Lost the trail on the Art Loeb for 4 hours near the Pilot Mountain overlook

I was hiking the Art Loeb trail in Pisgah National Forest last spring and missed a turn near the Pilot Mountain overlook. One minute the blazes were clear, the next I was bushwhacking down a drainage. Pulled out my phone but had zero signal. Ended up using a compass I always carry to head east until I hit the parkway. That detour added 4 miles and I ran out of water with a mile to go. Has anyone else had to navigate off a compass on a trail with bad marking?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_mila26d ago

So did you ever figure out why that section of the Art Loeb lost its blazes, or is it just cursed like that?

logan23627d ago

Compass saved me once on the Orange Trail in Harriman State Park in New York. I was looking for a shortcut to the lake but the markers were completely faded on the rocks. Pulled out my compass and just walked due west for about 20 minutes until I hit the main road. Turned out I was off by almost half a mile but the compass got me out. Now I never leave home without one even on short hikes.

laura_allen27d ago

Logan, you said you walked "due west" but that's actually a PERFECT example of why compasses work so well. The thing is, compasses point to magnetic north, not true north, so "due west" depends on where you are in the world. In Harriman, the difference between magnetic and true north is about 13 degrees west if I remember right. But honestly, on a hike where you just need to hit a road, that small error doesn't matter at all. You could be off by 20 degrees and still find your way out because you're moving in a straight line instead of walking in circles. The compass got you going in a consistent direction and that's what really saved you.