Skye hill walking - finding the way

I had a walk in my favourite part of Skye yesterday - the wilds of Duirinish. There's no-one there, no roads, no houses, just miles of moorland which has been unchanged for centuries. There's plenty of birds twittering, and red deer warily watching you from time to time, but you are unlikely to meet another walker, or even see one in the distance!

Here's a couple of pictures of Durinish moorland -

That's the Outer Hebrides Isle of Harris on the far horizon.

This is the summit of Ben Corkeval. MacLeod's Tables are ever-present. The deer fences are a bit of a pain, as there are no gates, so the only option is to find a strainer post, which won't wobble, and then scramble over the top!

The bealachs between the hills are pretty featureless. So how do I know where I am going, and which way to go to get home again? There are some familiar hills, and bits of Skye coast can be seen from higher ground. I do carry an OS map, but mostly I rely on high tech satellite GPS navigation. This little device is possibly the best £70 I have ever spent.

Here, the display is showing how far I have walked, my precise location (by grid reference in this instance), the time of day, the total time I have been out, and my average moving speed. This display can be changed to show other details, but these are the items I find most useful.

This is the picture I took from NG 19394 45367

Before I set out, I use mapping software on my computer to plot the route I wish to take, and can put a 'waymarker' on places I particularly want to visit - maybe a hill summit, waterfall or whatever. This then gets uploaded to the GPS device. The display can be switched to show the route I have plotted, and as I walk, a track also appears on the screen, so I can see how close I am to the plotted route, and can easily find the waymarkers, as I can see my track getting closer to the waymarker 'pin'.

Once back home again, I can reconnect the device to my computer and download my track and then superimpose it over an OS map display. like this:

I can even use other software which uses my track and the precise time of day to accurately geo-locate every photograph I take.

Oh yes - and I do carry spare batteries!