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The essential wilderness navigator PDF

175 Pages·2001·6.497 MB·English
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THE ESSENTIAL WILDERNESS NAVIGATOR SECOND EDITION This page intentionally left blank THE ESSENTIAL WILD NAVI ERNESS GATOR SECOND EDITION DAVID SEIDMAN PAUL CLEVELAND WITH Illustrations by Christine Erikson RAGGED MOUNTAIN PRESS / McGRAW-HILL CAMDEN, MAINE• NEW YORK • SAN FRANCISCO • WASHINGTON, D.C. • AUCKLAND BOGOTÁ • CARACAS • LISBON • LONDON • MADRID • MEXICO CITY • MILAN MONTREAL • NEW DELHI • SAN JUAN • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO • TORONTO Copyright © 1995, 2001 Ragged Mountain Press. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-0-07-154289-0 MHID: 0-07-154289-2 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-136110-1, MHID: 0-07-136110-3. All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefi t of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please e-mail us at [email protected]. Questions regarding the content of this book should be addressed to Ragged Mountain Press P.O. Box 220 Camden, ME 04843 www.raggedmountainpress.com This book is printed on 70# Citation at R.R. Donnelley; Design by Dede Cummings; Production management by Janet Robbins; Page layout by Deborah Evans; Edited by Tom McCarthy and Constance Burt; photos on pages 68–73 by Jeff Slack, Classic Photography; photos on page 146 courtesy Garmin. TERMS OF USE This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGrawHill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms. THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise. CONTENTS Introduction 8 What's New in this Edition 9 1 A SENSE OF DIRECTION 10 Locating Your Sixth Sense 11 How Not to Get Lost 16 Why We Get Lost 19 How to “Get Found” 23 2 MAPS 24 The World in Your Hands 26 Types of Maps 27 Three Dimensions into Two 30 The Language of Maps 31 Reading the Terrain 38 Latitude and Longitude 47 Scale 48 Distance 50 Direction 51 Putting Yourself on the Map 54 Map Care and Gear 58 3 COMPASSES 60 What Compasses Can Do 62 Earth's Magnetic Field 63 How Compasses Work 64 Make Your Own 65 Declination 66 Compass Types 68 Orienting Your Compass to Magnetic North 71 Orienting Your Compass to Geographic North 72 Bearings 74 Deviation 77 Following a Compass Course 78 Testing Your Skills 82 4 NAVIGATION 84 Map and Compass Combined 86 Orienting the Map with a Compass 89 Finding a Course from the Map 90 Locating a Mapped Object in the Field 92 Locating an Observed Object on the Map 94 A Bearing from a Mapped Object 96 Other Lines of Position 98 Warning Bearings 99 Crossing Lines of Position 100 Returning to the Same Spot 101 A Running Fix 102 Finding Distance Off 103 Measuring Distance Covered 106 Dead Reckoning 107 5 NAVIGATION IN USE 110 Route Planning 112 The Practice of Navigation 113 On the Trail 115 Hitting What You Aim For 116 Landmarks as Guides 120 Sources of Error 121 When You Are Lost 122 6 LOOKING TO NATURE FOR CLUES 124 Finding North and South at Noon 127 North and South from a Shadow 128 Quick but Inaccurate 129 Movements of Sunrise and Sunset 130 Bearings from Sunrise and Sunset 131 Polaris 133 The Southern Cross 135 Other Stars 136 7 EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS 138 Mountains 139 Snow 142 Deserts 144 8 ELECTRONIC NAVIGATION 145 GPS 101 148 Getting Started 150 E-Maps: Topos and Charts on CD-ROM 151 9 APPENDIX 154 Bearings of Sunrise and Sunset 154 Declination Corrections 156 Metric Conversion Tables 157 Orienteering 158 Sources of Maps, Books, Compasses, Videos, GPS Manufacturers, and Electronic Mapmakers 159 Travel Plan 165 Index 167 Acknowledgments 173 INTRODUCTION This book is for all outdoorspeople, and for those what cannot be sensed. We do this with maps, who would be outdoorspeople were it not for the which are the most effective way of portraying fear of getting lost. Staying found is not an instinct parts of the world beyond our vision. Of course, or an innate skill; like riding a bicycle or mastering you could also use the written word, but think municipal bus routes, it can be learned. how cumbersome it would be to describe even the Indeed, the basics can be learned quite quickly, smallest patch of land in sufficient detail to allow and most outdoorspeople are content with that. strangers to find their way. If a picture is worth a But the more time we spend outdoors, and the thousand words, then a map is a complete guide- more adventurous we become, the greater the book. But it is a guidebook written in its own lan- chances of encountering a situation that baffles guage, a language we show you how to interpret. our orienteering skills. It could be a trick of the Once you can do this, the world is in your hands. weather, a few minutes’ inattention, a decision to Next we give you a point of reference that can cut across country to a visible destination rather be used anywhere on the planet and a gadget that than following the trail—and suddenly panic is ris- always shows where it is. This gadget, as you ing as you’re forced to admit to yourself that you might have guessed, is a compass. It gives way- don’t know where you are. finding insurance and, once you know its tricks, This book explains how to stay out of those sit- provides the ultimate in dependability. As you’ll uations, and what to do when you doget lost. It see, it is a guiding finger that does a lot more than has been laid out in a progressive format. You start point north. here, go to there, and then finally wind up where Next, you’ll put it all together. Taking your new- you want to be. Once you’ve learned something, found sense of direction and ability to read a map you use it as a steppingstone to other knowledge. and use a compass, you can start to navigate. And As ideas accumulate, you’ll be surprised how far as you practice, you’ll learn when you can relax you’ve progressed. It will all be done in small precision for the sake of convenience and speed. doses. It will be easy to head back if you think You’ll discover that, in practice, land navigation you’re not yet fully in the picture—which is how consists for the most part of orienting off sur- you should explore any unknown area. rounding landmarks such as distant peaks, river drainages, or slope aspects and angles. The com- Chapter 1 provides basic training for perceiving pass is used mostly to orient the map to these the environment. No one is born with a sixth landmarks, and then for rough intermediate bear- sense. What passes for it is the learned ability to ings that help you field-check that you’re follow- observe—to see, smell, hear, and sense details in ing the appropriate “line of least resistance” in the the world through which you pass. You have to desired direction. learn all this, and we show you how. This chapter As time goes by, you’ll find most often that you contains the most important sentence in the book: just travel with map in hand, keeping up with If you plan to return along the same route, turn passing landmarks, rather than plotting and fol- around frequently to see what your path will look lowing exact directional vectors. Vegetation, ob- like on the way back. stacles, and game trails (which can be followed In chapter 2 we take the next step, to learn quickly) will all divert you somewhat from your

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