[thaumasiotes]

> I semi-regularly backpack through unmarked wilderness with no navigation

If this were true, you'd be lost. I'm including things like "keep the mountains on your left" in the category of "navigation".

The people complaining about forests are correct in that regard -- in a forest, you can't see the mountains, the sun, or the stars, and getting lost, unless you have very good training in forest navigation, is pretty much inevitable. (If there's a river, you _can_ still see that.)