Of all the survival skills navigation is perhaps the most versatile. Not only useful day to day, it is essential for safe travel in the wilderness and removes a significant chance of needing the other survival skills. It’s not for nothing that whether you are training as a mountain leader or yachtmaster, it represents probably the most heavily tested skill, and feared aspect of gaining the qualifications.
GPS is certainly a game changer but batteries fail, electronics break and frankly any outdoors person worth their salt should be comfortable with a map and compass. However is there value in going beyond that? Why is it worth understanding natural navigation? By natural navigation we specifically mean using clues in the natural world around us to help us navigate.
There are a handful of reasons:
- There are always those times when you are not carrying map, compass or even GPS.
- Developing and evolving a good “sense of direction” just makes life easier, even in the cities where natural clues still abound.
- By using the learning and applying how natural signs help us navigate you gain an amazing extra connection with the natural world.
- It’s a satisfying and fun thing to do.
How to learn natural navigation
There are a range of great references on Natural Navigation available but many only go skin deep. Whilst it receives some coverage in many books such as the old classic SAS Survival Handbook, and these references cover some basic techniques there is a lot more depth available. One of my favourite in depth sources on the subject is The Natural Navigator by Tristan Gooley.
Having dedicated his career to the study Gooley’s book offers a detailed treatise on the subject covering everything from clues in the plant life around us, to astro navigation, geological hints and even using puddles. It’s well worth a look. Check out the link below for latest prices (Note: this is an affiliate link so I may receive a commission if you purchase through the link)
Where to start? – Navigating with plants
Whilst the most basic clues are gained from the position of the sun, in the Northern hemisphere it sits due south at Midday, rises in the east and sets in the west. However with the sun not always available perhaps the next easiest place to look is plantlife. Plantlife is shaped by the position of the sun as well as prevailing weather conditions. If you understand these, and a start point for any aspiring natural navigator is to do that, you can quickly start to recognise the hints available in the vegetation around you.
3 tips to apply
On a recent walk in the local woodlands, see the video below, I tried a range of techniques as shown in the video.
Here are some of the ideas discussed and applied on my walk:
1. Tree shape is often driven by light and light is driven by direction
Trees will almost always grow more heavily in the direction of light. So for isolated trees you can often see a clear horizontal reaching to the southern aspect by the tree. i.e. manifested by more horizontal branch growth to the southerly side, and vertical to the north (Look for a tick shape, or Nike Swoosh if you prefer). The watchout: Where other factors such as slope or other trees are present these may have a more dominant impact on how the trees grow towards the light.
Top tip: where you are operating on denser woodland and it can be hard to disentangle the sometimes contradictory light impacts is to look to the biggest tree in the area. Where tree shape can be confusing with many trees present, the biggest tree will often be a more reliable directional indicator.
2. Wind leaves it’s mark
Trees in exposed windy places often grow with the clear windswept appearance. So if you are in an area with prevailing south westerlies, such as most of the UK they offer an often reliable directional indicator. The effect may be more subtle where you are trying to spot the counter balancing impacts of prevailing wind and sun. What I noticed when looking at this in the field is that the smaller branches at the tops and end of branches often show a slightly bent and combed over appearance.
Top tip: It’s not just growing trees that show the impact of the prevailing winds. Flattened ferns and long grasses, especially before the new seasons growth arises give a nice indicator. Once older growth plantlife is flattened, wet and matted it tends to stay that way until new growth arrives. Dead trees flattened by winter storms also can offer a useful indicator where these storms are driven by prevailing weather conditions. In the UK this means they will most commonly fall pointing to the East/ North East.
3. It’s not just the trees but what grows on them
It’s an age old “wisdom” that moss prefers the northern, more shadowy side of the tree. In The Natural Navigator this is largely debunked, and this was backed up by my own observations. It is certainly true that under some circumstances the northerly aspect of any trees, rocks or other environmental features may remain damper and this certainly will encourage more moss growth. However in wetter climates, such as those found in Northern Europe, and especially within damp environments such as woodland, all bets are off. Moss will grow anywhere that remains damp, whether north, east, south or west.
During my observations sloped area’s on trees, especially those with heavily textured barks, which would naturally collect rainwater were the most common areas to find moss growth.
I also observed that Fungi also tended to prefer damp aspects so was unable to isolate any clear directional indication from these on my wanders in relatively damp woodland.
There is however a third species that also grows on trees, lichens. These strange algae/fungi combinations are pretty abundant however certain species seem to display a strong aversion to direct sunlight. In my area a rust/orange coloured lichen was pretty abundant and always most strongly on the northerly aspect.
Top tip: Observing if any particular species, such as my orange lichen, prefer a certain aspect in an area when direction is known, e.g. when the sun is out, gives a useful fallback if the primary direction indicator goes away. e.g. it clouds over!