How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

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maverick
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Re: How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

Post by maverick »

I too fall under the category of having a natural route finding and navigation abilities.
It is like having a sixth sense, which is even more in tune when I am in the back country.
I have a compass, because of the mirror on it, but it has never been used.
I could see using it if caught in a white out or fog, then it could come in handy.
Never used a gps even though I have one at home, but have never taken it with me in
to the back country.
I do carry a topo map, but do not use it much for navigation, but for maybe identifying
distant peaks.
We are fortunate in the Sierra that there are enough peaks, rivers, and other landmarks
that make navigation fairly easy.
Now a place like Utah, where dessert, and especially slot canyons, and lack of any
landmarks in some areas would make for a more challenging place to navigate cross
country.
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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Post by oldranger »

Tomcat wrote
Often a shorter route has ended up taking longer due to scree or boulder hopping. I still use a map to check my terrain.
If going into new territory above timberline I now use google earth to scout and make sure I am not planning on going over miles of talus or I just pm maverick!

maverick wrote
I do carry a topo map, but do not use it much for navigation, but for maybe identifying
distant peaks.
We are fortunate in the Sierra that there are enough peaks, rivers, and other landmarks
that make navigation fairly easy.
Now a place like Utah, where dessert, and especially slot canyons, and lack of any
landmarks in some areas would make for a more challenging place to navigate cross
country.
Yes we are spoiled in the Sierra. The terrain is so dramatic that it is pretty easy to navigate if you pay attention. Back when I lived in Maine and now in the Oregon Cascades the thick forests and complex micro topography require a lot more attention to barely discernible squiggles (technical term!) on the map that correspond to slight gullies and ridges on the ground and when the sun don't shine a lot of attention to one's compass which I have never had to do in the Sierra.

mike
Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!
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Re: How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

Post by Timberline »

Maps have always drawn my curiosity. As a kid, I collected National Geographic maps for a time. Later, after picking up and reading Starr's Guide and becoming seriously interested in the Sierra, my collections included topos of the high country even before I set foot in that terrain. After junior college, I worked on a survey crew for a county road department, where translating data from map to ground and back again became a daily activity. In my last 2-1/2 years of college as a forestry major, I had lots more training and use. The best experience of all, though, was leading a CFI crew for two summers in the Sierra, where the work involved locating and sampling data plots, all of them off trail, from a pinpoint on an aerial photograph. The Sierra was/is ideal for this kind of field orientation; with a photo "pair" and a stereo opticon, you could read the terrain clearly in 3-D. 'Course, we had to haul around some bulky equipment with our regular backpacking stuff, but Imagine being able to plan your route and track your progress from a visual perspective directly above your actual position, where you can see a clear image of the very rock or tree you are standing next to! This led to building a lot of confidence in x-c travel, 'cause it was so much fun. I've never hesitated to wander and explore off-trail ever since, including a 10-day march across the trail-less jungles of Costa Rica to find a mystical shaman's hidden village.
Let 'er Buck! Back in Oregon again!
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Re: How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

Post by neil d »

I also learned to read topos as an undergrad geologist. I could read maps before that, but time in the field really solidified the knowledge. I've never used a GPS, and I used to be indifferent towards the technology, but now I think they contribute mightily to people not being aware of their surroundings.
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Re: How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

Post by East Side Hiker »

It may seem simplistic, but it just takes time - thats all. Just keep looking at the landscape, and the map, and keep doing it, and it'll make sense eventually. I've gotten to the point where I can "see" the 3-d on the map. There's a way to slightly cross your eyes, and the 3-d will "pop" out.

But, the weird thing is that sometimes the lines on the map will be very close, and appear to make the landscape seem very steep; and other times the lines are not close, and give the appearance that its"flat," when its not. It can be decieving. So you just have to keep doing it, keep looking at the map, keep trying to form relationships between drainages and ridges and directions, and what you're actually seeing.

X country travel is by far the most exciting experience. But nothing beats going back tot he same places and learning the landscape.
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Re: How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

Post by TehipiteTom »

As far back as I can remember (4 years old or so), I was obsessed with maps. My favorite book was The Answer Book of Geography, which had a whole section explaining the different types of maps and how they attempt to depict the reality on the ground. I memorized all the map symbols and drew my own maps. When I went off to preschool the first time, I wasn't upset about leaving my mom...but I was upset about leaving my maps.

So by the time I started backpacking, reading topo maps was pretty much second nature for me. Along the way I learned through trial and error about just how much topography fits into the space between contours (amazing how much that can be), and all the other painful reminders that the map (as Korzybski says) is not the territory...but all those years of obsession with maps prepared me pretty well for the challenge.
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Re: How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

Post by sparky »

I've never hesitated to wander and explore off-trail ever since, including a 10-day march across the trail-less jungles of Costa Rica to find a mystical shaman's hidden village.
I get the feeling there is a good story there, possibly involving mind bending shaman brews :wink:
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Re: How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

Post by Timberline »

Hey, sparky!
Well maybe not quite what you had in mind, but it was a memorable trek and a little spooky, too. The brews came at the end (like all good hikes, eh?) with a night of Carnaval in the Caribbean port city of Limon. PM me if you want to read the whole story. :D
Let 'er Buck! Back in Oregon again!
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maverick
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Re: How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

Post by maverick »

Timberline wrote "I've never hesitated to wander and explore off-trail ever
since, including a 10-day march across the trail-less jungles of Costa Rica to
find a mystical shaman's hidden village", "PM me if you want to read the whole story"
how about a TR, with pic's, in the "Beyond the Sierra Nevada" section.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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Timberline
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Re: How did you learn navigation/topo reading skills?

Post by Timberline »

I wish I could comply mav, but a) it was ages ago; b) I didn't carry a camera 'cause others in our party did, but they were the Olympus half-frame type, (and my companions promised, but never delivered copies of some of the photos they took #-o ). All I can offer is the narrative, and leave the rest to your imagination. . . . Anybody out there got a slide scanner that will convert half-frames to digital?
Let 'er Buck! Back in Oregon again!
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