Aidless Navigation: How to find your way home

   It is exciting to explore new places. It is also easy to become immersed in the awe and wonder of Ireland’s vast beauty. But it is essential to know where you are and more importantly, how to return home. Aidless navigation is how you can keep yourself from getting lost while hiking in remote areas.

   Before you leave home you should spend some time with a topographical map of your destination. Even if you have hiked there many times before it is important to get a “birds eye” view of the area. Learn to read the contour lines and terrain features until you can imagine yourself standing in any part of the map and be able to see the area around you and know where you are.

   Here are some tricks to finding north. A compass is helpful but what if it breaks or you forget it? First, let’s do some mythbusting. How often have you heard about moss growing only on the north side of tree? Here in Ireland, moss grows everywhere and on all sides of trees. Especially here in Kerry!

    Finding your way by the stars is fine if you are hiking at night. During the day look at the moon. It often shines during the daytime. Look at the C shape of the moon. Draw a straight imaginary line along the ends of the C shape. That line will point generally North/South. This works reasonably well in the Summer but is not as accurate during the winter months. This is due to the sun being further south for us here in Ireland. During the Summer months the sun is high enough in the northern sky to make this technique quite valuable but still not completely accurate.

   Another tip that will save your hike is to stop every few minutes and look behind you. Things look different walking the other direction. Not only will this save your life if you are hiking in big game country, it will help you locate your trail home.

More information can be found at www.ipna.ie.