route+planning

outdoors home > navigation toc =Route planning =

Dr. Seuss
 * "You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes **
 *  You can steer yourself any direction you choose. **
 *  You're on your own and you know what you know. **
 *  And you are the one who'll decide where to go." **

Planning a whole route
There are lots of walks described in books and on-line. With some map reading and route planning skills, though, you can create your own routes or adapt those of others. Always start by asking yourself //who//, //what// and //why// - who is going (and what are there capabilities and desires), what sort of thing do they want to see or visit, why are you/thye going on this walk. The route must be tailored to the group undertaking it. You also need to think about //when// - a route that is feasible in the summer may be difficult to complete in daylight in mid-winter.

The planned route //must// be within the abilities of the least competent member of the group. Alternatives need to be considered beforehand and on the ground if competence is less than expected.

Naismith's rule
When estimating the time a walk will take, **Naismith's rule** is often a good starting point: 5km/h horizontally and 30 minutes for every 300m ascent. This has to be adjusted if the terrain is poor, if the party has inexperienced or slow walkers or if the weight carried is heavier than usual. Always add time for rest stops (as a rule of thumb 30 minutes for each meal and 5 minutes per hour). Always allow a margin for unexpected problems - at least 10%.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">For example:
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">If planning a walk with start time of 09:00 and end time of 17:00, this is 8 hours. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Deduct 10% as safety margin - this leaves 7 hours 10 minutes (roughly) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Deduct half and hour for lunch - this leaves 6 hours 40 minutes <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Deduct 5 minutes per hour - this leave just over 6 hours. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">If the group is able to maintain 5 km/h over the intended terrain then the //maximum// distance to plan to cover is 30 km (assumes no significant ascent).

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Route cards
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">When planning a significant walk, it is often best to write a route card. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">This splits the walk into short lengths, each of which can be navigated easily. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The card should contain the necessary information to navigate each leg: GR & description for start and end points, direction of travel, distance, duration and description (height changes, catch and collect features).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> The usual advice is to leave a copy of the route care with someone else so that if your retun is delayed, SAR will be able to find you quicker. Ifyou have done this then it is best not to deviate from the route unless adverse conditions or another problems forces you to abdandon your <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">route for a shorter/easier one. This has the downside of limiting flexibility.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Even if you have not left a cord with anyone else it is important not to carry on with the planned route if you encounter significant problems and a change of plan would be safer.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">see links below for examplesand a template that uses excel.

Planning a single leg of a route
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">When planning a leg you should think of the "4 Ds": <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Direction <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Distance <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Duration <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Description

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">videos on [|aiming off]and on [|handrails]

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In areas with steep or broken ground the shortest route is not necessarily the quickest (or safest).

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">attack points
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sometimes the objective is vague or poorly defined. Rather than trying to reach it directly, one can aim for a more obvious feature nearby (rough navigation) then move from that to the objective (fine navigation). This obvious feature is the attack point. Attack points should be as close as possible to the objective - ideally within 200 m.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">aiming off
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">There is often some error when following a bearing in featureless terrain. If you had tried to follow a bearing to a specific feature but found you had missed it you would not know which side of the feature you were. When aiming off you deliberately follow a bearing to one side of the feature - you then know which way to move to find the feature. This will work best when there is a linear feature roughly perpendicular to your direction of travel on which the feature you want to get to lies.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">For example:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">You are at the top of Noon Hill (see map below) in poor visibility and want to get back to your car parked at the track road junction marked by the black cross. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The direct mag bearing to your car is 152 degrees but if you tried to follow that and missed the car you would not know ehether to go up or downhill along the road. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">An alternative is to aim off and follow a bearing of 144 degrees (towards the red cross on the map below). This is likley to bring you to the road uphill from the car - when you get to the road turn right downhill for a short distance until you reach the car.

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<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">Links
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Route planning] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Route planning] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Planning tips] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Pros and cons of route cards] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Route card (Pete Hawkins): [| Copy of routecard.xls] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|route card tamplate] (DofE)