Introduction to Route Planning & Navigation Weekend

written by Hannah Robson.

It wasn’t until we were organising our events for 2023 that we realised that we hadn’t really shared much from our trip last year. November ‘22 saw our first weekend event, an Introduction to Route Planning and Navigation. With funding from the YHA we spent the weekend at their Hathersage hostel with the fantastic Harriet, from Navigation with Harriet.  Shadowing Harriet for the weekend was Amy, currently working towards her guiding certification, she was a great addition to the weekend.  Sarah joined us on Saturday and beautifully documented the feeling of the weekend for us. 

Arriving Friday evening in Hathersage we had a communal dinner before getting stuck into some route planning prep for Saturday morning. After an evening of getting to know the rest of the group we had breakfast together the next day followed by route planning at our YHA base before heading out into the hills. YHA Hathersage is perfectly located to be able to walk straight from the door so no additional faff was needed to relocate. We spent the day using our route planning from the morning session and practising our navigation skills heading up to Stanage Edge and back. Back to Hathersage for some downtime and freshen up before our communal evening meal, our delicious food for the weekend was provided by Foundation Coffee.  A chilled evening with some reflection on the day, what was learned and what we were looking to gain from the next day before getting a good nights sleep. Sunday morning we were up and out (after our lovely communal brekkie), the crisp blue skies from the day before were long gone and the low lying mist allowed us to practise our navigation skills in low visibility. Another great day out on the hills before everyone headed their own way Sunday afternoon, filled with enthusiasm for practising our newly learned skills. 

If you’re keen to brush up on your navigation skills or start from the beginning we have more weekend events planned for this year. Check out our Instagram or Eventbrite for upcoming dates or drop us an email with any questions, we’d love to chat _ hello@birdoutdoors.com 

& finally....

A massive thank you to the YHA for the funding towards this weekend as part of their Festival of Walking. To Foundation Coffee for the fantastic food and to Outdoor Provisions for donating some of their incredible bars and butters to keep us all fuelled for the weekend!