No need to have your nose in it continuously - but in the pack for those times when weather and visibility make a map difficult or impossible.
That does make sense, especially as we get older or are a long time out on a particularly difficult route. I would not be opposed otherwise to that and have done it myself, reluctantly. But for some, the temptation to haul it out is just too great, and to "cheat" when you find yourself asking the "big question" rather than to gain valuable experience for when the dang thing breaks or runs out of juice. I have failed to certify guide students in land navigation who were leading a bushwhack trek who did just that, thinking I did not see them sneak a look in their pocket.
In my land navigation training class, I show a video of a line of young kids who are marching along single file in open air with their faces glued to a GPS (or maybe it is a cell phone). But there is just one girl who is obviously looking around, head on a swivel as they travel. IMO she is the only one who is enjoying their hike and could describe the landscape of where they are and where they have been. It is a perfect example.
Before I was old enough to hunt myself, I would go with my dad who had a favored off trail woods route that he grew up with many years before. He showed me favored landmarks of how to get from one navigation fixed point to the next, which eventually ended up as my deer watch locations when I got old enough to carry a gun myself.
“Now here is that twisted tree where you turn left and head over the ridge saddle to the south. Find the creek, had downstream and cross at the second sharp bend, then head west past the collapsed cabin remains to the overhanging rock shelter by the rusty milk can. I’ll give you about 20-30 minutes to get there.”
Later, when I was old enough to carry a gun on the hunt, I knew exactly where to go, step by recognized step. To this day I sometimes still hike in that area for old time’s sake, and can still hear my dad’s advising voice. “If you get “mixed up” (he never said “lost”), just sit down on a log, have a drink, eat half of your sandwich, and think about how you got there. Does anything in the landscape look familiar? If not, look at your compass and backtrack to the creek and I will find you.”
Whatever happened to those days and that kind of sage advice?
Years later I was hiking with a fellow wilderness guide instructor and land navigation expert mentor. He had an early hand-held GPS at the time. Struggling through derecho major blowdown we sat for a minute and he was proud to show me on his GPS where we were. I said "no, Van, that is not correct." Just look around, and you will see the spur downslope of the ridge just behind us, and the lake is just becoming visible between the trees to our left. I pointed to a distinct location on the topo map: we are exactly here instead". So then Van said "you are correct". He put his GPS away and did not look at it again.
So to me, the journey itself is more of the goal than the destination itself may be. Finding my way by being smart and using traditional tools is what keeps me happy.
Of course I do carry and use a GPS (and Caltopo) as is required for exacting precision during a SAR incident mission, but when I am recreational traveling alone myself in the woods, I am comfortable with and prefer older methods that work well for me to find any destination I choose in the distance . I enjoy keeping myself sharp with the skill I learned so long ago.
