Am 12.03.2019 um 16:49 schrieb :
But as a country with good train service to most important
destinations you always have the alternative of asking directions at
any train station or taking a train back.

Sure, this safety net is quite luxurious. Knowing I only need to go
west 10 miles into one river valley or east 15 miles into another river
valley and a train at least once per hour allowed me to take the risk of
barging through the hills without preparation, leaving the only risk
that I get onto a wrong logging road u-turning at the side of a hill;
worst case is that instead of 15 miles and 300m altitude gain to the
next small town I double up after 10 and have 20 miles and 500m altitude
gain to end up back where I've started.

A look once every few miles onto the GPS-based map on the mobile phone
removes that risk as well.

In Minnesota 1996, I had a similar but not quite so luxurious safety
net: the road numbering system streching out into all directions more
than a day trip:

If I got lost I just had to follow any road to the next junction
containing a road name (e.g. 135 Ave NW), I "only" had to follow some 15
miles into the direction of smaller road numbers, turn right as soon as
it changed its name to 'NE' and find my way back home to the city center
without a map, maps only being necessary to find a pretty route.

Rolf