Orienteering!

Orienteering has been the biggest challenge during our trip this year at the Gros Morne National Park. If we had someone more experienced in orienteering, our hike would have been far easier(?). If we had a handheld GPS device, maybe that would have also cut our walking time significantly. This post will walk through some of the basic orienteering techniques. 

Map:

To properly orient yourself in the wilderness, you need an up to date topographical map. Knowing how to properly read a topographical map alone can help you a great deal. The most up to date and detailed topographical maps in Canada is published by Natural Resources Canada. The map shown above is one of two maps that I used for this trip; the file size of this map alone was 75MB! They are extremely high in detail and the pixel count is sufficient to print a 30"X30" map with ease. I believe they provide maps of anywhere in Canada with the scale of 1:50,000 and the contour intervals of 10m. A scale of 1:50,000 means that 1cm on the map represents a distance of 50,000cm (or 500m or 0.5km). Contour lines are the squiggly lines on the map that shows the elevation gain or loss; with a 10m contour interval, every time you cross over a contour line, you are gaining/losing 10m of elevation. For example, if you look at the contour lines where the "N" is (in "NORTHERN"), the lines are very tightly set. This area represents a cliff section that surrounds the Bakers Brooke Pond; there is more elevation gain/loss within a given distance. In contrast, if you look at the hills just north of the letter "N," you see wider gaps between the contour lines (by "BIG LEVEL"). When contour lines are set wide apart like this, the terrain is much more level and the slope is less pronounced.

Simple? The concepts behind map making/reading is much simpler to understand than it is to actually to put into practice. Yes, the contour lines show the slopes, blue means water, and the scales can tell you how much you need to travel. However, examining a map and visualizing what the landscape will appear in real life is a much more difficult task. Looking down from a high point at the surrounding hills can help you locate yourself on the map; unfortunately, it's not easy trying tell apart different hills and peak points around you when you are actually in the field. You can be looking down from a high point at several different lakes (or ponds) and still have difficulty telling which pond is which on the map. Despite the high level of detail and accuracy of today's modern maps, for someone as inexperienced as I, matching shapes I see before me to the shapes on the map is difficult. 

There is no way to get around practicing map reading. I suggest you carry around a topographical map whenever you go hiking even more so when you are familiar with the surrounding. It's a suggestion from books I've read and a suggestion I chose to ignore before heading out to Gros Morne. I learned the hard way that a little practice can go a long way. 

Compass:
Being an expert at reading topographical maps alone can probably get you to places you like. After all, we've found our ways around cities and parks just by reading a map. However, if you master the use of a compass, you can travel more efficiently and accurately. A simple compass (any compass) can tell you where north is. An orienteering compass can help you set your bearing (your intended direction of travel), triangulate your location on the map, and safely orient yourself around obstacles. There are many concepts, techniques, and exercises that can help you in the wilderness; I will just go over the very basics of finding and maintaining your bearing. 

Source: http://www.learn-orienteering.org/old/lesson1.html

An orienteering compass has several features that a regular simple compass may not; the above image shows the different necessary parts of an orienteering compass. Follow these steps to find your bearing to travel from point A to point B:

1. Place the compass on the map with the point A touching either one of the two long edges of the compass. Point A should be touching the back (opposite side of where the direction of travel-arrow is pointing) of either one of the long edge of the compass.
2. Turns the compass so point B is also on the same long edge as point A. Now you will have both point A and point B on either ONE of the long edges of the compass. Point A should be closer to the compass housing edge and point B should be closer to the head of the direction of travel-arrow.
3. Turn the compass housing so that the orienting lines are parallel to the longitudinal lines on the map.

Your compass is now oriented to a given bearing! If the degrees/mils are indicated around the compass housing, you can find the exact direction in degrees/mils by looking at the point where the back of the direction of travel-arrow touches the compass housing. Now, if you are actually standing where point A is indicated and you intend to travel to point B, all you have to do is turn the entire compass so that the compass needle north is right over the orienting arrow. DO NOT turn the compass housing after it has been oriented to a specific direction! Once the needle is directly over the orienting arrow, the direction of travel-arrow shows... well, your direction of travel! 

Simple? Probably not. Trying to explain this process using just words is tedious and probably not very accurate. But it's definitely fun! Yes? Yes? Yes. Now go out, buy yourself a nice orienteering compass, print out a topographical map, and explore your neighbourhood!

*For more exercises/techniques that are well written, refer to "Be Expert with Map and Compass" by Bjorn Kjellstrom.


Which compass?

This is a long post mostly because I am probably terrible at explaining things. I do however need to add one more thing! Which compass should you buy? You want a compass with the basic features identified in the image above. Other optional features include a global needle (a needle that works both in the northern and the southern hemisphere), a "freeze-proof" compass housing, a waterproof housing, a slope needle, a sighting mirror, and a declination adjustment. I went with the Suunto MC-2 Global Sighting Compass. It was quite pricy but it included almost all of the features I may need in the future and I wanted something that would last. Reviews around the internet recommend Suunto over Silva in North America. Silva, a Swedish compass manufacturer, invented the modern orienteering compass design; unfortunately, the quality of their compasses sold in North America are abysmal. One more thing to note when you are purchasing an advanced orienteering compass is to make sure you buy the compass with degree markings instead of the Mil scale. If you can figure out how to use the Mil scale, great! It's another tool you can use. With the Mil scale, you can determine the size of an object at a given distance by using your compass. It's a more common tool used in the military. I tried. I gave up. 

Cheers!