How to find your way back?

[+Badams1]

New to the hobby, and we ran into a situation where we followed the GPS to the stash, then got turned around in the woods and had a hard time getting back to the car. We found the swamp, and thankfully my husband was able to carry my daughter through, my son was almost knee deep going through.  Is there a way to make the car/ starting point so you can use the GPS to find your way back out of the woods?

 

Thanks so much for your help- I'm sure I missed something in the instructions.

[+p0cy]

Select Track Manager > Current Track > > TracBack.

or mark your parking as a waypoint. Navigate to this WP.

[+hzoi]

We have our GPSr (Garmin Montana) set to mark our track on the map, so there's a little purple line that follows our progress.  Normally it's spot on; depending on signal it can vary, but it at least gets us in the ballpark.  I found it very helpful just last week, when I started bushwhacking off a path and then realized I was on the wrong side of a rather deep gorge from where I should be.  I'd gone through some pretty thick trees following what turned out to be a game trail, so I got a little turned around.  But I made my way back to the little purple line on the map and got back to where I needed to be.

[+frostengel]

3 hours ago, p0cy said:

Select Track Manager > Current Track > > TracBack.

or mark your parking as a waypoint. Navigate to this WP.

 

Be careful. My GPS (Oregon 450) shows my actual track ( I like to call it the "Schleimspur" (=trail of slime)) but sometimes anything happens and suddenly it is gone. Usually that is no problem but if you rely on it....

 

So I'd always prefer the second idea of taking a waypoint - we usually do this and this has never let us down.

 

@Badams1: Sometimes there is a parking waypoint already given in the listing. If you use the proposed parking space you already have a waypoint.

I am sure the story above made a really great log entry and a wonderful adventure which you won't forget. :-)

[+kunarion]

9 hours ago, Badams1 said:

New to the hobby, and we ran into a situation where we followed the GPS to the stash, then got turned around in the woods and had a hard time getting back to the car. We found the swamp, and thankfully my husband was able to carry my daughter through, my son was almost knee deep going through.  Is there a way to make the car/ starting point so you can use the GPS to find your way back out of the woods?

 

Thanks so much for your help- I'm sure I missed something in the instructions.

 

Do you mean you have a modern handheld hiking GPS?  If you're using only The Official App on a phone, that App is more for getting the feel for how Geocaching works than a navigation system.

 

Usually I'm on a park trail that's one big loop, so I don't even worry, although I may not realize it's like 6 miles back. Before you start, load a map onto the GPS that shows the trail, or bring a map from the office, or take a picture of the map at an info board.

 

When I remember, I mark my car parking waypoint, and name it something like “FDR Car” (in the case where I'm at FDR). If the trail seems confusing, no trail or whatever, I've sometimes marked waypoints along the way. Depending on the place, I can often use Geocache locations to navigate. As mentioned, there's a backtrack function on some GPSs.

[+cerberus1]

You don't say if using a phone or handheld GPSr...

Before heading anywhere, the first thing I do on a GPSr (once I get out of the truck) is mark parking. 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2019 by cerberus1

[+Max and 99]

11 hours ago, Badams1 said:

New to the hobby, and we ran into a situation where we followed the GPS to the stash, then got turned around in the woods and had a hard time getting back to the car. We found the swamp, and thankfully my husband was able to carry my daughter through, my son was almost knee deep going through.  Is there a way to make the car/ starting point so you can use the GPS to find your way back out of the woods?

 

Thanks so much for your help- I'm sure I missed something in the instructions.

That's a really good question! Sorry you ran into trouble while out with the family. We've done the same thing.

I now mark the parking spot with a waypoint, and also mark several spots along the way, if we're in the woods.

[+cerberus1]

18 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

That's a really good question! Sorry you ran into trouble while out with the family. We've done the same thing.

I now mark the parking spot with a waypoint, and also mark several spots along the way, if we're in the woods.

 

Yep.  If we're pretty-far out and direction may be an issue, I'll mark that spot with a "left/right"  or similar sign to head back.  

Sometimes the tracks can be off a lot simply by too much iron in rock.  Haven't relied on tracks features to get back  in some time.

[+Badams1]

5 hours ago, p0cy said:

Select Track Manager > Current Track > > TracBack.

or mark your parking as a waypoint. Navigate to this WP.

I'm using the app on my phone - where do I find the track manager?  (Sorry, I'm a bit of a technophobe.  Finally got a cell phone in April.  I know, I don't belong in this century.)

[+TeamRabbitRun]

25 minutes ago, Badams1 said:

I'm using the app on my phone - where do I find the track manager?  (Sorry, I'm a bit of a technophobe.  Finally got a cell phone in April.  I know, I don't belong in this century.)

 

It's not on the phone app. But, you can temporarily add a waypoint (your car) to any cache in the app. When it's time to come back out, bring up that first cache again, go to WAYPOINTS and navigate out to your car.

 

Or, you can use any mapping application such as Google Maps to mark your starting point. Just remember to delete it later.

[+Badams1]

Thank you all for your help!  (And yes, we got a great memory out of our swamp adventure!)

[+Viajero Perdido]

You might like to check out orienteering, a distant-cousin activity that's fun, healthy, and excellent for building navigation skills and spatial awareness.

 

It makes a great family activity.  And bonus, you can do "O" and geocaching at the same time - if nobody's looking, and if you don't mind getting a pretty bad time on the "O" course. 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2019 by Viajero Perdido

[+JohnCNA]

3 hours ago, Badams1 said:

I'm using the app on my phone - where do I find the track manager?  (Sorry, I'm a bit of a technophobe.  Finally got a cell phone in April.  I know, I don't belong in this century.)

There are a number of fitness apps for your phone that have hiking activities and will let you record your track during your hike.  You might actually have a fitness app that came with your phone that will do this. You can start it up when you park your car and then leave that running in the background while you use the geocaching app when you are in unfamiliar territory like the woods.  Then when it's time to return to your car, just bring up the fitness app and follow your track on the screen back to your car. 

[+colleda]

12 hours ago, p0cy said:

Select Track Manager > Current Track > > TracBack.

or mark your parking as a waypoint. Navigate to this WP.

That is a handy Garmin feature. I used it once when I lost my glasses bush bashing back from a find. I was able track back following my Garmin purple track and found them. I've also used it to return to my vehicle after trekking through, hilly, trackless, featureless scrubland.

[+Jayeffel]

One thing to always do-- which I do not always do myself is particularly in a new area, at your beginning point turn around to see what is behind you before you start. that his what you willow be looking for when coming back. I helps when your are in a mountainy or hilly area. In the Midwest USA, ??

[+Joe_L]

On ‎9‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 2:09 PM, Viajero Perdido said:

You might like to check out orienteering, a distant-cousin activity that's fun, healthy, and excellent for building navigation skills and spatial awareness.

 

Yes to this.  Learn basic map reading skills and how to use a compass.  Always take a map, rudimentary or detailed, when walking or hiking in undeveloped areas.  Maps and compasses don't need batteries, either.

[+Viajero Perdido]

35 minutes ago, Joe_L said:

Maps and compasses don't need batteries, either

 

Actually, nowadays they do. 

 

But my particular hardware is reliable enough (rugged phone with big battery) that I haven't carried paper maps or a traditional compass for years.  Maybe because I also have the orienteering skills to find my way back to civilization should worse come to worse.  But I've never had an equipment failure in the field, not even that time my phone started rolling down a steep slope (yep, phones roll) until a tree stopped it.  I'd have found my way back that day regardless.