When editing the website for 2008 - I stumbled across this in an email - It's good to hear how you are getting on and how your navigation is improving! Look forward to seeing you on the Silver NNAS Course!
Good morning Guy!
It's amazing how quickly the time has passed since our course with you in December. Cath & I were thrilled that you were willing to run the course for just the 2 of us after the others had dropped out due to illness. You may remember we were so hopelessly incompetent at navigation that were had been unable to find our way back from the pub to the farm on our first night...
You were very understanding and helpful - and your early diagnosis that our main problem was to do with not paying enough attention was quite right. The strategies you taught us - estimating and checking time, identifying features in the landscape, counting steps etc proved invaluable and we realised that actually, it's easy to pay enough attention and have a lovely time in the hills if you just do the basics well. Your patient teaching of basic compass skills was brilliant - particularly given that both of us suffer from maths phobia...By the end of the weekend we were both feeling a lot more confident that we could venture out on our own.
The following weekend, we set off one bright & sunny morning for Alnhamoor and enjoyed a bracing walk across the moors to Little Dod - a route that has defeated Cath many times previously because it appears quite featureless for large parts. We were thrilled to discover that we could work out where we were & where we were going at every point. When the weather suddenly turned foul, we had to navigate our way back over a foggy moor to find a narrow path to lead us back down the valley. Using our newly acquired skills, we were able to dismiss paths that seemed to be in the right place but weren't on the right bearing when we checked (and would have led us deeper into the hills had we followed them). Slowly, we made our way across the moor, avoiding the worst of the bogs and arrived at the fence less than 50 yards from the gate we needed to find. We were thrilled!
Since then, we've both succeeded in going off the beaten path into access land and found our way out again. In early Feb, we're planning a a few days walking in the Cheviots before deciding where we'll go to try out our skills further afield. We may be in touch later in the year if we feel we're up to the Silver course!
Very best of luck with your new ventures this year. Thank you for your patience!
Very best regards
Sue
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