Top Tips for Successful BackCountry NavigationWritten by Chuck Fitzgerald
As an outdoor enthusiast you will at some point make a decision to learn how to navigate in backcountry. Whether you use a map, compass, GPS receiver or all three, there are several things you should know about successful navigation. Your safety and safety of your companions depend upon it. Backcountry activities such as hiking, orienteering, hunting, climbing, geocaching, fishing, four-wheeling and camping are all loads of fun - until you get lost. That’s why you should know how to navigate. But navigation doesn’t start when you find yourself hopelessly lost. Navigation begins BEFORE your adventure begins so that you don’t place yourself in harm’s way. Let’s take a look at top tips for successful off road navigation. The first group of tips pertains to getting ready to go: * Prepare your body. I cannot overstate necessity for proper preparation. If you are not in good physical condition when you begin your adventure, you are placing yourself in danger. No matter what your current physical conditioning is - improve it before you start. An exhausted body will negate any acquired navigational skills. * Prepare your mind. If you are using tools, and you should be, such as a map, a compass or a GPS Unit make sure you know how to use them. In order of priority: Maps are most important to understand and use, proper use of a magnetic needle compass is next and finally a GPS unit. Do not rely solely on your GPS. GPS’s only work well when you’re moving and they don’t work at all with dead batteries. Take a class on using your compass with a map. It is not only interesting, it is also a required life skill for outdoor enthusiast. * Have a plan and tell someone about it. Whenever you go into vast backcountry, be sure to tell someone back home where you plan on going, how you plan on getting there and when you’ll be back. If you break your leg, it would be nice if help could find you. Now that you are a prepared navigator, you’re ready to go. Here are remaining tips: * Trust your compass. Many people get lost by trusting their “instincts” instead of their compass. * Always orient your map to landscape. The best way to do this is to orient North on map with North bearing on your compass. I also face north when making directional decisions off of a map. A miss-oriented map can easily lead to confusion. * Be sure of your Declination. The difference between True North and magnetic north is called your declination. This is critical for accurate compass use. If you don’t understand declination, you weren’t paying attention in your map/compass class. If your map is fairly new, use declination value on map and adjust your compass as required. If your map is older than 5 years…you’re not very well prepared. Most modern GPS Units calculate declination value for you. This value should match value on your map.
| | A wave from the TourWritten by Craig McGinty
IT takes hours of map reading and meticulous attention to detail to ensure a successful Tour de France, and that’s just spectators. I had prepared and planned out a route that would land me close to end of stage 11 of Tour, a 164km trip for cyclists from Saint Flour to Figeac. But thousands of other people had same idea so it was a slow crawl through streets of Figeac, in Lot, before I found myself about 7km from end of race. The village of Saint Jean Mirabel had come out in force with good luck messages and flags set up beside route, and even a giant poster suspended between three tractors. Then as leader approached, with helicopters buzzing in air, cheers from spectators began to grow. A small figure, hunched over his bicycle suddenly came into view at top of road, dwarfed by police motorcycles, television cameras and official cars beside him. And before my camera could focus he was gliding by in a bubble of complete concentration, his machine silently cutting through wind. Then crowd caught its breath, preparing for arrival of pursuing pack, or peloton. But before they arrived there was a battle for second and third place taking place as two men shot past in a blur of orange, blue and white. Five minutes later peloton appeared at top of road with police sirens blaring and another helicopter hovering close by in clear, blue sky. This was a much nosier affair with fans screaming for their favourites and rush of air like a passing truck, full of sounds of gear changes and rubber on road. If leading cyclists are like small fish, darting off through rocks, peloton is an all-consuming wave that crashes down on leaders who falter.
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