I know the story of the lady you spoke about..... Was absolutely horrible. I can't even imagine what she went through before she finally passed. The skills you need to prevent that are very important. Winchester? Close to Etown here..... Hello to a fellow KYian.
Stopping when you are lost,... funny story (well I think so) Many years ago my friend and I were walking Coast to Coast in the UK. We were pretty confident we knew where we were, but as we looked ahead, the wooded area were we going to descend into seemed too far away, so we questioned if we were on the right path. So we stopped. (sound advice) and being British, boiled some water, and made ourselves mugs of tea. We sat, had some food, drank our tea, and examined the map. The contour lines of the point we thought we were at matched our location, so yeah, we weren't lost, but the wooded area was just about 1Km further away than shown on the map. We packed up, picked up our rucksacks, and just as we did that, we heard the distant sound of chainsaws. It was a managed wood, and they were harvesting the near side. They'd stopped for lunch about the same time as we'd got within earshot, so we didn't get that clue. So, be mindful, features can change, woods change, rivers can change course, so update your maps, or at least, check the map you have against Google Earth or some other aerial mapping site before you depart, to make sure it's still accurate.
The lady who got lost and died you refer to is Geraldine Largay. The book is called "When You Find My Body". A good read and a very sad story. Much recommended for this crowd.
The rises in the east & the sun sets to the west. Down hill usually leads to water then civilian. Ever see powerlines follow those to civilization. Getting lost is an impossibility if you know a few trick's. With or without a map. Also know the landscape of the country your in. If you know what state if your in America makes all the difference as to which direction you'd need to go if your aware of your location at all.
When the world runs normally GPS is fine but if SHTF and central government fails GPS becomes unreliable. Why because to make the system work it requires US military ground stations around the world to correct the sat network numerous times aday due to time running differently on earth and in orbit and sat drifting. Without constant corrections your ground position will be wrong.
