And so did Charlotte.

On the day she picked me up, still in daylight. We would meet at Ogwen cottage. When we got out of the car it was quite cold! Before we had even started I had put on all the clothes I had brought with me.

In the end, there were seven of us; six participants, and Kelly, the lady leading the course. And we were expected to do things in pairs. I paired up with Charlotte.

While it was still light, she first let us practice things such as taking a bearing. That was not a problem. And the next thing she did was take us to a stretch of the old road there of which she knows it is 100 meter long. If you are either trying not to get lost, or lost and trying to do something about it, you might want to get a good grip on the amount of distance you are covering. And knowing how many paces you do in 100 metres is very useful! I had 66 on the way out and 67 on the way back. (You only count the steps of one leg, so effectively, a pace is two steps.)

We then properly started. We got onto the path to the lake, and after a while she stopped us and let us decide where exactly it was we were on the map. And I knew exactly where I was; I know this area quite well. But with the fading light I struggled a bit to properly see the map! I was making liberal use of the magnifying glass in my compass. Oh dear.

Into the hills!

Map practice

Atmospheric surroundings 

She then told us to measure as precisely as we could the distance to the next junction in the path. And calculate how many paces that would be. And then she told us to pace it out. And none of us got there! This was not too surprising; this path is not as smooth as an asphalt road, so you take smaller steps. I counted the additional steps I needed to take to get to the junction. That gave me the idea that on a path like this, it takes me 79 paces to cover 100 metres.

We did it again! She did the same exercise for the next stream we would encounter. Repeating this sort of thing gives you an idea of how variable your pace length is. And as well; if everyone stops when they think they have paced the distance we have agreed on, you can see how far apart we end up standing. That was not too bad!

Standing still and measuring distances on the map, and taking bearings, did make us really feel the cold wind. It looked like we had all underestimated the weather a bit! A beginner’s mistake.

In the proper dark

At some point we walked a box. That is; we first walked a set number of paces north, then the same number of paces east, and then south, and then west. You can see how accurate both your pacing and your walking on a bearing are by checking how far from your starting point you end up. It wasn't bad at all!

Then we decided it was so cold we should make it back to the car. But not without some more practising; she suggested a certain point on the map, and asked us to get there using a bearing and pacing. That worked well. And then we did it again. We were pretty much walking back in the direction of the little quarry there, even though we knew the path through it was closed. In the end we just followed a fence. That was a bit adventurous; it was steep and boggy. But it was alright, and not much later we were back at the road.

That was pretty much the end of the course! We said our goodbyes back at the cottage. I had found it actually quite useful! The next time I need my navigation, I might be a bit more detailed. I am generally a bit inclined to use a broad approach. Just aim for a particular hill and not bother too much with where exactly on the way you are! And sometimes that just is the best thing to do. But sometimes I should practice my detailed navigation. You never know when you might actually need it!