Why the paper Map Still Matters

A phone with a mapping app is a wonderful thing on a clear day. But batteries flatten in the cold, screens get smeared with rain, and a cracked device on a December ridge is no use to anyone. The humble paper map and a decent baseplate compass never run out of charge, work in horizontal rain, and force you to build a mental picture of the ground beneath your boots. That picture is what keeps you calm when the cloud comes down.

Before you go anywhere, choose the right map. For fell walking, a 1:25,000 scale sheet shows walls, fences, streams, crags and small paths in enough detail to navigate confidently. A 1:50,000 sheet covers more ground and suits long traverses, but the detail is coarser. Carry it in a clear waterproof case, folded so the section you need is on the outside.

Reading the Ground Underfoot

Navigation is really about constantly asking where you are. Two habits make that easy.

• Setting the map. Rotate the sheet until the features on it line up with the features around you: a wall running away to your left, a stream crossing the path ahead. This works even without a compass on a clear day, and it stops you drifting onto the wrong line.
• Thumbing. Keep your thumb on your current position as you walk, moving it along the route. You never lose your place, and you notice immediately when the ground stops matching the map.

Collect features as you go: a gate, a junction of paths, a spur of ground. Each one is a tick on a mental list. Miss two in a row and it is time to stop and think, not press on hopefully.

Taking a Bearing from the Map

A bearing turns a line on paper into a number you can follow. Lay the long edge of the compass baseplate along the line you want to travel, with the direction-of-travel arrow pointing away from you. Turn the compass housing until the orienting lines inside sit parallel with the map's grid lines and the orienting arrow points to the top of the map. Read the number at the index line.

That is a grid bearing. Magnetic north and grid north are not quite the same, and the difference is printed in the margin of every sheet, along with the year it was calculated. Across most of Britain the gap is currently small, within a degree or two, so for general fell walking you can often ignore it. In some areas, and with older maps, it is worth applying. If you carry a compass with a declination adjustment, set it once and forget it.

To take a bearing from the ground to the map, sight along the direction-of-travel arrow at your chosen feature, then rotate the housing until the red end of the needle sits inside the orienting arrow. Read the number and use it on the map.

Walking on a Bearing in Poor Visibility

In hill fog, a bearing is only half the job. The other half is holding the line.

• Set the compass so the needle sits in the orienting arrow, then pick out a point a few metres ahead on that line, walk to it, and repeat. Do not stare at the compass and stumble.
• Use a handrail. A wall, stream, fence or path edge running roughly your way is a gift. Follow it and check with the compass occasionally rather than fighting the terrain.
• Aim off deliberately. If you are heading for a bridge on a stream, aim a little to one side so that when you hit the water you know which way to turn. Hitting a long linear feature is far better than hoping to hit a small point.
• Take a back bearing to check you are not drifting: reverse the bearing by adding or subtracting 180 degrees and sight back to where you came from.

Pacing and Timing

Distance is the piece most walkers neglect. In clear weather you can see where you are; in fog you need to know how far you have travelled.

Pacing is simple. Walk a measured 100 metres on a path, counting every time your right foot lands. Do it a few times on different ground and take an average. Mine is around 64 double paces on the flat; uphill it shortens, downhill it lengthens. From then on, you can count off hundreds of metres through the murk.

Timing works alongside pacing. A common rule of thumb is one hour per five kilometres on the flat, plus one minute for every ten metres of ascent. Add time for rough ground, bog and big descents. If your timing and pacing agree, you can be confident about your position even when you cannot see a thing.

When You Are Not Sure Where You Are

Everyone has a moment of doubt. The trick is to stop early rather than late. Stop, shelter from the wind, eat something, and look properly at the map.

• Check the obvious. Are you on the path you think you are? Which way does the ground fall away? Which way is the water flowing?
• Match contours. Slope shape, steepness and aspect are excellent clues. A steepening convex slope below a summit is distinctive, as is a flat col between two tops.
• Use back bearings. Take a bearing to two or three features you can identify and draw the reversed lines on the map. Where they cross is roughly where you stand.
• Walk to a known line. Pick a big feature you cannot miss, such as a road, a large stream or a ridge line, and head for it with a bearing and a careful pace count.

Practise all of this on familiar hills in good weather, and the skills will be there when you need them. Confidence comes from repetition, not from luck.