Route Planning
Map Reading and Navigation
Course 1 · Chapter 7 · Route Planning: Decide at the Kitchen Table
So far you have learned to read the map, find grid references, understand relief, use a compass and estimate distance and time. Route planning is where those skills combine. The best decisions are made before you set out, on a table, with a hot drink and plenty of time to think, rather than on a cold hillside when you are tired and the light is going.
Choosing a Route
Start with the group, not the map. A route that suits a fit pair on a long summer day may be wrong for a mixed group with children in October. Ask:
Who is going?
Fitness, experience and equipment. Plan for the slowest and least experienced person, not the strongest.
How much daylight?
Look up sunset for the day. Short winter days limit the distance far more than the map suggests.
What is the weather?
Check the forecast for the area and height you will be on, including wind and visibility, not just the town below.
What is the ground like?
Paths, open moor, rock, bog, rivers to cross. Rough or wet ground slows you and makes navigation harder.
Compare the options
There is rarely just one way. Sketch two or three, then compare them using the tools from earlier chapters: distance from the scale (Chapter 6), climbing from the contours (Chapter 3), and time from Naismith's rule. The shortest line is not always the quickest, and the quickest is not always the best.
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| How far is each option? | String or ruler against the scale |
| How much climbing? | Contours: add up every separate climb |
| How long will it take? | Naismith's rule, plus breaks |
| How easy is it to navigate? | Paths, walls, streams, ridges: lines you can follow |
| What could go wrong? | Steep ground, rivers, cliffs, exposed tops, long distances from help |
Legs
Break the route into legs: short sections between clear points. A good leg is short enough to navigate without worry (often 1 to 2 km, less in poor visibility), runs from one identifiable feature to another, and has a single bearing or a single handrail along it. The ends of each leg are your checkpoints: a bridge, a path junction, a col, a spot height, a corner of a wall.
Escape Routes
Every plan should have a way out. An escape route is a planned, easy way off the hill to safety if the weather turns, someone is injured or you are running late. Decide the escape routes at the planning stage and mark them on the map.
- Choose a route that drops quickly to lower, sheltered ground, ideally to a road or a track.
- Make it easy to navigate: a path, a stream to follow, a clear ridge.
- Avoid escape routes that cross steep ground, cliffs or big rivers.
- Note the bearing and distance at the points where you could use it.
An escape route is a safety plan, not a failure. Deciding in advance is what lets you use it calmly.
A Turn-Round Time
Some walks fail not on the map but on the clock: you keep going because the top is near, and end up descending in the dark. Set a turn-round time before you start: the latest time at which, wherever you are, you turn back. Work it out from your estimated return time and the time by which you must be down. Chapter 9 returns to this and to when to turn back for other reasons.
The Route Card
A route card is a table that puts the plan on paper, one row per leg. It helps you navigate and keeps the plan in a form you can leave with someone else. A typical card has:
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Leg | From and to, with grid references |
| Bearing | Grid bearing from the map (field bearing is worked out on the spot: Chapter 5) |
| Distance | Kilometres for the leg |
| Ascent | Metres climbed on the leg |
| Time | Moving time from Naismith's rule, and the running total |
| Notes | Handrail, catching feature, hazards, escape route |
Add the planned start time, the turn-round time, the expected finish time and the details of the group. Write the finish as an estimate with a margin, not as a promise. A route card with times can also be calculated in code, which is how the exercises below work.
Leave the Plan With Someone
Tell a responsible person where you are going, your route and escape routes, when you expect to be back, and when to raise the alarm if you are not (allow a margin past your return time). Tell them when you are safely down. Without that, a good plan helps no one but you.
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Planning for the strongest walker | Plan for the slowest and least experienced |
| Choosing the shortest line without checking the climb | Compare time, not just distance |
| Legs that are long or have no clear end point | Break them up at features you cannot miss |
| No escape routes, or ones over steep ground | Mark easy ways down at the planning stage |
| No turn-round time | Fix it before you start and keep to it |
| Telling nobody | Leave the route, the times and the alarm time |
Challenges
You can reach the same point by Route A (6 km, 200 m of ascent) or Route B (4.5 km, 450 m of ascent). Use Naismith's rule to find the moving time for each. Which is quicker? Give one reason, other than time, why someone might still choose the other route.
Write a short program that prints a route card timetable starting at 09:00 for four legs: Car park to bridge (1.5 km, 40 m ascent, bearing 80); Bridge to col (2.5 km, 260 m, bearing 35); Col to summit (1.0 km, 190 m, bearing 120); Summit to car park (5.0 km, 0 m, bearing 200). Show the arrival time for each leg, and give the total distance and ascent.
An out-and-back walk starts at 09:30. The way out is 5 km with 400 m of ascent; the way back is 5 km with no counted ascent. Allow 5 minutes of breaks per hour. Find the finish time (a) at the plain Naismith pace, and (b) at 1.3 times that pace. If the group must be down by 15:30, what is the latest turn-round time at the slower pace?
Quick Reference
- Plan for the group: the slowest and least experienced person sets the pace
- Compare options: distance, climb, time, ease of navigation and hazards
- Legs: short sections between checkpoints you cannot miss
- Escape routes: easy ways down, chosen and marked in advance
- Turn-round time: fixed before you start, and kept
- Route card: leg, bearing, distance, ascent, time, notes; leave a copy with someone