When you don’t have a map with trails or GPS log there’s another way to make your way across the mountains: topography or contours. Warning – this is only recommended in specific cases. Going off trail in the Himalayas can be very dangerous due to the (very) steep topography. Personally, I have gotten stuck myself several times after going off-trail in near vertical drops. First priority is always to stay on trail / follow used trails to get out safely. If you lose the trail, it’s better to track back the way you came in rather then going off-trail forward.
I only recommend this technique in more gradual (less steep) landscapes like Western Ghats (South) or foothills of Himalayas. Note also that contour maps are not 100% representative of the actual topography on the ground. Contour maps are generated from DEM (more on this later) data which has a certain resolution / precision (say 3 seconds = 90 meters). This means that sudden drops / steep sections on the ground might not be visible on your contour map.
Navigation using Topography
Let’s take for example the region below where we have no trails marked and wish to climb the marked peak. First reaction might be to just take it head-on – climb up straight North. This is the shortest route but might not be feasible due to high steepness (close contours). A more logical approach would be to follow the ridgeline which is longer but more gradual (spaced contours).
Even along the ridgeline we have a one section where the contours are closer indicating steeper terrain. Only when traversing the ridgeline we will know whether we will be able to climb up or get stuck here at a vertical drop. Still the ridgeline appears our best bet to make it up to the peak.
Important lesson learned here is that we do NOT navigate straight across the mountains. We will always follow a gradual path mostly along ridgelines or valleys. Slopes (sections between ridgelines / valleys are usually steep and difficult to traverse without a trail). And remember – there is always the possibility you still get stuck in the valley (sudden drop / waterfall along stream) or ridgeline.
You can take a closer look at below region in Himachal through this map link:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/32.2326/76.2422&layers=Y
Zoom in/out to familiarize yourself with the steepness (contour spacing) of each approach to the peak.
Traverse
Now let’s plan a slightly more longer traverse across a mountain range following gradual ridges, valleys. Find a possible way through the mountains from Kusankhat to Khainoli in Uttarakhand. Open the link and zoom into the map to take a closer look at the contours / steepness along possible ways to connect both villages:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/30.0437/79.3992&layers=C
Below I marked the possible gradual ridges and valleys that could be traversed and also marked the various sections where the terrain is more steep (close contours). We can select any of the indicated traverses but near the steeper sections we might possibly get stuck. The map below is a good example of how to plan your journey across a given topography:
Assignment
Similar as above, plan possible traverses across the mountains from Gudiyalkhal to Gwari Talla in Uttarakhand. Open the link below and zoom into the contour map to mark gradual sections (red lines) connecting both villages. Provide multiple options. Indicate places where the terrain is more steep and we might possibly get stuck.
Submit a copy of your map in a public folder and submit the link in the form below.
