Description
Natural navigation is a rapidly vanishing art form – can you find your way using nature’s signposts… the sun, the stars, the moon, the wind and rain, the rocks, the plants, trees and the animals? Even manmade objects, like a distant church can point you in the right direction, if you know what you are looking for!
In fact classical navigation is becoming a rare skillset, with modern pathfinders becoming increasingly reliant on GPS units, smartphones, watches and satellite gadgetry. We’re not anti-technology, in fact we positively advocate it, but firmly believe that before you pick up a GPS you should be 100% confident in your ability with a map and compass.
The course will also include a very comprehensive package on understanding and using GPS, including how to transpose your waypoints onto digital mapping software, like google earth.
All of the course leaders can navigate to a very high level. Jim is a GPS expert who uses GIS and is employed to map the geophysical features of the North Sea bed, creating his own maps. Deborah is an active Mountain Leader, has guided expeditions from featureless Arctic Greenland to the dense tropical forests of the Indian sub-continent, she has worked as a surveyor for ExeGesIS gathering data for GIS and the Ordnance Survey. Ben is also a Mountain Leader and has micro-navigated through jungle, bush veldt and frozen forests, he has a passion for star-lore and greek mythology. Through his work in the TV industry, Ross has reconnoitred and explored many wild and remote locations around the world, he is fascinated by natural navigation.
We can pretty much guarantee that after this course you will be able to see mighty gods and fearsome animals clashing in epic battles in the inky night sky, tell the time by the stars, tell your direction from the subtle signs left behind by wind and rain, understand the path of the sun and the arc of the moon. You will also be able to read and set a map, understand scales, grids and contours, set a compass bearing, adjusting for magnetic variation, estimate your distance, pacing it out and dead reckoning a route, as well as having the skills to program a GPS to guide you on your next wilderness adventure.
This course is suitable for novice and expert alike.
- Days: Thur PM – Sun PM (3 Nights)
- Location: Lake District, England
- Food & Accommodation: Fully catered and includes camping fees
- Activity: Navigation – Classical, Natural and Technological
- Group Size: 6-14 (Av.10)
- Physical Rating: Med
- 2022 Date: TBC
- Venues: Lyth Valley, The Lakes
Highlights
- Route planning
- Map reading
- Use of compass
- Bearings
- Pacing
- GPS use, programming, plotting and downloading
- Starlore
- Natural navigation
- Weatherlore
- Celestial theory
Inclusions
- This course is fully catered throughout – we do our best to source food that is wild, local, organic, seasonal and nutritious. (This negates the need to buy food and bring stoves, fuel and cooking gear – it also maximises your learning time with us).
- Camping fees are included.
- We offer a complimentary pick-up and drop-off service from and to the nearest railway station at set times.
Verdonschot.roy (verified owner) –
Had a great time!
I did the first Navigator in July 2019.
Beautiful area and the weather was great, no heavy showers or anything like that.
The days are packed with lots of information, everyday after breakfast we started at the woodshed for a presentation about that days topic. 1. Map & Compass, 2. Natural Nav and 3. GPS. After a short presentation you will head out to practice what has been explained in the mornings. The course assumes no previous knowledge which could be a tiny bit boring every now and then, I found however that there were lots of small little tips/info which made the whole story interesting to listen to.
This course has no lessons with sharp object, that means alcohol is allowed. It was great trying to navigate / find our way to the nearest pub. Make sure to bring your card or some cash though for your well deserved beers. 🙂
Again, the group was great company. Great to see the teachers blending in with the group and trying to get to know the students a bit. They were very helpful throughout the entire weekend.
Overall I had fun and learned a lot.
Thanks for the weekend!