A few weeks ago, I went hiking in the Vosges (north-east, near the german border). I had a very detailed map, and compass (never used GPS yet, not too keen on this stuff!)

This area is cris-crossed with trails of any kind, mostly well marked...but in this place, forest covered slope, not much of a view, tiny hamlets spotted down in the valley, everything looking the same, and no less than 9 trails going vaguely in the same direction! An altimeter could have be useful.

I got completely lost save for the direction, never found the specific hut I was looking for, hacked part of my way through fallen timber (thanks to the '99 storm, some parts have been devastated and look like something out of "The Road" movie) to some kind of logging road. I was getting ready to sleep in the woods somewhere (hardly more than a micro tarp...) when I found another hut (old decrepit, creepy...and cold)

This one, I could NEVER locate on the map, I have no idea of where exactly I spent the night, but I found my way miraculously the next morning