MountainSphere Adventures | Navigation Weekend 12-13 Nov 2022

This weekend’s 2 day navigation hike was a real adventure! At first the weather was clear and calm and we enjoyed the warm sunshine as we sat in the shade at Bell for our morning navigation briefing. But quickly the clouds gathered and it was already raining when we began hiking along a ridge towards our lunch spot, using newly learned navigation skills. The rain stopped while we enjoyed our lunch with panoramic views, and this allowed new map reading and sighting skills to be practised. Then in the afternoon a thunderstorm broke, unleashing lightning, cracks of thunder and pouring rain. We crossed a river and kept shy of the high ground while the storm passed, making our way to our sheltered campsite. When we arrived at the sheltered camp, 2 other groups were there but we managed to secure a corner of a sheltered cavern for ourselves where we were able to keep out of the rain and stay dry. When the rain stopped we explored the surrounding area and filled water bottles, but then got caught in another downpour. The forecast for Sunday was for even wetter weather developing so we decided to make a very early start and we were off by 7:20 to try to beat the rain. Pretty soon we got caught in a deluge and we knew we needed to get back across the river before too much more rain fell. The 8 ladies were awesome walkers and got on with the mission of getting safely down the steep gorge to the river, across the river, and safely up the even steeper rocks on the other side, all while the rain bucketed down. All was done safely working as a team and then all of a sudden the weather cleared! So we stopped for an early lunch at a point with panoramic views and took a well earned break, enjoyed the fantastic views and used the time to brew tea and then do some more navigation training, including determining our position by doing a resection, and also some techniques with digital navigation apps. A very enjoyable time making the most of the break in the weather and the fantastic views. Then the weather turned again, the wind blew in and the sky clouded over once more. It was time to head back. A wonderful and exciting weekend with a fantastic group of women from the group who named themselves the “Terrain of Thought” navigation team!