Navigation course, More than Mountains, Lake District
We started the day by recapping map reading, including the important difference between paths and rights of way, as well as how to read contours. Starting from the bunkhouse, Nick (the instructor) made us navigate around the valley, reading out our location each time and planning our route to a given destination using the 4 Ds: direction, description, distance and duration. We repeated this several times on our way to Green Crag, also covering timing and counting steps on the way as well as some aspects of route planning (avoiding bogs, for example). After climbing Green Crag, Nick introduced us to compass bearings, and we used them to navigate some ring contours on our descent in cloudy conditions. Overall everyone seemed pleased with the course. Various members of the group should be able to confidently lead walks in future.