Finding Your Way In The World

Now a day’s everyone seems to use a GPS unit to get around no matter if it is driving to the store or hiking in the wilderness. GPS has certainly made navigation a lot easier for us and helps us find our way around unfamiliar territories. While I could do a lot of stories about GPS how it works and how to use them etc. I’m not going to at this time. Over the next few weeks I want to focus on what I feel is becoming a lost art and that is using a compass and a map.
Growing up in the city and going to public school one would not expect outdoor skills would be part of the curriculum. I was lucky in that as part of my physical education class in high school there was a number of survival skills they taught us. One of them was how to use a compass and a topo map to get around.
Next to my high school there was a nature reserve and we used it to learn how to do orienteering. If you’re not familiar with the sport of orienteering it basically is a course of points that is laid out and with a map and compass you go out and complete the course. At each one of the points there is a way to mark your card to prove you made it to each one of the points.
There are orienteering clubs all over the world and likely there is one near you where you can often learn the basics for free or for very little money. Some of the local parks and recreational departments may offer orienteering and some may have permanent courses set up that you can use.
Using a compass and a map is important skills to know no matter if your desire is to find a remote place to hunt on public land or to hike in a national park to a remote waterfall. Especially if your GPS unit dies, your batteries die or you find yourself in an area where your access to the satellites is blocked.
So join me next Friday and we’ll look at compasses and how to use them.

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