As regular readers of these think pieces will know, our wanders can sometimes head off on unexpected paths. Hardly surprising, in that on two occasions we have actually set off ‘sans maps’. In Nepal, we even arrived back at our start point to buy a map and guidebook to read on the flight home. You know, so we could see where we had been.

Some basic insights seem well overdue. For example, that maps are designed to guide your way. That they include information on roads, paths, buildings, contours and so on. Amazingly, maps are orientated north/south, allowing the map reader to position themselves with reference to where the sun rises and sets. You cannot get lost with a map. Can you?

In 2017, we took possession of a failsafe electronic navigation device, the Garmin. Weighing slightly less than a standard house brick, plus auxiliary battery pack, the Garmin doubled our Nepalese backpack tonnage. Furthermore, the electronic map we installed was woefully inadequate. Nepal does not possess (or at least the Garmin version of Nepal) a serious set of Ordnance Survey maps. It got us out of trouble just the once. The map we bought in Kathmandu on the way home was much better and lighter, even if somewhat late for our purposes.

But this time, we are heading off to one of the most developed countries in the world. Surely, mapping would have been brought to the very peak of sophistication by the methodologically minded germans. We went looking.

Indeed, our proposition is true. Germany has a network of fabulous maps. But (there is always one of those, isn’t there), identifying the correct map, and then finding somewhere to sell one to you is quite another thing altogether. Stanfords Map Shop in London didn’t list one remotely likely option. Another UK shop looked more hopeful. The dilemma was less identification than selection. There was no way to figure out which map we needed. So, we took a punt and ordered what we thought was the right one.

Sadly, a miss. Perhaps more of a maybe than a miss, but definitely not a hit. If we had been walking a few miles to the west it would have been ideal. But we were not, and it was not. Happily, a wonderful French company came good, and we ordered the next easterly version of the Kompass Map series and hit the bullseye. Baiersbronn, our start and finish point, sat squarely in the middle of our new purchase.

So now, like an expert carpenter, we had the right tool. A lightweight, accurate and relevant means to find our way around the Black Forest. What could go wrong? What indeed.

To be continued……