Taking and walking a bearing

What you need

• A baseplate compass
• A paper map
• A pencil

How

1. Lay the compass on the map with its edge along the line from where you are to where you are going, direction of travel arrow pointing the way you want to walk.
2. Turn the dial until the north lines in the housing sit parallel with the north lines on the map, north to north.
3. Read the bearing at the index line and settle the declination. In central Newfoundland it is roughly 17 degrees west.
4. Hold the compass flat at your belt, turn your whole body until the needle sits in the shed, and look up.
5. Pick a tree or a rock sitting on that line, walk to it, then do it again from there. Never walk watching the needle.

Watch for

Notes

The reverse bearing, your bearing plus or minus 180 degrees, walks you back out the way you came.