Navigating Tips
Sometimes it can be fun to go on walks or hikes in the outdoors without a planned route or destination. However, such an adventure only stays fun as long as you can navigate your way to where you need to be. Being able to determine your cardinal directions (north, south, east or west) without a compass is one of the most important navigational tools.
You’ve probably heard about this one: moss grows thicker on the north side of the tree. This tip is handy if you live in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere, otherwise it might not do you any good. Moss grows thicker on the north side because it grows better in shade; this side, in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere, receives the least amount of light. However, if you’re in a thick forest, all sides of the tree will receive the same amount and that quick trick won’t do you any good.
If you don’t have a compass but you have a watch on you, that can be just as useful. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, the first step is to hold your watch horizontally. Then, rotate the watch until the hour hand is pointing towards the sun. South will lie exactly halfway between the half hand and the numeral twelve on the watch. (If it is a digital watch you will have to imagine where the hour hand would be on an analog watch.) From this, you can determine the other three points of the compass you have created from your watch. In the Southern hemisphere, the same first few steps will lead you to the North rather than the South.
RunThePlanet.com encourages avid hikers to take advantage of the expansive outdoors that our planet has provided for us. For more navigation tips, you can read their article “Outdoor Navigation Tips” that explains a method of finding North without a watch. There are also methods to keep course with clouds so you don’t need to know your cardinal directions at all! Know a way out of the woods before you go in.
