FINDING YOUR WAY

If your tools get lost, nature can keep you on track

If your vehicle breaks down, or if you get off the track you were following, you need to find your way to your destination. Ideally you would have a map and compass and a device with GPS, but in the worst case scenario you might not even have that. How could you get to a safe place?

Throughout the history of humanity, we’ve used the Sun and stars to navigate by. If you know that the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and that the Sun is due south at its highest point, you can in principle follow a straight line out of the wilderness. Using the stars, you can look for the pole star in the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Cross in the Southern Hemisphere. Landscape features can also act as guides. Streams, rivers and lakes can help stop you going back on yourself.