Oy, that's the kind of thing that scares me about hiking. It's primarily the reason we bought the upgraded All Trails app. We use that and take a paper map, if there is one. Last March, when we did Little Monadnock, we were following an All Trails route. However, there was some snow on the ground and it was a little hard to follow, even with the app. There were markers, but at one point, I am pretty sure we got off of the trail and bushwhacked. At least with the app, we could see where to go. This was a longer, technical hike, and I was not happy. I don't hike alone, unless it is a very well known, easy to follow trail, because of this. I have a good sense of direction on the road, but once I get in the woods, no. Once, I decided to go mountain biking alone, after work. I went to a place that I hike, ski, snow shoe, and used to mountain bike in. It was not as well marked as it is now, and I took a wrong turn. After realizing I had reached the boundary, at a river, I went back, and ended up at a road, which was not the road/parking my car was at. I knew where it was, and I could have ridden back on the road, to my car, but managed to find my way back on the trail. It really creeped me out. I skied there a few times, after work, and while I stuck to main trails, there were always weird guys skiing in jeans that also creeped me out. Harmless, of course, but I stopped going there alone.