About

This is me. Sturdy Girl. Lovingly named by my big brother many years ago when I realised that I’m never going to be a catwalk model, but then, who wants to be? But I do want to be healthy and have developed a passion for walking and that’s what this blog is all about.

Monday, November 06, 2006

I’ve done a navigation course!

Wow! What a fantastic couple of days …

I had booked my navigation course after spotting an advertisement in the mag and, assured by some friendly emails I’d received from the training centre, felt certain of an interesting time.

Bright and early, well, about 10am actually, Wil from Hillwalking Wales (www.hillwalking-wales.com), was smiling his way towards me outside the onsite classroom. Warm and welcoming, I felt immediately at ease, which is just as well when you’re about to head off into unknown territory with a complete stranger! We started by spending time discussing contours, attack points, handrails, ticks (not the bloodsucking kind!), true north, magnetic north, grid north…phew! The old brain was spinning faster than a compass near a mobile phone. Actually, everything was explained clearly, slowly and in easy to digest pieces and before we set off for the hills – sorry – mountains – I felt I had a good grasp of what lay ahead – literally.

Backpack and gaiters on and it was no rest for the wicked – let’s get down to navigation. For the next 4 hours I was set a series of tasks using only an Ordnance Survey Map, a compass, some toggles, a stopwatch and a speed chart – oh, and a blade of grass or two! Wil patiently waited for me whilst I set the map (got it the right way round), took a bearing (which way to go), estimated how long it should take and finally headed off to the various ‘targets’. There is a cunning system called ‘aiming off’ which comes in handy if you happen to miss your mark – honest, Wil, it was deliberate! No, seriously, throughout the day I received what can only be described as top-notch instruction which was also fun and insightful, just how training should be. It was great fun working our way towards the summit, taking time out to watch skylarks, admire the dramatic, rolling landscape littered with ancient cairns and burial mounds, and even do some scrambling until we reached the trig point at the top of Foeldrygon.

Although we joked about it being the top of the world – to me it was just that. I’d just walked and navigated my way through my first real hillwalk and it was great. Windswept and sun kissed, it was fantastic. Could have stayed up there for hours, but after a few compulsory tourist-type photos we had to head down and back to the van.

On the second day we headed off to Foel Cwmcerywn, Preseli’s highest summit. From the start I was given targets to navigate towards as we worked our way up towards the trig point. It was another bright warm day, and after spending the previous evening with a storming headache due to excessive grinning and a spot of squinting, I donned the sunglasses, grabbed the compass and set off. We double checked our pacing and timing as well as strategies as we meandered up the grassy slopes, taking in the majestic skyline – dark shadows of the hills silhouetted against the low autumn sun. Lunch was taken at a disused quarry and the beauty of the landscape was so overpowering that we sat, for the most, in silence gazing at the peaks, watching kestrels riding the thermals and wild horses running free in the distance. Wasn’t often that we were silent throughout the course, but at this moment, in this place, the hills almost demanded it.
[Pic 4]

Lunch done we pushed on to the summit and that was almost it for me and my navigation this time around. The rest of the route was walking along the ridge path (sorry, ‘hand railing’) and although we took bearings and worked out timings, it was plain sailing all the way back. It was strange to be walking without having to think about how many steps I’d done, had I re-set the watch, were we about to walk over a ledge….? The views were spectacular and we even had the good fortune to walk near a herd of wild ponies, grazing on the heather and mosses. Although we’d been on the move for hours, I still didn’t want to come off of that mountain, it just felt so good.

Before I started on this course I knew very little about navigation and how to read a map. At the end of the second day I felt confident that I could successfully and safely plan routes, find bearings, reach targets and work out where I am on a map in emergencies. I could estimate the distance I wished to travel, how to take in to account variations to pace and timings due to ascents/descents but more importantly, I’d learned that the best way to reach a summit (or a target point!) isn’t always by taking the most direct route. If we had done that heading out to Foel Cwmerwyn I would never had experienced the beauty and tranquillity of the quarry. So, when I’m planning future routes, I’ll be looking out for those features in the landscape and taking time to visit them. After all, it’s not just all about reaching summits now – is it?