Natural navigation is the art of finding your way by using nature. It is a process of observation and deduction involving the rare skill of being able to determine direction without the aid of instruments or tools, and only by reference to natural clues including the sun, stars, moon, land, sea, weather, wind, plants and animals.
This can be vitally important in case of equipment failure or becoming lost with no other methods of navigation. Some examples include:
Finding direction using the sun and a stick– The sun moves across the sky from east to west (right to left in the southern hemisphere). If you place a “straight” stick vertically in a flat area of ground that is in the sun, a shadow will be cast by the stick.
Mark the end of this shadow with a small stick or stone – this first marker will be your westerly marker. Wait a minimum of 20 minutes and the shadow will have moved. Mark the new shadow tip with another small stick or stone.
By joining these two markers together with another straight stick, you will produce an east/west line. North and south will be 90 degrees to this. The longer you wait, the more accurate this will be. Click on this link from Bushcraft Survival Australia for a great video explaining this method in more detail.
Using the Southern Cross and Pointers- To find south, we can use two well-known constellations, the Southern Cross and the Pointers.
Locate the Southern Cross and draw an imaginary line along the long axis of the cross and continue it out. Now locate the two bright pointers next to the Southern Cross. Draw an imaginary line between these two stars, and at the centre of this line draw another imaginary perpendicular line, continuing it out until it joins the imaginary line from the Southern Cross. To find south, simply drop a line downwards to the horizon from where these two lines meet.
Finding Direction Using the Moon- If you need to travel at night and can see the moon, it can be used to aid in navigation as well.
The illuminated side of the moon always points in the direction of the sun. In the southern hemisphere, before full moon, this will always be the left side of the moon pointing to the sun in the west. After full moon, the illuminated side of the moon will be the right side of the moon pointing to the sun in the east. If you join the tips of a crescent moon with an imaginary line and continue that down to the horizon, this will point in a northerly direction in the southern hemisphere. The sun will therefore be 90 degrees to this line.