You can also use clues such as -
- known land-marks both natural and man-made,
- the general lie of the land, perhaps indicated by the directions of streams if the gradient is nearly flat,
-traffic noise from a road or railway if near enough,
- the disposition of shade-living plants like mosses (showing the side away from the noon sun.),
- wind direction if you are reasonably sure where it should be from - and better by observing clouds (or rain!) than ground effects,
- general direction of Sun, Moon, perhaps constellations, if visible and allowing for the time.
- at night, street-lamp glow above a town or major road-junction.
And also being aware of perhaps the two most common mistakes made by people who become lost, apart from not having taken a map and compass: not looking back at strategic points you have just passed to remember their appearances for the return; and tending to press on in the same direction so becoming even more lost!
Remember too that the immediate value of any satellite navigation system you are likely to have with you on a 'phone will depend on a) battery life (do not use the phone as a torch!); b) signal coverage; c) the information it shows such as insuperable obstacles in a purely calculated path; and d) it even telling you where you are!
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I have occasionally used the Sun or Moon to help me even when driving.
The M5 motorway through Gloucestershire (England) has long stretches quite featureless late at night - as I found once when driving alone, Southwards home-bound.
I started feeling tired too far from a service-area for safety, so turned off at the next junction, found a lay-by or field gateway and slept there for twenty minutes or so.
(It is now an offence to drive in a tired state, as it is narcotic, like drugs or alcohol, even if you don't nod off; which has caused some appalling rear-end collisions on the motorways.)
It was only after a mile or so back on the motorway I realised I was driving on the legal side but for the wrong direction, back North! I must have forgotten which way I had turned once off the M-way. Obviously I could only continue for another eight miles or so to the next junction to be able to turn back South.
The clue? Bright moonlight.... but now shining through the rear window instead of windscreen!
