forestnome said:
Don't panic!!! Enjoy the moment, it's better than being at work!
Off-trail travel is very slow; you probably have not travelled as far as you think you have. That's why it took longer than you thought to find the trail.
forestnome, I share your love of the sky, and have been an observer since I was no older than 10. As a scientist I follow it whenever I can, I just wish I could use it more outdoors in this cloudy northeast!
When I began learning the art of solo long distance bushwhacking quite a few years ago, I wasn't able to keep track of my location as well as I can now by observing the lay of land and other clues. But I would hop from one obvious location to the next, usually some kind of pond, or distinctive portion of a stream or ridge or ravine. In between those distinctive and position confidence building places I would dead reckon using my compass, satisfied that if I went too far then something in the terrain ahead would definitively tell me so (this is called a "backstop"). I always laid out my trips and map study with that in mind.
Here's the wonderful thing... During those intermediate legs when I was alone without precise knowledge of place, life was different, a kind of twilight zone of not knowing precisely where I was, but knowing I would soon come to a recognizable place. I learned patience, pace, and timing from that exercise. The whole process was an immensely satisfying thing for me to do.
These days experience has taught me better dead reckoning and observational techniques to fill in the holes. I don't much get the between navigation fix spine chilling anticipation anymore, but I sure do still enjoy and marvel that this kind of navigation sure does work to get me anywhere I want to go. I learn something and have new experiences every time I go out. Every time so far anyway.
Yes, such travel can be slow but you can develop an internal measure of speed made by experience. One of the most important things to recognize is this - plan ahead, what terrain changes do I expect to see coming up next, and
when will I be there... if you think you have "arrived" at an intermediate checkpoint unexpectedly too soon, then
most likely you are wrong. For example, you probably are crossing an unmarked minor stream prior to the one you see on the map. Look more closely at the map, slight squiggles in the contours will reveal its presence and your real location.
You are much more likely to be late than early, but either way you should know the reason and know it well. Allow for dynamic changes on the fly and be reasonable about them. Most importantly, do not compound one mistake with another by "bending the map" to justify in your mind what is in fact not true. If that stream crossing was a critical turning point, then the terrain you pass through next had darn well better make perfect sense. If not then stop, go back and figure it out before continuing. Once you have made 2 or more compounded mistakes that you cannot resolve, then your chances of panic increase exponentially.
