As a young marine, I heard "Left add, right subtract!" more times than I could count. And here I thought I joined the Marines to avoid math!
Land navigation was a dark voodoo to me then. So many rules, numbers, variables and oh so many tools (compass, protractor, DAGR, Garmin GPS etc). With time and practice, I grew to not only understand it but feel a level of comfort and confidence in the woods because of this very necessary backcountry skill. My intent with this blog is not to talk to the basics of orienteering . I recommend you seek out a good class and get your Google on and find some good solid sources (link: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/navigation-basics.html) to read up on contour lines, declination, map symbols and compass work. The focus of this article will be terrain association, a very specific skill that I find most helpful. Terrain association is the practice of comparing major terrain features against what is visible on an oriented (basic skill) map. The navigator has a number of options to pick from when doing their assessment of the terrain in an attempt to orient their present location and upcoming route. The major terrain features on a map include hilltop, valley, ridge, depression, and saddle. These prominent terrain features are not however the only option. Water sources like lakes and rivers are also good indicators. Simply walking down the trail and seeing a hill top to the left and a pond to the right a hiker will likely be able locate that combination easily on a map. Streams are somewhat variable, but finding a dry stream or river bed is still a clue to your location. Other features on the map include the use of vegetation or lack of (fields/meadows), Understanding the symbols on the map, the traveler can easily ascertain a vineyard, orchard or farm. Unlike the more variable nature of vegetation or small water sources, man made features on the map are a huge help in terrain association. Roadways, firebreaks and buildings are terrific indicators when they are marked on your map. Always remember in planning a hike seasonal changes will impact your terrain association methods and abilities. Snow sometimes makes terrain features more prominent, while obstructing micro terrain. Thicker canopy or vegetation in summer months will obscure your view and droughts will wilt vegetation and dry up water sources. Also take into consideration that this is 100% visual tool, so times of lower visibility will negatively impact your reliance on this method of travel (have a compass and GPS if you can - two is one, one is none). Melanie and I have relied heavily on this skill on all of our trips. It is not foolproof by any means. We were presented with two trail heads about 10 feet apart in Yosemite. We took what we thought was correct. It turned out the route of the two trails paralleled each other in a manner that didn't allow us to determine we were going the wrong way for miles. Both trails hit the same ridge lines, similar switchbacks, the same water sources etc. No harm done. We just had a nice visit to Sunrise Lakes campground BEFORE we did Clouds Rest. Some best practices for effective terrain association include:
Hope this helps. Stay Safe Keep Hiking Forward! Mike
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For those of us who take the outdoors just as serious as we go to them for fun and adventure, some of the most frustrating and heartbreaking stories to read are the articles each year of people becoming lost, stranded, and ultimately a casualty of our great outdoors. Most often this is due to a lack of preparedness or an unrealistic grasp of one’s limitations. The second of those two becomes harder to fault when most adventurers continue to set more aggressive goals for themselves. This makes preparedness the true gatekeeper for a successful trek, particularly where the elements are challenging or extreme. Being adequately prepared for the outdoors comes with experience. Most of us who frequent the wilderness have read many articles or books that have been extremely useful resources, but until you take that printed knowledge and turn it into practical application, it’s nothing more than unapplied data.Survival instincts are rooted in muscle memory, which comes from practicing and applying the techniques you read about or may otherwise have been trained in. Although sometimes great entertainment value, I don’t put much credence into many of the survival shows on television, as their tendency to script for climactic moments to woo an audience often leave viewers with tips that are very unrealistic or impractical for the typical weekend trekker who might find themselves in adverse circumstances. Keep it simple, and stay calm. It really is that easy to stay alive. Practicing very basic survival skills can be a great way to enhance a hike with your child while also growing their confidence with the outdoors. It’s usually panic that leads to the downfall of stranded hikers. Coaching your children to develop a respect for the outdoors, but also the confidence to utilize the outdoors to their advantage can help ensure that they become responsible (and safe) adult hikers. Furthermore, it’s a confidence boost that allows them to spend more time with the calming serenity of the outdoors and less time with the anxious worry of what surrounds them. There are many ways to incorporate a variety of skills into hikes with your children, but one of the most basic skills is the ability to tell direction and time of day. In most instances, highways run east-west and north-south, and where there are highways there is help. Being able to establish direction and aiming points will often lead you to safety. Being able to understand the time of day can help you understand how much daylight you’re dealing with, so that you don’t pass up the availability of a viable spot to set up hasty camp if you need to find shelter for the evening. About once each year, I review shadow tip navigation with my daughter. Shadow tip navigation uses the sun to determine direction and time of day. The origins of shadow clocks date back prior to the ancient Egyptians, and are a very reliable way to determine one’s bearing. Shadows typically fall north (in the Northern Hemisphere). You can use anything to locate the tip of a shadow, even a fully-grown tree if you have nothing else. Last winter while snowshoeing, I taught my daughter to do this while using trekking poles. Place a pole (or stick) directly into the ground and immediately mark the tip of the shadow. This will become the west point of your shadow compass. While keeping the pole in the ground, wait about 15 to 20 minutes for the sun to move an adequate distance across the sky, and then mark the tip again. This second mark becomes the east point of your shadow compass. You can now lay another trekking pole across those two points to make your east-west line.
