The snow is melting away, but not at the same speed everywhere. The warmer wind which is blowing from the southeast today is leaving green swathes wherever it reaches. In this photo, which is taken looking east, the snow in the top right corner is being sheltered by woodland, but the snow to the left is also being left relatively untouched by the same wind because it is partly in the lee of the hill, but also because the woodland to the left of the picture is forcing the airflow up over it. In aviation terms the wind appears to be performing a ‘touch-and-go‘, coming into land before taking off again straight away.
The natural Navigation: The Right Course, Naturally
The Big Thaw
16 January 2010 by Tristan Gooley
A Global Feast
19 December 2009 by Tristan Gooley
Yesterday afternoon I threw the snow off the Land Rover and headed out into the white – I had about half-a-dozen minor outstanding ‘to-do’s for the book, but there is no point writing a book about natural navigation if you are the sort of person who can resist these conditions. Dressed in a suitably ridiculous balaclava I made my way to the foot of Halnaker Hill and then proceeded uphill in wellies. Unless I’m on a mountain I find wellington boots with two pairs of socks the ideal footwear for small excursions in snow, even good hill-walking boots let some moisture in eventually, but wellies do at least stay dry even if it means slipping about a bit in places.
A roe deer jumped across the path in front of me as I climbed the hill and there was the red breast of a robin waiting on the branch…
The Generous Trees
06 February 2009 by Tristan Gooley
The more I study natural navigation, the more indebted I feel to trees. There are few environmental conditions that they do not make some effect to reflect. Sun, rain, shade, heat, cold, dryness, dampness, soil type… and in this case snow and wind.
Early on Monday morning these young beech trees pointed very dependably to NNE with their white lines. I was able to leave the path with confidence.
Welcome to the home of natural navigation on the Internet.
Natural navigation is the art of being able to find your way solely by using nature. It encompasses using the sun, moon, stars, weather, water, land, sea, plants and animals.
The Natural Navigator is the school set up by Tristan Gooley to research and teach natural navigation. It is also the title of his book on the subject.
If you would like to know more about natural navigation you can browse the website, read about Tristan’s natural navigation book, or listen to a BBC Radio 4 interview with Tristan.
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