"There's nothing more gratifying than being able to depend on your own abilities." – Tom Ralston
Whether we've slid off what was left of a road during a snowstorm or parted company with our equine "friend" on the trail, we're going to have to consider, at some point, how we're going to get back to civilization. Irrespective of how accomplished our survival skills of shelter building, fire starting and water finding and purifying are, the less time we spend under survival conditions the better our chances are, particularly if we've sustained injury. In this two-part mini-series we'll take a brief look at "navigating by nature".
If we're blessed with local knowledge of the area, have a map, compass and a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) in our possession and we're accompanied by gloriously balanced weather conditions we know we're on easy street as far as the way home is concerned. Unfortunately, life isn't like that. How many of us have any of those items in our vehicle when we're going on a journey to a place we've never been before? How many of us just use the vehicles GPS to guide us to where we want to go and don't have any form of back up in case it ceases to function or we've slid of the road in a snowstorm? How many of us carry a map and compass or GPS on our person when we're trail riding vs in our saddlebags?
If we're in possession of a GPS or map and compass, the assumption would be that we're familiar with their use at worst or we're accomplished navigators at best. If "Murphy" has anything at all to do with our survival situation you can bet that the batteries in our GPS are dead or dying or that it was broken at the onset of our situation along with our compass! All is not lost (including us!) as there are many ways to navigate using nature. They may not be as accurate or easy as our broken items but they'll be a huge help to us.
Sun
The sun rises in the East and sets in the West, we all know that – right? While being generally accepted as being true it's not altogether true. The only time the sun rises in the East and sets in the West is on the Spring and Fall equinoxes when the periods of light and dark are equal. During the summer solstice the sun rises in the Northeast and sets as far to the Northwest and during the winter solstice the it rises in the Southeast and sets as far to the Southwest. The main point to mentioning this is that direction finding using the sun is not exact and provides only a general direction. This is still useful enough to get you moving in the right direction.
Using the shadow method, we can find a clearing and place a stick (approx. 2-3ft tall) vertically in the ground. Mark the end of the shadow with a rock, leaf or other suitable object. Wait a while (min 15 minutes) and mark the end of the other shadow. Drawing a line between the two marks gives us a very approximate East/West line with East being the last marker we placed. Standing on that line facing one way will give us North and the other South.
For those of us that wear a watch with an analogue display (i.e. it has hands), we can also use this for general direction finding (note also that some watches (Casio G-Shock for example) have compasses as a built in feature of the watch).
Hold the watch horizontal and point the hour hand at the sun. Cut the angle between the hour hand and the 12 O'clock position in half. This marks the North South line. This requires the watch to be set to local time not daylight savings time. If daylight savings time is shown, bisect the angle between the hour hand and the 1 o'clock position.
Moon
While a moonlit night might light our way, we can also use it to provide us with an approximate direction. If we're viewing a crescent moon we can draw a line between the tips and continue it down to the horizon. The point at which it meets the horizon will be due South.
The moon rises in the East and sets in the West assisting in determining our East/West line. The bright side of the moon always faces the sun. Up until midnight the bright side is facing West and after midnight it faces East.
Stars
We can also use the stars for direction finding. Learning to recognize two well-known constellations, The Big Dipper (AKA the frying pan, the ladle) and Cassiopeia (AKA the W), can help us find the North star which is positioned between the two at the tail end of the Little Dipper. Locate the bottom two stars of the The Big Dippers cup. Draw an imaginary line through those two star extending outwards towards Cassiopeia and you'll find the North Star.
Another constellation we can use as a navigation aid is Orions Belt. This is another popular constellation that is easy to spot in the night sky consisting of three bright stars in a straight (ish) line. Orion rises in the East and sets in the West, again giving us our East/West line.
Upon finishing this article, go outside and give it a go. Point your watch at the sun and see what it tells you, use something in the yard that already cast a shadow and mark the end as described and see how that correlates to what your watch said. Find the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia, then see if you can find the North Star. Look for Orions Belt and see how the information dovetails. Practice frequently until you can locate the stars easily.
"Preparedness, when properly pursued, is a way of life, not a sudden, spectacular program" – Spencer Kimball