Someone on the trail told me my map was upside down, and they were right

I was hiking the Eagle Rock Loop in Arkansas last fall and got a bit turned around. Another hiker stopped and said, 'Hey, your map is oriented wrong for the direction you're going.' I had it set for north-up, but I was facing south. I flipped it to match the trail, and suddenly everything clicked into place. Now I always orient my map to my direction of travel first thing. Anyone have other simple navigation tips that made a big difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

harper91411d ago

My buddy did that with a park map once, had it totally backwards for like an hour. He was so mad when he figured it out.

nguyen.morgan11d ago

Counting steps sounds like overthinking it to me.

zarat3811d ago

oh man that map thing is so real. i did the same thing on a trail in colorado once and felt so silly when someone pointed it out. it seems obvious now but in the moment you're just focused on the trail and not the orientation. another game changer for me was learning to actually count my steps between landmarks on longer, featureless sections. keeps you from second guessing every little bend in the path.