With a match stick or thin twig and the face of your watch as a sort of sundial, you can find the direction of the sun even when the clouds are really thick. With the shadow and the time, you can get a pretty good idea of the direction of the sun (you have to allow for Daylight Saving Time).

Moss on trees is not much help in western Oregon because it grows on all sides, lol! Also, geese stay here year-around, so the direction they fly depends on the nearest green lawn or freshly planted field.

It's a good idea to learn the constellations that revolve around the North Star so you can find north at night when the Big Dipper is behind clouds or below the horizon. If you don't know about the Big Dipper's pointers (the two stars opposite the handle), learn that as well.

My most interesting navigation problems were not without a compass but when the little zipper-pull compass I took to Europe reversed polarity on Switzerland's electric trains. I realized what had happened when I noticed the sun setting in the east! I normally have a pretty good sense of direction, but it got completely fouled up in European subways--I used the compass most in the big cities!