Next, take another trekking pole and place it perpendicular at the intersection of the east-west pole. This obviously becomes your north-south line. You now have a basic shadow compass, which is remarkably accurate just about anywhere south of 60-degrees north latitude anywhere in North America. Give your child a standard lensatic compass after they have completed making the shadow compass so they can see that the cardinal directions are in fact very accurate. I’ll never forget the look on my daughter’s face when she realized how simple and accurate this was. It’s now become almost ritualistic for us to practice, particular on winter hikes. As for telling time, consider the west point of the shadow compass to be roughly 6am, and the east point to be roughly 6 pm. While keeping a pole in the ground at the intersecting point of the east-west and north-south lines, again take note of the shadow. It is most accurate at noon, or the north point of the shadow compass. At all other hours of the day, it will give you a general but reliable idea of the hour of the day (it does not account for minutes). For example, if the shadow is just to the right of the north and of the compass, the time of day is somewhere around 1pm. You can verify this with a watch, just like the lensatic compass verified the directions. Practicing applications like this not only promote survival confidence, but they are projects with instant results that can keep kids interested in the outdoors. It nurtures their independence and keeps the wilderness a relaxing place to spend the afternoon. They are a great way to break up hike time in the outdoors, and a great opportunity to bond. Most of all, they cost nothing but can save everything, including a life. Keep Hiking Forward Tom As a 5'1" female, I have trouble finding pants that fit in general. Many companies have gotten better about offering short or petite sizes, but when you are dealing with niche items like trail pants, it's a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack. So when I saw the Prana Halle pants at REI last year in short lengths, I was pretty pumped.
Prior to that moment, I would wear yoga or workout pants while hiking in cooler weather. While they are super comfortable and easy to wear, they lack things like pockets, wind and water repellency (is that a word? it is now), and protection from thorny brush. Over the years, I had tried a few variations of trail pants, Columbia and Royal Robbins come to mind, but none ever truly felt good to wear. I've had the Prana Halle pants now for over a year, I actually have two pair. So far, I have been super happy with them. They fit my short legs better than any other pants I've tried. They are slightly stretchy, but not in a clingy way. They are truly comfortable, and they are the pants I reach for when I am traveling as they look nice and feel better than anything else I own. They have button pockets on the back, which are flattering and accentuate your booty in a good way. The material is water repellent and doesn't get caught on brush. They have lots of pockets. They also have tabs so that you can roll them up and wear them as capris, which is great in hotter weather or when hiking in wet conditions. They are flattering and are as at home on the trail as they are running errands around town. I actually get more use out of them as regular pants than trail pants. I have worn them to work many times and always received compliments on them. They wash and dry perfectly and seem impervious to wrinkles. For someone who has a strong aversion to ironing, that quality alone makes them worth their weight in gold. These seem to have a slightly generous fit, I am 5'1" and 125lbs and wear a size 2, but a 0 would have probably worked better for me due to the stretch of these pants. There are really only two things I would change to make these go from almost perfect to perfect.
I recently found out that they have a lined version of these pants for cold weather. I look forward to checking them out and can almost guarantee they will become a part of my wardrobe very soon. I hope Prana keeps making these pants for a long time, because my search is over and I won't even look at other pants anymore. If any men out there have tried the men's version, we would love to hear your opinion! Keep Hiking Forward! Melanie I don't care what your hiking or camping group dynamics look like... there is always certain qualities or job functions that are either handed out or are inherent in everyone's personalities or experiences that makes them perfect for said job. In each camping or hiking crew there is the gear head who has everything under sun and nothing weighs more then a pound. You have the slow guy or gal who is always late to the party. You have the person who packs too much or not enough and you have the person who keeps things light, is quick with a joke or simply sets the tone within 5 minutes of arriving. When this happens and you start laughing 5 minutes into a camping or hiking trip and you feel the fun vibe... you know "this is going to be an awesome weekend". Folks, we have our "Funny Guy"! This is one of the most important characters in the outdoor group. Without the funny man... all could be lost. Not wanting to be lost on our collective adventure on this project we are happy to have this funny guy along for the ride. Jeremy LaCorte is a proud dad of two young lads who are already lovers of the outdoors. Florida, is home but the outdoors of the southeastern portion of the US are Jeremy's favorite spots. As you will read in his profile, Jeremy has some short and long term outdoors goals for himself and his young boys. I gotta admit, all I keep thinking about is the scene from Goodfellas with Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta. HA! "What do you mean