Yesterday evening. In London trying to walk from Gloucester Rd. tube station to South Ken. tube station. Had a miniature A to Z, in which not all streets were marked. Had to ask for directions twice. Went a very long way round. GF was well impressed. Give me mountains any day.
How long have you been Lost ?
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I was once told I was lost when I knew I wasnt. A farmer approached me in aggressive manner demanding to know what I was doing on his private property suggesting I had lost my way, I told him I knew exactly where I was which was on a public footpath, he denied it was a public footpath and told me to clear off, I produced the OS map to show him it was clearly marked on the map as a public footpath, he refused to look at the map and we had quite an argument. This particular farmer was disliked by locals and was well known to both the public and police for being aggressive and public footpath signs often mysteriously disappeared or were found thrown in the bushes. As I was not lost and entitled to be where I was I continued my walk anyway accompanied by the sound of bellowing threats.
In the outdoors, I've always avoided being lost be never intending to be anywhere specific at any particular time. Seriously - that's always been my way, politically correct or not. The first time I backpacked the Pennine Way I think I did an extra 50 miles or so, but I was never 'lost', I just like exploring........QUOTE]
I remember doing quite a bit more than 50 miles extra on the Pennine way. Unfortunately whenever I got up a hill the clouds came down and I missed all the fantastic views I'd been looking forward to. On a couple of occasions missed paths etc, but as I had all the OS maps I knew roughly where I was and which direction to head in and eventually came across another path/road/stream further along. The real bugger with having the full maps [apart from them being quite heavy] was I could look at stuff nearby which lead to frequent side trips, doing an extra circular walks through random woodland, going off to visit the Ingleborough caves and waterfall, following a canal path instead - cause it was flatand very calming, the three peaks in Horton-in-Ribblesdale and other less memorable excursions. I was able to do all this because I had no definite plan apart from ending in Kirk yetholm at some point before winter
Hmmm - I don't think I have ever been "lost", confused for a couple of hours once or twice but I have always known roughly where I was
Terms of camping, never, I've always had a rough idea of where I am, and I will always mark a trail so I know where I am going back if I get lost.
I enjoy deliberately wondering off however, that's fun, and then setting up a camp. I try to ensure I am a good 15 minutes into a wood before setting up camp, that way I am sufficiently off the beaten path, and can enjoy nature as it is meant to be.
I enjoy deliberately wondering off however, that's fun, and then setting up a camp. I try to ensure I am a good 15 minutes into a wood before setting up camp, that way I am sufficiently off the beaten path, and can enjoy nature as it is meant to be.
On one backpacking trip I came down a hill into a thick birch forest. As I came down the hill it also started raining and visibility went down. Somehow I missed my destination that day by several kilometers.
Next day I was pretty sure about my general location but it took three days before I knew exactly were I was. There was no danger involved, I was carrying weeks worth of food and I was walking towards a landmark that could not be missed.
Next day I was pretty sure about my general location but it took three days before I knew exactly were I was. There was no danger involved, I was carrying weeks worth of food and I was walking towards a landmark that could not be missed.
Rotfpmslwwt
Yup same here, but I start out not knowing where I am so I have never ever been lost. Being lost is a symptom of being ill prepared, if you have no reserves you will frequently be lost.
Edit.
Altough I have never been to anywhere desolate enough I suppose (Canada or siberia) to be lost.
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As a professional driver, I'm never lost, I'm either exploring or taking an alternative route
Love it! Gonna steal that statement!
Sent from my hidey hole using Tapatalk... sssh!
What is being lost really?
If in a large town or city scene, I am lost. Really don't like the places and never feel comfortable in them. However, if I am out on the sea or in the middle of nowhere on land, then so long as I know where I started out from and where I wanted to get to, I am happy enough to take the scenic route to get there, so long as I'm not in danger doing so.
So, for me at least, being lost is more a state of mind. If you're happy and content enough with your surroundings, then you're not "yet" lost. If you're somewhere that makes you feel really uncomfortable, then you are probably either lost or well on the way to being so
If in a large town or city scene, I am lost. Really don't like the places and never feel comfortable in them. However, if I am out on the sea or in the middle of nowhere on land, then so long as I know where I started out from and where I wanted to get to, I am happy enough to take the scenic route to get there, so long as I'm not in danger doing so.
