Finding your way without map or compass by Harold Gatty

First published a year after Harold Gatty’s death in 1958, this book was originally titled Nature is your guide. It summarizes a lifetime of observation and research by a professional aviator and navigator who, in 1931 set a record by flying around the world in 8 days.  During World War II, Gatty played a vital role in air navigation research, and all the while, he was clearly fascinated with how people found their way around before the invention modern navigational instruments.

In his book, Gatty explains the mysteries of how “primitive” humans managed to achieve almost supernatural feats like colonizing the islands of the Pacific Ocean or traveling between remote villages with nothing but ice and snow as landmarks. He reveals the abundant natural signs that our modern lifestyle has dimmed our ability to see.  To our ancestors the clues would have been as easily readable as road maps or traffic signs are to us.

Finding Your Way Without Map or Compass helps us relearn some of these forgotten navigation signs.  Gatty shares examples of indigenous knowledge and his own observations for using sun angle, the night sky, wind direction, plant forms and diversity, and even wildlife behavior as navigational guides.

For example, data on the distribution of sea birds at locations throughout the Atlantic Ocean can be used to indicate the direction and distance to land.  The shape of sand and snow dunes can be used to indicate direction. One of my favorites is the analysis of cloud patterns and reflections in the sky that indicate the presence of mountains or water bodies beyond the horizon.

Some of the topics in this book are a little broad for the average hiker trying to hone her skills in backcountry travel, but most sections have at least some application for modern outdoor enthusiasts.  The thorough treatment of how sun angle, in combination with latitude and wind patterns, causes different tree characteristics is especially useful for wilderness hunters and backpackers.

If you have ever wondered if moss grows on the north side of a tree or if the hands of a watch can be aligned with the sun to work like a compass, you should read this book.