Are you a Traveler?

Written by Ryan Fyfe


I’m making an assumption that at want point in your life you’ve been a tourist. You’ve carried a map, a camera, maybe even had a tour guide. You’ve traveled to different destinations, relaxed on remote beaches, climbed stairs in buildings you see on television. You’ve done all of these things but some how when you get arrive home, all your left with is a short memory, and a few photographs.

Vacations are nice every once in a while, but it doesn’t make sense to me why we will travel thousands of miles to sit in hotel rooms and watch movies, or lie on a pool deck and catch some rays. These are all things that we can do where we are from, I want you to think about being a traveler not a tourist. You want to soak in as much ofrepparttar new country and culture that you can rather than bring as much of your culture to them. It’s really quite simple. In one step you need to forget about your way of live, and adopt theirs.

It’s simple things likerepparttar 138289 mindset that we have when we go abroad, and what we bring. Don’t bring all ofrepparttar 138290 things that we depend on in America. Bring what it is that you are going to need to survive and stay healthy during your visit. The more comforts you have,repparttar 138291 more you will depend on them, andrepparttar 138292 less you will step out to becomerepparttar 138293 traveler you ought to be!

Topographic Maps 101

Written by Will Robertson


The intricate details on a topographic map can be befuddling, even frustrating, if you are learning while out inrepparttar backcountry. But once you get familiar withrepparttar 138260 markings and symbols, reading maps will become a friendly aid, rather than a dreaded assignment.

Topographic Maps Grid System

Lines of latitude run parallel torepparttar 138261 equator (east and west), and lines of longitude run perpendicular torepparttar 138262 equator (north and south). These lines form a pattern of squares acrossrepparttar 138263 surface ofrepparttar 138264 earth like a checker board.

One square, formed by lines of longitude and latitude, measures 90 degrees x 90 degrees. Degrees are further subdivided into minutes and seconds.

• 1 degree = 60 minutes • 1 minute = 60 seconds

The important thing to understand, when we look for a topographic map for our hiking adventures, is that it will be located within this larger context of degrees, minutes, and seconds. Fortunately, it will also, usually, be identified with a place name.

An alternative method of notation withinrepparttar 138265 Geographic Coordinate System isrepparttar 138266 decimal degree system. Inrepparttar 138267 decimal degree system, minutes and seconds are replaced by a percentage of a degree, expressed as a decimal up to four places long. It is often used for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications,

Topographic Maps Scale Explained

A topographic map lists its scale inrepparttar 138268 margin or legend. The scale isrepparttar 138269 relationship between distances on a map andrepparttar 138270 corresponding distance onrepparttar 138271 ground. For example, a map with a scale of 1:50,000 means that 1 unit of measurement onrepparttar 138272 map equals 50,000 equivalent units onrepparttar 138273 ground.

Units can be in inches, feet, centimeters, or meters, depending on what scale map you are looking at and what measuring systemrepparttar 138274 country uses. Most USGS maps are 1:24,000, also known as 7 ½ minute maps. On this map, 1 inch = 24,000 inches onrepparttar 138275 ground. In Canada, most hiking maps are 1:50,000 scale, where 1 cm = 50,000 cm onrepparttar 138276 ground.

A small scale map (ex. 1:100,000) covers a large area; it shows less detail with fewer features. A large scale map (ex. 1:10,000) covers a small area; it shows great detail and small features. A 1:2,500, large scale map would show individual houses and street lights.

Topographic Maps Symbols and Colors

The symbols and colors used on Topographic maps are fairly straight forward:

• Black - man-made, “cultural,” features such as roads, buildings, etc. It is also used to show geographical names (toponymy), certain symbols, geographic coordinates, precise elevations, border information and surround information.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use