In Lesson 8, we covered how to walk from one point to another. And hopefully you have been practicing it. In this lesson we will show how to use that information to do some more complex stuff.

Land navigation is as simple as walking a straight line from one place to another. Bu what do you do if there is an obstacle like a mountain, or a lake, or a river in your path? Or what if the distance is very very long and the chance of getting off course becomes great? The key is to not loose your head, and to use some common sense.

Legs

The first method I'll cover is Legs. What I mean is to break the trip down into manageable legs instead of one big long straight distance.

Example: you want to go to a nice secluded waterfall, but between you and your waterfall is a series of steep mountain ridges that you would rather not try to hike up and over. Instead you pick the saddles or gaps where it will be easier to cross, and determine the azimuth to each one in series, connecting the dots so to speak, until you can get to your destination.

[insert pic]

Another example: You are crossing a large forest to get to your next camp, and there is not trails going in that direction. But there are things like hills, creek junctions, old logging roads crossing your path, and other features you can recognize. Divide the trip so that your Legs end at each of these points. That way you know exactly where you are at the end of each leg, and if your a little off, you can get to the reference point and continue on.

[insert pic]

Handrailing

The next method I'll cover is Handrailing. Handrailing is a technique that allows you to forgo using a compass all or part of the time. Handrailing

UNDER CONSTRUCTION