http://streamsandforests.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/map-compass-and-altimeter/ welcome to the fastnesses of Jenny's blog Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:59:04 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 http://streamsandforests.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/map-compass-and-altimeter/#comment-30 Peter Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:22:59 +0000 http://streamsandforests.wordpress.com/?p=136#comment-30 Having hiked in the eastern US a little I understand the need for a compass and altimeter in the thick forests. In the Rockies a compass is rarely needed because it is more open and easy to see where you are relative to natural features. I rely solely on topo maps. I have considered getting a GPS, but I would probably use it primarily as a way of locating special spots such as a pocket of crystals so I could find it again later. However in the past I have just penciled in an X on the topo map and I never had a problem locating the spot again. I admire your resistance to the technological gadgets and your reliance instead on the 'old school' of mountaineering. Having hiked in the eastern US a little I understand the need for a compass and altimeter in the thick forests. In the Rockies a compass is rarely needed because it is more open and easy to see where you are relative to natural features. I rely solely on topo maps. I have considered getting a GPS, but I would probably use it primarily as a way of locating special spots such as a pocket of crystals so I could find it again later. However in the past I have just penciled in an X on the topo map and I never had a problem locating the spot again. I admire your resistance to the technological gadgets and your reliance instead on the ‘old school’ of mountaineering.

]]> http://streamsandforests.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/map-compass-and-altimeter/#comment-19 bmill07 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:36:35 +0000 http://streamsandforests.wordpress.com/?p=136#comment-19 Jenny, your nice comment on my blog has brought me here, and I read this with interest. In Scotland this summer, as our hiking group was eating lunch, we watched another group that was clearly doing some kind of orienteering training. I asked the guide whether GPS's have made orienteering obsolete, and he reassured me that they haven't. In fact, he reckoned that what the group was doing (which seemed to be using their techniques to find gear that had been placed around a big open area) was in fact designed to show them the degree of error involved in relying strictly upon GPS. Somehow I found this rather satisfying to know. Not that I'd be much good with a compass and topo map myself, although learning how to be so is on my list of Things To Do someday. Barb Jenny, your nice comment on my blog has brought me here, and I read this with interest. In Scotland this summer, as our hiking group was eating lunch, we watched another group that was clearly doing some kind of orienteering training. I asked the guide whether GPS’s have made orienteering obsolete, and he reassured me that they haven’t. In fact, he reckoned that what the group was doing (which seemed to be using their techniques to find gear that had been placed around a big open area) was in fact designed to show them the degree of error involved in relying strictly upon GPS. Somehow I found this rather satisfying to know.
Not that I’d be much good with a compass and topo map myself, although learning how to be so is on my list of Things To Do someday.
Barb

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