MAPS

Might as well jump right into the most critical piece, your map. Again, always buy a topographical map. To see why, lets break down the word itself. Topo means "place", and graphia means "record". In other words, a topographical map is a written description of the land (both man-made and natural) in a particular area. Basically, it is a very detailed picture of the area in which you are about to head out into. Lets look at what's on them.

After making sure the map(s) cover an area sufficient enough to be inclusive of where you plan to be, the first thing you want to take a look at is the information contained in the margins. This is where you find the legend, which includes the scale, symbols, declination, etc. I covered the scale in the gear post, and here is a basic table describing some of the other symbols.

After getting a basic sense of what is on the map, you need to understand how to read it. For this, you will need at least three things: scale (for determining distance), contour interval, and declination. A brief reminder, the scale shows you how many real life inches are in each inch on the map. There should also be a measurement of how many miles are in each inch, two inches, etc. This, combined with the contour intervals, will help you gain an understanding of how much territory you can expect to cover in a given amount of time. Lets break down the contour intervals next.

On a topographic map, you'll notice brown lines going around the map. You'll also notice that some of them might be thicker, or darker, and have numbers on them. These lines represent the elevation of the land touched by that line, as compared to sea level. For example, if I were looking at a contour map of my neighborhood, one of the lines close to it would read around 5400, meaning it is 5,400 feet above sea level. Somewhere in the margin, the map should also tell you what the contour interval is. This tells you the distance between the contour line just above, and just below, the line with the elevation marked on it. So, if the contour interval of my neighborhood map is 40, then the line just below the one marked 5400 would indicate an elevation of 5380, while the one just above it would indicate 5420. How closely the lines are stacked together shows you just how quickly the land rises or falls. This is critical to understand in route planning, as steep grades require extra energy, and sometimes technical skills to climb. It may prove quicker and safer to plan routes around such features.

DECLINATION

This is a critical component to route finding in the wilderness. Compasses work because the needle in them is pulled towards a large, natural, magnetic field that exists north of the Hudson Bay. On the other hand, most maps point towards true north. So, if you were to take your bearing straight off the map, without accounting for the declination, you would not get to where you intended. To figure out just how much you need to adjust, each map will show you how much you to need to either add or subtract to the compass bearing to accommodate for the difference between magnetic north and true north. To do this, it shows two lines. One pointing to true north, one pointing to magnetic north, and the number of degrees between the two. This number is the amount you need to adjust for. In addition, it will show you whether the adjust ment is East or West. But what does that mean to you? Here is an easy way to remember: East is Least, and West is Best. In other words, if the declination shown on the map is 10 degrees East (usually shown as 10E), you would subtract (least) 10 degrees from your compass bearing. If it were 10W, you'd add 10. Some compasses have a feature where you can lock in an adjustment for declination, which is very handy because, once you lock it in, you don't have to do the mental math anymore. As you become tired, stressed, slightly spooked, etc. in the wilderness, this could make the difference between making a mistake, and safely finding your way home.

PREPARING YOUR MAP

There is another way to take declination into consideration if your compass doesn't let you lock in a declination. Before you head out on your trip, spread the map out on your kitchen table (or any flat surface large enough) and lay a yard stick along the magnetic north arrow on the declination indicator in the margin of the map. Once you have the yardstick lined up, take a pencil and run it all the way up the yardstick, crossing the entire map. Repeat this on the other side of the yardstick. Then, continue moving the yardstick along these lines, placing one side of the yardstick along the last line you drew, and tracing along the opposite side. When you are done, your entire map now has the declination lines across it. You can use these to orient your map in the field.

ORIENTING YOUR MAP

In the field, take out your compass and align the compass housing arrow with the direction of travel indicator. Your compass should look like its pointing at a bearing of 0 degrees. Now, place the long edge of your compass along any one of the magnetic north lines you drew across your map earlier and then turn both the map and the compass together until the magnetic needle is lined up inside the compass housing arrow. Your map is now oriented such that the features shown on the map are in line with what is in front of you. Of course, being able to tell that things are aligned depends on knowing where you are.

KNOWING WHERE YOU ARE ON THE MAP

To find your location on a map, you need to first identify a couple of landmarks both in the real world, and on the map. Once you have them, start by pointing the direction of travel arrow at the real landmark in front of you. Then, turn the compass housing until the magnetic needle aligns in the compass housing arrow. The degree that aligns with the direction of travel arrow is the bearing of the landmark. Next, place the compass on the map with one of the front edge corners touching the landmark. Rotate the entire compass in a circle (keeping the front edge corner on the landmark) until the compass housing arrow is parallel to the magnetic north lines you drew on the map. Now, draw a dotted line along the edge of the compass, coming away from the landmark and toward you. Repeat this process with the other landmark. Where the two dotted lines intersect is your location on the map. Now that you know where you are, how do get where you want to go?

GETTING AND FOLLOWING A BEARING

Place the long edge of the compass along a line between your current position and where you want to go. If your final destination is of any significant distance, you may need to plot a route along several intermediary destinations in order to avoid obstacles and/or make overall travel easier. One the compass is placed in this position, turn the compass housing until the compass housing arrow is parallel to the magnetic north lines you drew. Now, pick up the compass and hold it level in front of you (how you hold the compass will depend on the model you are using). Start turning your body around in a circle until the magnetic needle is aligned inside of the compass housing arrow (in other words, pointing at 0 degrees). The direction of travel indicator is now pointing towards your destination. If you are using a compass with a sighting mechanism, and can't see your final destination, use the sight to locate a landmark (tree, hill, etc.) between your position and destination and walk towards that landmark. Once there, take another reading and continue making progress.

If you can't see your final destination, but the map indicates other can't miss features around that destination, you may want to use the offset method. For example, say you are running out of water and need to reach a small lake or pond you see on the map. Due to being out of water, you really can't afford to miss the lake by navigating a degree or two off. Looking at the map, you notice a small stream flowing out of the south end of the body of the water. One trick is to purposefully aim yourself a few degrees south of the body of water. That way, when you are hiking, you will come across the stream and can simply then follow it north, back up to the larger body of water.

PRACTICE

The key to successful orientation is simply this: Practice. Grab a topographical map of a park in your local community (or some other safe, hard to get lost place) and go out and practice finding landmarks, shooting an azimuth, etc. You will also want to practice measuring distance on the map and determining your own stride so that you can calculate rough estimates of how long you think it will take you to reach a landmark, this is critical to helping make sure you don't miss your target. Its amazing how quickly things can start to look similar out in the wild, so every small piece of information you can use to find, and keep, your location known is important.

Again, this post is not intended to equip you with everything you need to know to successfully navigate out in the wilderness. It was merely designed to provide some basic insight into the skill set you should have prior to setting out. Again, find a class (your local REI, if you have one, offers these free) and/or get out and practice!