The Essential Series presents your trusted guides. 'Puts the world of wilderness navigation in the palm of your hand' - Adventure West. 'Teaches the essential disciplines of compass and map-reading...but goes beyond the basics with useful, eye-opening advice on how to read nature's highway signs - vegetation bands, wind-whipped ripples in sand or snow, and the positions of the sun and stars' - Northeast Outdoors.If you're at all unsure of your backwoods direction-finding skills, The Essential Wilderness Navigator is the guide you've been looking for. It teaches you how to observe - to see, smell, hear, and sense the details of the environment around you. Then, to supplement your newly enhanced sense of direction, you'll learn to read maps, use a compass, and find your location and route with reference to landmarks. This updated second edition also includes: the basics of global positioning system (GPS) navigation and CD-ROM maps; a full-color section on reading topographical maps; and, navigating in deserts, mountains, and snow. Whether you're planning an extended wilderness trek or a day hike on marked trails, here's how to stay found.