How do you route find off trail?

[Dan_Suitor]

GPS with preloaded waypoints. It doesn’t work very well on steep terrain and is only as good as the .GPX file. After this, look at topo maps and route descriptions if available.

As a last resort, ask the small woodland creatures which way to go.

[polar]

It can be fairly easy to get lost or off track in the dark or with inclement weather (poor visibility). ... The map and compass can be used to make your way back to the trail.

Ok, humor me here: how does one use map and compass in the dark? With a headlamp, I know, but what exactly are you looking for when you can't really see the land around you?

[SkaredShtles]

+1 Tobiasfunke.

I bet the people preferring map and compass to GPS still prefer an abacus over a calculator for math.

[SkaredShtles]

Where are people going in CO (especially what 14er) that a map and compass is truly necessary?

Had to use map and compass on a mt bike ride once to determine where exactly we were on the trail so we could estimate whether or not we needed to bail off on an earlier descent due to time and remaining distance on our preferred route. We triangulated, located ourselves, and made the call.

[aweskamp]

Don't put the 2LT in charge of land nav and shoot your azimuth, hooah!

[Jim Davies]

The same way real programmers do

I'm a programmer (really). I just go in random directions, see if I'm on the summit, repeat until done.

But also sort of a mathematician, so I often try to reduce it to a previously solved problem. I wind up on the summit of Pikes Peak a lot.

[Marmot96]

The same way real programmers do

I'm a programmer (really). I just go in random directions, see if I'm on the summit, repeat until done.

But also sort of a mathematician, so I often try to reduce it to a previously solved problem. I wind up on the summit of Pikes Peak a lot.

I seriously haven't laughed so hard in a long time

[MountainHiker]

It can be fairly easy to get lost or off track in the dark or with inclement weather (poor visibility). ... The map and compass can be used to make your way back to the trail.

Ok, humor me here: how does one use map and compass in the dark? With a headlamp, I know, but what exactly are you looking for when you can't really see the land around you?

I print my maps with the UTM grid. The GPS gives me coordinates for my location. So with those coordinates I know where I am on the map. Plus I keep track on the map while I still know where I am. So if there is now a moment of uncertainty, or the GPS were to fail, I can know for sure where I was recently.

So I know where I am on the map, and know where I want to go on the map, I then orient the map true to the real world with the compass. I then point the direction of travel arrow of the compass across the map to where I want to go. Then I turn the compass bezel to line up with the needle - making sure to correct for magnetic north. I can now follow the direction of travel needle of the compass to where I need to be. Often a straight line is not the best route in the mountains. That might mean aiming for a feature (road, stream, fence, treeline) and then following that feature.

If you are lost and you come across a trail, you are usually best served by staying on that trail. If you're not sure what way to go on the trail, downhill is probably the best choice. If searchers are looking for you and you are off trail, then you become a needle in a haystack. If you are on a trail, your chances of being found go up a lot.

[gzrrnnr]

I have used a map and compass for 55+ years, and will not use GPS - Luddite me. I go to the hills for adventure, and having a crutch that tells me where to put my feet seems a bit wimpy (remember, Luddite me). Part of the adventure is going cross country and ending up on the wrong ridge in the clouds, and I have seen some incredible country (means no *%#$&* crowds) on those side trips. The only electronic device I use is my SPOT so that if something goes wrong, my wife and SAR knows where to look. Getting around at night requires good planning with the map and compass before I go out. Have I gotten a bit bewildered (some would call it lost...) a few times? Of course, and the trip was incredibly more fun and challenging because of it. Use whatever you think you need to, and whatever you feel safe and comfortable with, but GPS is certainly not a requirement.

[Jay521]

I have used a map and compass for 55+ years, and will not use GPS - Luddite me. I go to the hills for adventure, and having a crutch that tells me where to put my feet seems a bit wimpy (remember, Luddite me). Part of the adventure is going cross country and ending up on the wrong ridge in the clouds, and I have seen some incredible country (means no *%#$&* crowds) on those side trips. The only electronic device I use is my SPOT so that if something goes wrong, my wife and SAR knows where to look. Getting around at night requires good planning with the map and compass before I go out. Have I gotten a bit bewildered (some would call it lost...) a few times? Of course, and the trip was incredibly more fun and challenging because of it. Use whatever you think you need to, and whatever you feel safe and comfortable with, but GPS is certainly not a requirement.

^^
Ditto

[12ersRule]

Yeah! And it's pretty weak to use your phone as a crutch to find Pikachu.

[pbakwin]

A lot of my off-trail travel consists of ridge traverses, so the route finding is generally quite obvious - stay on the ridge. But the idea of these traverses is usually to summit every significant summit along the way, but not necessarily every single bump. Very often one wants to contour around the various high points, false summits, ridge notches, etc., and GPS can be very useful for distinguishing the desired summits. I usually waypoint the summits & load maps of the surrounding area into my phone, and I carry paper maps - I want enough coverage to navigate any bailouts! General off-trail travel combines use of paper maps, common sense and occasional checks of the GPS (Gaia) as needed to keep moving confidently and efficiently in the right direction.