How do you route find off trail?

[polar]

To those who fault the map and compass for inefficiency at night: I'll challenge that. While the map does need the sun, GPS requires batteries. Which is more dependable?

It's not "inefficiency" when you simply cannot do it. Tell me, how do you triangulate with map and compass in the dark?

If you know roughly where you are, you can take a bearing on map and navigate with a compass even in low visibility, as demonstrated by crestone14er's story. I just don't agree with the suggestion that if you got lost in the dark, you can somehow whip out a map and compass and find your way just like that. It's not a question of efficiency, you simply can't do it. If you know a way to locate yourself in the dark with only map and compass and 20 feet of visibility, I'm all ears.

[MountainHiker]

With a map & compass, but no GPS, it's important to keep track of where you all along. If you wait until you're lost to get out the map, it's too late. But if you keep track of your progress on the map, and then you find yourself in a white out, you at least have a chance of making good decisions. If you know for sure where you were on the map 1/2 hour ago, then there are some basic strategies you can follow with compass direction to intercept a feature you can then follow back to known territory. But if you didn't look at the map all day, then you are lost with a map in your pocket.

[CHeimCO]

I just don't agree with the suggestion that if you got lost in the dark, you can somehow whip out a map and compass and find your way just like that.

I don't think anybody has suggested that.
It's a choice between limitations. Personally I plan to always be at my destination well before nightfall. The lost at night senario would be a survival situation and an entirely different set of priorities apply. A set that probably won't include route finding off trail in the dark.

[Monster5]

Every time these threads come up, I begin to doubt my ability to find my mailbox from my front porch. So many experts here.

Map and compass in the dark, eh? True dark. No stars, no moon, no gleaming mountain lion eyes, thick fog cover. Quite common here in Colorado. Perhaps the secret hearkens back to thee olden days when one might plan ahead and chart a course from a known spot prior to dark, navigation-style, or even prior to the entire trip (!). Aka don't get lost in the first place. This is, of course, as easy as it sounds. Approximately 200 of my paces and 328 of fireonthemountain's paces at a bearing of 341 thataway, should hit a steeper slope prior to a creek. Okay, so follow said bank for 262.35 paces and then lets take a bearing of 273 and follow that for 723.98 paces until hitting the lobe of a rock glacier, which I'll go around right and then...

Really, it's all voodoo.

I use a smartphone with app to spot check, if necessary. Mostly because all trips are planned a day in advance and I hate figuring out printer settings. I'm a big proponent of paying attention to the terrain. I think I'm old enough to pull the old fogey card and claim there's an over-reliance on GPS, picture printouts, and beta to shortcut having to use one's eyes and common sense. However, it seems like nowadays, the GPS is quite worthless on routes I enjoy. A GPS can't tell me whether I should follow the right crack or the left crack, or I'll have a 20 ft rappel if I go over this gendarme vs around, or if this committing 4th class ledge turns the corner. Sometimes it can. But really, a good eye for terrain, and ability to get oneself out of a bind if incorrect, is quite important.

Edit - I should add that we're slowly phasing out map and compass in a professional setting too. It's all about the fancy GIS apps and real time uploads and adjustments.

[polar]

I just don't agree with the suggestion that if you got lost in the dark, you can somehow whip out a map and compass and find your way just like that.

I don't think anybody has suggested that.

It can be fairly easy to get lost or off track in the dark or with inclement weather (poor visibility). Poor weather may also require one to find a faster path down which can be far from the trail. The map and compass can be used to make your way back to the trail.

[tobiasfunke]

Does nobody else just look at the topo and route info/photos before heading out? Knowing where you're going has to be the best form of navigation. Combine this with terrain cues (e.g. creeks will run downhill and join others, steep areas likely will cliff out, compare land marks with the topo that you "memorized" earlier) and you should be set. For day trips and overnight 14ers, this is entirely possible. For a week-long backpacking trip I can understand the need for a physical map.

[AyeYo]

Does nobody else just look at the topo and route info/photos before heading out? Knowing where you're going has to be the best form of navigation.

That's been exactly my thought for the last page and a half. I think in many cases you would truly need to TRY to get lost (barring extremely restricted visibility) if you had actually studied the area ahead of time. I usually spend most of my bored time at work (like right now!) looking at topo and route descriptions of where I'm planning to go during the coming weekend. Obviously I'm not memorizing every single terrain feature, but it doesn't take much effort to have a general mental picture of the area, where the peaks are, where each drainage/gully is, where the ridges connect, where roads are, etc. I don't ever recall a situation in which I didn't have a pretty accurate idea of where I was during the hike. Do people really space out to the point that they stop mentally visualizing where they are while they move? The times I do pull out my GPS (and it's often) is to check slope angles for ascending/descending off my planned route. I can't remember ever pulling it out because I wasn't aware of where I was.