I'm Funny... Fun How? The Way I Talk? Do I amuse you? I'm Funny how?" See that's the kinda stuff you need on an trip to set the tone. Join me in welcoming Jeremy to the "la familia" - HA! Click below to check out Jeremy's Hiking Forward Correspondents Profile. Keep Hiking Forward! Scott Whats better then finding one person who is just as nuts about the outdoors as I am to contribute to Hiking Forward? Finding TWO! I am a firm believer in the outdoor gods or the nature of serendipity that surrounds those of us in the outdoor community. Mike and Melanie came to Hiking Forward for basic inspiration for their own blog they have started All The Adventure (which is awesome BTW ~ go check it out!). Upon reading the first page, a story I wrote about our collective love of outdoor and gear stickers sung to both Mike and Melanie. Soon, I get an email for some stickers for their own adventure mobile. Happy to oblige, I wrote back saying that the stickers would soon be en route to them. Before I emailed, I had to check out their site and recent work. Quite impressed with the quality of the content and excited they too adventure with their pooch trilled me to no end. In the response back I asked both Mike and Mel to consider becoming Hiking Forward Correspondents. Let me just say that this was all transpiring while I was hopping planes in the airport last week. Within a short flight from Atlanta to St. Louis, an application was in my email and a phone conversation at 11pm ET transpired. Most people would think we are nuts, crazy and out of our minds. Yes, what is your point? We are all lovers and stewards of the outdoors and will go to the ends to enjoy them, protect and help others experience them. After an hour long and enjoyable conversation about our individual perspectives on blogging, gear, favorite trips etc. we were collectively all excited about moving forward together on this project. I am honestly stoked to have our first couple, first female, dog adventurer and another veteran on board for this project. Diversity is the name of the game and Hiking Forward has struck it rich with the addition of these two very driven and committed adventurers. Stay tuned for more from our newest members of the Hiking Forward Family. In the meantime check out Mike and Melanie's Hiking Correspondent Profile here on Hiking Forward as well as their other social links and blogs. Keep Hiking Forward! Scott We at Hiking Forward are pleased to announce our second Hiking Forward Correspondent. Not only are we thrilled with the project to fill the cadre of correspondents is moving "forward" but we are extremely honored to have another proud dad aboard the crew and a veteran. Our first veteran and a Marine, is now part of the Hiking Forward Correspondents crew... Semper Fi! Tom, resides in Wisconsin just like our first Hiking Forward Correspondent Peter Dargatz. Just like Peter, Tom has a lot of experience on the Ice Age Trail and the great north woods of Wisconsin. Tom and his young daughter along with a small yet close group of friend are frequent visitors to the wild of Wisconsin and places as far away as Colorado. I anticipate Tom will bring a unique fatherly and adventurous voice to Hiking Forward from his regular adventures. Just like most of us, the city life can be taxing, too fast and too close for some. Tom just like those of you who read this blog needs the outdoors, to unwind, relax and connect with those he enjoys spending time with. I think if this sounds like you, what Tom provides via Hiking Forward will be very familiar and quite enjoyable. Stay tuned for more from our newest member of the Hiking Forward Family. In the meantime check out Tom's Hiking Correspondent Profile here on Hiking Forward as well as his other social links and blogs. Keep Hiking Forward! Scott We are very pleased here at Hiking Forward at the overwhelming response to our call for writers, photographers and outdoor junkies to share the stories of their experiences in the wilderness via the Hiking Forward Correspondents Program. As a blogger who resides in the Midwest I find it fitting to have the first announced Hiking Forward Correspondent to also live, hike and adventure here as well. Peter Dargatz lives just up the road a bit in Wisconsin. A great young fellow and proud family man, he too "gets" the Hiking Forward mantra. Knowing that other people smell what I am cooking here is truly an awesome experience for this blogger. Peter and I had the opportunity to chat last week about what motivates him in the outdoors as well as within his daily life to ensure he gets himself and young family outdoors as much as possible. As a kindergarten teacher, busy dad and husband Peter still finds time to serve his local hiking chapter and serve as a hiking coordinator in Wisconsin. To use the Star Wars line... per our phone conversation, the force is strong in this one. I sense the outdoors are not just something Peter enjoys... Peter is the outdoors. Peter isn't Peter without the outdoors and the outdoors aren't half as grand without Peter and his young family. We here at Hiking Forward and all of you who read this blog (thank you!) will soon be the beneficiaries from what Peter will be providing us from the great woods of Wisconsin. I think his unique perspective as a young family man who is working hard to bring up his adorable young daughter and family in the outdoor community will serve us all well. Peter's insights will serve those who are either striving to do the same or know someone who needs a hint on how to emulate the Dargatz family. Stay tuned for great insights. In the meantime check out Peter's Hiking Correspondent Profile here on Hiking Forward as well as his other social links and blogs. Keep Hiking Forward! Scott |
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