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Km, Jeez I just realized I have been backpacking for over 60 years. I grew up with the old 15 minute series maps and am still more comfortable at assessing steepness and doability using these maps for planning than the new newer 7 1/2 minute series. Certainly I also refer to others TRs but always take them with a grain of salt. I have found that many TRs have much different assessments of difficulty of routes than I had of the same routes. All you have to be is a few feet off route and it can be much more difficult than it has to be. I don't own or use a gps. But will certainly review proposed routes on Google Earth. But once I'm on the ground careful eyeballing the route and constant adjustments are my primary technique. I'm not claiming I always take the best route but the routes I have chosen have gotten me to where I want to go, with very few scary moments.
Ditto for me. 15 minute series U. S. Geological Survey maps are my key planning and navigating tool. I have a much-used set for the High Sierra south of Tahoe, many torn and frayed but still usable. Six copies of the Mt. Goddard quad alone. Back in the day, that's all we had for trip planning aside from Roper's climber's guide, Winnett's Sierra South and Sierra North books, Starr's Guide to the JMT, and a few other Sierra Club "tote" books. Also, I recall using the main branch of the San Francisco library to read through old (very old) copies of Sierra Club bulletins from the 30's and 40's to come up with route ideas. That's how I came up with the idea of swimming through Muir Gorge back in the 70's.
There are a few of us oldtimers around here that managed to get drafted during the Vietnam War Era, so U.S. Army Advanced Infantry training was great for teaching us how to look at a map and figure out a practical way of getting from Point A to Point B without getting shot at and without spraining an ankle. In fact, Escape and Evasion class was good at that. We didn't have any stinkin' GPS, and we barely had maps and compasses. Hell, we didn't even have bone spurs.
You may want to see if there are any "orienteering" clubs in your area. This is a fun activity where you read maps and orient with the objective of finding a "treasure". They even put on contests. REI puts on classes too.
Bobby49- my husband cannot read a map and never could, yet he was forward patrol in the Marines in Vietnam. How he ever got to that position is beyond me. I am just glad he survived!
balzaccom wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2019 6:18 pm
Hmmm. I clock in at 54 years, so I fall somewhere in between. But the other note I would add to Old Ranger is that one of the things you learn with time and experience is when you are better off turning around than forcing a route. And that is a key element to any kind of cross country travel.
And yes, I speak from experience.
Great point. Just part of "route adjustment"
Mike
Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!
Wandering Daisy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 9:10 am
Bobby49- my husband cannot read a map and never could, yet he was forward patrol in the Marines in Vietnam. How he ever got to that position is beyond me. I am just glad he survived!
Don't take offense, but in some military units, they put one guy out on point who was the least valuable since he was most likely to get hit first. I was always the radio operator, so I was hidden somewhere in the back since the patrol leader and I were the most valuable. It was important for us to navigate accurately when we were within the DMZ of Korea. If we screwed up, we might end up in a North Korean prison.
I used to lead a lot of Sierra Club backpacking trips, so I would get the group of eight out on some remote corner of the woods and then run a test. I had everybody study their maps and try to guess where we were. Some could do that and come relatively close to our spot. Others were way off. One gal could not navigate her way out of a paper bag, and she was lucky to pick a spot that was within the same county. I was convinced that if you give everybody sufficient basic instruction and then practice enough, 95% of them will get it. We were going on a trip in northwestern Yosemite, so I gave every participant instructions of where to meet and how to get there by highway. This same gal decided to drive herself up there, and I tried to suggest otherwise, but she was adamant. She drove out of the Bay Area and got to Manteca, but instead of continuing east, she ended up in Sacramento. Once she saw the error, she turned south again and got back to Manteca. Instead of going east, she went to Merced. Once she saw the error, she went east to Yosemite Valley. By the time she found us at the meeting place near Hodgdon Meadow, it was 3 a.m. Instead of having her navigate for the group, we put her on kitchen detail.
