Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
Outdoor Activities => Northern Ireland Hiking, Walking, Running, Orienteering and Geocaching => Topic started by: Rich.H on August 04, 2013
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Hoping to get in some serious hours of pure nav work this month, and wondering if anyone can suggest some spots.
My main desires are that I have somewhere as close as possible (I live in Derry), and that any spot doesn't require major hikes to get to. Finally I want something that will push me technically with navigation. I know plenty of spots to go for a good long walk but that isn't what i'm after here. Ideally I want something more akin to classic red/white post orienteering, but ideally outdoors on a topo map.
Thanks in advance for any help on this one.
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Hi Rich.H not totally sure I understand what you mean about navigation,do you intend using a G.P.S for naving with or a map & compass.personally I only use a G.P.S for Geocaching.check out some local orienteering groups who can teach you some basic map & compass skills that will serve you far better than GPS,also learning how to read terrain & features on a map can really help with navigation.afer a while you'll be able to pace & time you treks.good luck
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It's compass only nav i'm using, gps for me is only for tracking the trip to review later. My nav skills are fine but some aspects are rusty such as aiming off. So I'm wanting a spot where I can brush up on a few aspects. All of these are perfectly possible on a weekend in the mountains here but that just isn't time efficient for what i'm trying to do.
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Well that said I would try to find some terrain firstly that had either a 125 or 155 OS covering it,secondly try to use an area with plenty of features,ie streams,knolls,boulder fields that's why loads of folk practice navigation on the Trassey trek with tons of features to work off,I've always found that navigation is something you have to keep working at & always easier if you have someone to practise with while you're out.