"When I am bushwhacking off trail, what counts is the drainage in which you are traveling and how the trend of that drainage is related to your eventual goal. The critical points are the places where you will hop over to another drainage or follow a ridge line."

Oldranger, it wasn't until this year that I discovered this. Now it seems obvious.

I think in terms of drainage systems. As long as you are in the same system, you can keep one hand on the slope and go around it. But if you have to change hands, you are in a different system. This is a generality as I'm not sure it is perfect.

I don't know if I'm right or wrong on all this. But your post is the first thing I've seen that even hints at it.