Why do people get lost in British hills?

by Nigel Williams

There are undoubtedly a multitude of scenarios and reasons why people become lost, and, somehow, I seem to have personal experience of most of them and they are often visually etched into my memory. Orienteers talk about "reducing the error", an understanding that navigation is more of an art than a science. But the root cause, more often than not, is a result of a lack of observation and poor decision making.

When OS did a survey in 2022 of two thousand walkers, more than half admitted to having been lost at some point. In many cases it appeared their interpretation of map symbols, including contours, was poor. A lack of basic navigation skills with map and compass was another, as was the decision on which are the appropriate mapping and navigational tools to use, including the phone, Google maps and GPS. The environmental vulnerabilities of the device make it a poor decision if it is the sole navigation tool.

Poor observation and information-gathering along the way to ensure timely decision-making (usually at a junction) was never mentioned in the survey. Yet this is easily overlooked when one is having a good blether and subconsciously just keeping to the most obvious looking path on the ground. Navigation puts a heavy load on the brain so it tends to be easily distracted to less onerous work. Consciously maintaining a focus on the navigation task, along with having the tools of navigation easily to hand rather than buried in a rucksack, also plays a part.

Poor decision-making to rectify an initial error of observation can result in a decision to try a shortcut across country, which is a mistake. The moment one goes across country the navigation and decision-making requirements can multiply exponentially compared to following linear features and retracing one's steps on the path, as advocated by AdventureSmart for instance. www.adventuresmart.uk

The classic example of choosing the wrong strategy is reaching a summit in poor visibility, having a brief food stop during which we get cold and just want to head off down as quickly as possible. It is so easy to decide to retrace one's steps without bothering to obtain an accurate direction with the compass. The problem being that the top of most Munros is rocky and boulder strewn and there is no obvious sign of a path for the first minute or two. Going up the ground even in mist we tend to get drawn into the summit by the ground shape ahead, but going down the ground just widens out. Experiments have shown that humans cannot walk in a straight line without landmark or environmental cues for more than about 8 seconds. So, the decision here should always be to set a compass bearing to relocate the path when setting off from the top. If you have not found it after descending to a point where you would expect it to be, then search at right angles to your bearing left and right.

Neurological research suggests we develop most of our cognitive navigation ability in the first 20 years of our lives - it then plateaus before deteriorating fairly rapidly in our old age as we become sedentary. Our ability is influenced by how much we practise, which impacts our confidence; two key elements of successful navigation. We know from research into London Taxi drivers training, and veteran orienteers - neither of which use a GPS - that practising navigation can help us improve or maintain our cognitive navigation ability.

Other research such as Sea Hero Quest suggests that our social and environmental upbringing in those early years is also a key factor; the environment and terrain we were brought up in, city or countryside, and our freedom to explore freely as youngsters. More recently, how reliant we are on using a GPS for all our navigation tasks is also shown to have an impact. Following a dot on a screen reduces the amount of observation and decision-making that develops the neural navigation connections and pathways. Having said that, it is of course safer to use the verbal instructions of sat nav in the car rather than trying to map read as we drive. Personally, I always like to study a map as well, so I can create a mental map of key landmarks and places to look out for on my journey. A lack of pre-planning and research is another aspect that can lead to navigation errors and is linked to the core activity of observation.

In summary, observation and navigation decision-making play a significant part in preventing us from becoming lost. These are not technical compass skills so they are often overlooked in navigation or map reading teaching. And, ironically, they are the two things that habitual use of the GPS overrides. Behind the more obvious reasons for becoming lost there is the influence of our early years' spatial development, but it is never too late to learn the simple skills of outdoor navigation.

You may also be interested in ...

- If you are in need of a compass then we stock a great range of items and other useful navigation equipment, suitable for all levels of navigation.

- For the perfect lanyard to go with your compass, the HARVEY Map - Measure - Go! scale bar laces double up to make measuring distance easy! Available in two scales, 1:25,000 scale markings (red) and 1:40,000 scale markings (yellow).




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