So, for me at least, being lost is more a state of mind. If you're happy and content enough with your surroundings, then you're not "yet" lost. If you're somewhere that makes you feel really uncomfortable, then you are probably either lost or well on the way to being so
Never really been lost as such, bit disorientated once up in the Scottish Highlands in very thick fog which was really bad for two days and nights so we had to sit it out, as we were high up and to try and navigate down without a bit of a view and would have been dangerous, we were ok as we were kitted out for the worst case scenario, and when it cleared on our descent it started snowing! 
What is being lost really?
If in a large town or city scene, I am lost. Really don't like the places and never feel comfortable in them. However, if I am out on the sea or in the middle of nowhere on land, then so long as I know where I started out from and where I wanted to get to, I am happy enough to take the scenic route to get there, so long as I'm not in danger doing so.
So, for me at least, being lost is more a state of mind. If you're happy and content enough with your surroundings, then you're not "yet" lost. If you're somewhere that makes you feel really uncomfortable, then you are probably either lost or well on the way to being so
I like this. I deliberately got lost the other day, by driving the car down some obscure lanes that I hadn't been down before. I soon had no idea where I was. However, I eventually came out somewhere that I recognised, and that then put the route I had taken into context, which means that I had added to my mental map of the area, which was the whole idea. Next time I go there I will not be lost.
Twice been very confused for direction. In the dense conifer forests of the mountains where I live.
1. Late summer, lacework of old/overgrown logging trails. Which way is out?
2. Deer hunting in 6" snow. Sudden snowfall, visibility maybe 50 yards. Which way out to the road?
Field & Stream magazine (USA) usually has an annual gear list that they call "The Best of the Best."
I was shopping for a new compass anyway. Brunton Eclipse 1066 was their choice (and then, mine.)
Get out the compass to read the chilling news = My head was 180 degrees away from the needed direction.
1. Late summer, lacework of old/overgrown logging trails. Which way is out?
2. Deer hunting in 6" snow. Sudden snowfall, visibility maybe 50 yards. Which way out to the road?
Field & Stream magazine (USA) usually has an annual gear list that they call "The Best of the Best."
I was shopping for a new compass anyway. Brunton Eclipse 1066 was their choice (and then, mine.)
Get out the compass to read the chilling news = My head was 180 degrees away from the needed direction.
Similar to this, diving off the coast of Swansea bay. Visibility was about 1.5m at best and everything was either green or brown! Managed to find a disused lobster pot and as it was the only thing i was going to see on the dive i thought i would investigate. Not realising my buddy had not seen me stopping and carried on. I looked a few minutes later to see nothing but green algae in all directions! Normally i wouldn't panic at that depth and just ascend slowly as i had been trained. But as a relative newbie in those days i did what most would do when they first find themselves in that situation.....exponentially increase the rate at which i was using my air and swim in circles blindly!
Luckily my trusted buddy had realised had been using a now valuable skill to me....pilotage! (even in the poor conditions). Before long i caught sight of a faint black shadow in amongst the green and gripped tightly what turned out to be my buddy! Phew!
It all sounds dramatic now but as a newly qualified diver it was quite intense! Its all relative i suppose! It totalled about 5 minutes but felt like hours! A mistake i have not made since and don't intend to!
Luckily my trusted buddy had realised had been using a now valuable skill to me....pilotage! (even in the poor conditions). Before long i caught sight of a faint black shadow in amongst the green and gripped tightly what turned out to be my buddy! Phew!
It all sounds dramatic now but as a newly qualified diver it was quite intense! Its all relative i suppose! It totalled about 5 minutes but felt like hours! A mistake i have not made since and don't intend to!
Must admit to rarely being lost in the countryside, but towns tend to flummox my sense of direction little. It's why when I go to a new one I not only like to get my compass points sorted out in my head but also look for tall landmarks to try and orientate myself. Places like Glasgow are a breeze as they have a grid system of streets and a large ring road 'round the outside, so if you overshoot or get turned around then it's easy to re-orientate yourself.