Of course, this is referring to day hikes and weekend backpacks. Obviously long-distance backpacking in remote areas (likely not in CO) is a different ball game.

[susanjoypaul]

Since I'm almost always alone and working on a deadline, I overplan everything so I don't lose time trying to figure out how to get where I'm going or how to get back to my car. I research and write up everything ahead of time: peak/waterfall/hot spring name, elevation, county and quad, distance and elevation gain, route and aspects, trailhead and elevation at the trailhead, driving directions, hiking/climbing directions, and (if a peak) summit views north, northeast, east, southeast, etc. I carry a print-out and update all this information during the hike (which is why I carry a clipboard - yes, I know how stupid it looks).

I also carry a paper map with the route marked, which I make with a Topo program. I create waypoints for the trailhead, summit or other destination, creek crossings, trail junctions, etc., number them and load them into my GPS. I also carry a compass because sometimes a GPS will get out of whack and give you a weird reading. If something doesn't seem right I check my compass and recalibrate the compass on the GPS.

To get the cleanest track possible with my GPS (I have to submit corresponding tracks and waypoints to my publisher for every hike or climb I include in a book) I try to keep my wandering to a minimum. If I have to wander off-route, I leave my GPS clipped to my pack on the trail or route while I'm away, or I manually clean up the track in notepad later on, at home. If my track gets totally screwed up on the way up/out, I get a clean one on the way down/out and then just reverse and save it.

I often carry two cameras (cheap one for beta and better one for photos to use in books, but mostly for backup as I have had cameras die on me) and two headlamps so if the batteries in the first one die I don't have to fumble around in the dark trying to replace them, I just grab the second headlamp. I carry extra sets of batteries for the GPS and the headlamps, too.

This may seem like a lot of preparation, but it's the best way to ensure I don't get lost and hit all my deadlines, and makes the writing, map-making, final track and waypoint creation, etc. very quick and easy when I get home. It's tough to do with other people, though, because most people like to talk when they hike and then I can't think, and I forget to take notes, waypoints, or photos.

A few times in the past I did some non-work-related hikes/peaks and didn't have time to plan at all, but since I was going with other people, I didn't worry about it...big mistake! Don't assume other people know the route. They may be too busy to plan, too, and assume you know the route

Haha still fun, but lesson learned!

-Susan

[sheller]

I just don't agree with the suggestion that if you got lost in the dark, you can somehow whip out a map and compass and find your way just like that.

I don't think anybody has suggested that.

It can be fairly easy to get lost or off track in the dark or with inclement weather (poor visibility). Poor weather may also require one to find a faster path down which can be far from the trail. The map and compass can be used to make your way back to the trail.

I'm thinking more of the case where bad weather is coming in and you can refer to the map to plot out an additional route and record rough bearings and distances. If you know you are going to be out in the dark, before it gets too dark you can make note of your current location and record bearings as well. However, sometimes when it is too dark to adequately route find you can still see some landscape and you can definitely tell what type of terrain you are on which can help give you a rough estimate of your location.

[arvinsmee]

I mostly use a printed out USGS topo. I run GaiaGPS on my phone also as a backup, but try not to refer to it too much to save battery and not become too dependent on electronics. Like other people mentioned its helpful to save satellite imagery on your device ahead of time. I've usually scoped out the route (and likely alternatives) pretty well ahead of time on Google Earth, but you never know what exactly you'll run into once you're on the ground.

[dhgold]

I do a lot of peaks that don't have trails in the dark, a type of peakbagging for which I find GPS essential. I have become so dependent on GPS that I now take two with me as well as two spare batteries.

Monster is dead right in his opinion that navigating by map and compass in full darkness is nearly impossible; it can be difficult even with a GPS. I once forgot to start my GPS track on one of my nocturnal outings. I knew that the car was by a road and .62 miles SW of the summit. I thought with this info it would be easy to locate the car by heading to the general area and then following an arc of that distance from the summit. Guess what, it took a long time and a lot of back and forth before I finally stumbled upon the car. It was a moonless night so there was no way to take a bearing on anything. I'd wager that a world class orienteer would have found it very difficult to find the car with just a map and compass.

[TallGrass]

I generally have two maps, a printed "zoomed in" one and a Nat Geo one of the broader area which is better for IDing surrounding peaks. I've played with GPS a couple times but never relied on it. In the mountains, it's almost always about finding the right valley to the ridge or face, then finding the right face/ridge back down to the correct valley which is pretty easy from an Orienteering standpoint. I've also been with others who had GPS and it was pretty worthless for finding a crux up or down, especially compared to good beta like a photo or climbers map.