In the country I was always taught to observe things that stood out, whether it be an odd plant or feature, a broken egg shell, a twisted tree - whatever. That made it easy to "remember" your way back. Also if I'm somewhere I don't know then take a map. Even without a compass being able to look at it and orientate by eye and knowledge of speed over terrain helps fix your position.
My old climbing partner (who's in the MRT; we said they admitted him so they could keep an eye on him!) had a terrible sense of direction. Used to let him navigate but always kept a look over his shoulder as to where we were. Remember being at the top of the Buachille on clagged in winter climb and having an "animated discussion" as to our position. He was adamant that we were at point "A" and I that we were at point "B". I figured my position as there was a distinctive rock that wouldn't have been out of place in a Roadrunner cartoon (ready to be pushed off the edge by Wile E Coyote) that I'd seen to my left on the way up the climb. It would've been really easy to walk off an edge into serious difficulties if we went the wrong way. Eventually another climber appeared and joined in the discussion, quickly pointing out I was right. Sorted it was quickly off to the Kings house for pints bought by my mate as he'd nearly gotten us killed. So noticing little things does help outdoors.
Working in forestry I really had to hone my direction finding abilities as some of the large monoculture blocks of thick trees could easily disorientate you. And it's no fun wandering around wet thick unthinned, unbrashed Sitka spruce for hours. Also the rides we were marking had to be straight for the machines coming in later.
Terrain can make it difficult too. Growing up near the Cairngorms where its mostly fairly rounded terrain and often misty taught you to be pretty good at navigation. The stuff like Glencoe where it's all jaggy and quite distinctive I found relatively easy in comparison. Being out in deserts and big flat grass plains of other countries meant a whole lot of other skills had to come into it, but was very enjoyable.
So drop me somewhere like Edinburgh where the town grew up organically over time and is twisty and turny then I struggle a bit, but plop me down in the countryside and I'm a lot happier. I think it's partly where you feel most comfortable, a bit like Crocodile Dundee when he goes to New York; you aren't in an environment that you know.
In the country I was always taught to observe things that stood out, whether it be an odd plant or feature, a broken egg shell, a twisted tree - whatever. That made it easy to "remember" your way back. Also if I'm somewhere I don't know then take a map. Even without a compass being able to look at it and orientate by eye and knowledge of speed over terrain helps fix your position.
My old climbing partner (who's in the MRT; we said they admitted him so they could keep an eye on him!) had a terrible sense of direction. Used to let him navigate but always kept a look over his shoulder as to where we were. Remember being at the top of the Buachille on clagged in winter climb and having an "animated discussion" as to our position. He was adamant that we were at point "A" and I that we were at point "B". I figured my position as there was a distinctive rock that wouldn't have been out of place in a Roadrunner cartoon (ready to be pushed off the edge by Wile E Coyote) that I'd seen to my left on the way up the climb. It would've been really easy to walk off an edge into serious difficulties if we went the wrong way. Eventually another climber appeared and joined in the discussion, quickly pointing out I was right. Sorted it was quickly off to the Kings house for pints bought by my mate as he'd nearly gotten us killed. So noticing little things does help outdoors.
Working in forestry I really had to hone my direction finding abilities as some of the large monoculture blocks of thick trees could easily disorientate you. And it's no fun wandering around wet thick unthinned, unbrashed Sitka spruce for hours. Also the rides we were marking had to be straight for the machines coming in later.
Terrain can make it difficult too. Growing up near the Cairngorms where its mostly fairly rounded terrain and often misty taught you to be pretty good at navigation. The stuff like Glencoe where it's all jaggy and quite distinctive I found relatively easy in comparison. Being out in deserts and big flat grass plains of other countries meant a whole lot of other skills had to come into it, but was very enjoyable.
So drop me somewhere like Edinburgh where the town grew up organically over time and is twisty and turny then I struggle a bit, but plop me down in the countryside and I'm a lot happier. I think it's partly where you feel most comfortable, a bit like Crocodile Dundee when he goes to New York; you aren't in an environment that you know.
satellite dishes always point south east whether in town or country, and there's loads of them.
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