Map, Compass, and GPS use

[Rick M]

Hikin Jim had this topic on a source for topo maps that went "commercial" called @#%^&&*! Commercialism!! that generated some info on where to get maps. I thought it might be good to have a topic on map, compass, and GPS use. I assume that must of the people on this BB probably already have such skills but there's always stuff to learn. With his permission, I'd like to use his post to my response to get this started:

Rick M wrote:
Hmmmmmm, "any tips for printing", what exactly would you like to do? You can print out an entire quad on a single 8x11" page but it would be impossible to read (too small).

Well, is there a way to have the printout go over multiple pages both horizontally and vertically? After printing all of the pages the map would span over, I could just trim the margins, tape everything together and have the entire USGS quad...

Rick M wrote:
If I know where I'm going and I want a map I usually only print that section on a page and because my eyesight isn't getting any better (maybe I should get glasses?), I usually enlarge it before I print and on the back side print a possible adjoining area I might be interested in doing (remember that you should leave an itenery with someone before you go...especially if going solo).

I typically file a "hike plan" before I go out, even when accompanied. Printing out a map and going over it with a highlighter seems like an effective form of communication. When I'm leading others, I'll also print and highlight maps for everyone else.

Rick M wrote:
Or on the back side I might print the area I'm going into smaller and include a lot of surrounding area but possible hard to read especially at night.

Yeah, it's nice to know what you're looking at, be able to orient yourself, and be able to adjust if you need to detour. I've had to adjust my plans more than once due to heavy snow. Really good to have the adjoining area maps if you need to detour! Not having the map can turn the detour into a disaster!

Rick M wrote:
...something I just learned from a lot of map and compass work and field geology in the days before GPS. When you're staking a claim, you really don't want to make mistakes. If I was in terrain that had considerable relief, I would frequently only use a map for navigation.

That is one of the great things about mountains. Lots of relief. If the terrain is open and clear, say at high altitude, with a lot of relief, then terrain association is in some ways better than a GPS. If one kind of bears in mind the terrain as one moves along, one can make a sort of common sense check on what the GPS is telling you. It's like using a calculator. A lot of the time I'll get a ballpark figure in my head before I use the calculator so I can flag it immediately if I unknowningly hit a wrong button. I've seen guys start charging off based on their GPS when I knew "that can't be right" because I had been terrain associating the whole way along. When we went over how they had arrived at their conclusion, I was able to see where they'd made some kind of procedural error.

Rick M wrote:
One thing I would like to mention, I think everyone in a group going out somewhere should have a copy of a map. I’ve been on way too many trips (and missions) where only one map was in the group and it got lost or someone got separated or whatever.

Here, here. Compass as well. It really bugged me recently when one of the guys put his compass back in the car after he saw I had one. Not good! Far better to have everyone in the group with map & compass. Even if you don't split up (say someone needs to go for help), it's still better to have the ability for others to form a "second opinion." I've seen mistakes caught that way too.

Rick M wrote:

ps Even in this day of GPS and cell phones, I think people need to have map and compass skills…they’re fun! Try orienteering (takes more skill than geo-caching…I like that too!)

And compasses' don't have batteries.

[Rick M]

Fight On asked

Yey Rick. I like map and compass too. Either it is too easy or there is something that I don't know that I'm missing. The first thing I checked on your map site was that Vivan Creek trail and sure enough it doesn't reflect the current trail. Is that the only trail that is off or are there others?

As AlanK said

The problem is that the USGS maps are old.

On USGS topo maps you can check the bottom to see when it was made and last revised. The information on any map is only as good as the date the information was gathered. Man made things come and go while the topography usually stays the same in our lifetime (things like Mt St Helens blowing up really mess things up and they will frequently redo those maps).

The USGS, like other government agencies, has a budget and a list of things they have to prioritize and changes in trails is not at the top of the list. As Alan mentioned, there are other cartography businesses (like National Geographic Topo) that help fill in this area between USGS revisions and in many cases, offer features (like waterproof maps) that might be of interest to outdoor types. Incidentally, the USGS has a program for volunteers to help ground truth features on their maps with GPS.

Cartography was my second major in college and though the USGS doesn’t do this, some companies will intentionally put some things on their maps that are not there or in the wrong place, etc to help protect their investment in time from copyright infringement. The Vivian Creek trail discrepancy is not one of these. Again, a good reason to develope your navigation skills

[Hikin_Jim]

What? Still no printing tips?

[AlanK]

I know a compass is one of the Ten Essentials and never hike without one. It does not require batteries, draws very accurate arcs and circles in the dirt, and can be used as a weapon against small animals. Oh, yeah -- did I mention that no batteries are needed?

(I do expect a purist to point out the difference between a compass and dividers.)

[Rick M]

Those look like Hikin Jim's trekking poles connected to form an A-frame for putting his poncho over to protect his bivy. Could also use in that adapted form to draw in the snow your igloo circle.

Are you on a Mac or PC? I've never wanted to piece together a topo from 8x11 sheets but I'll look into how to print it of "seemlessly". We are doing a motor test this weekend and I need to get working on so you may have to "wait"...I know, I know

[Hikin_Jim]

Are you on a Mac or PC? I've never wanted to piece together a topo from 8x11 sheets but I'll look into how to print it of "seemlessly". We are doing a motor test this weekend and I need to get working on so you may have to "wait"...I know, I know

I'm on a PC. If you can find an answer as to how to span pages, that would be excellent, but don't worry about it too much. I probably could just go down to a Kinko's and have them do it on a really big piece of paper. In the mean time, I have access to 11x17 paper (the same size as two 8.5x11's side by side in portrait mode) which helps some. I can print fairly good sized sections at 100%, or even more if I reduce to 75%.

[Tim Le]

Here you go Jim:

http://freegeographytools.com/2007/prin ... ll-printer

For navigation, I use a combination of paper maps, GPS and compass. I start by drawing my planned route on TOPO!, build a GPS route and download the waypoints to my GPS. The GPS is mainly used as a safety backup to regular route finding. Usually I don't check it often because I can navigate by just following the trail and by keeping oriented on the paper map.

On the GPS I record a track of where I've been so I can always retrace my route. I also have topo data uploaded to the GPS. To determine my position, I just compare the contour lines on the GPS to those on the map. Without this map data on the GPS, I'd have to plot my coordinates on the paper map, which takes time and only approximates my position. I make my own custom GPS topo maps from the USGS Digital Elevation Model data because Garmin's own topo maps are too coarse and too expensive. All of the tools, data, and instructions to do this are free and on the internet. Ain't it grand?

I really like GPS. It greatly reduces the workload for navigation, but being an electronic device it can fail. So it's a good idea to still carry paper maps, a compass, know how to triangulate position and always try to be oriented on your map as often as possible.

[Hikin_Jim]

Sweet! My printer doesn't do the poster thing, but I'll have to try one of the other two. In any event the print quality is SO superior than to that of my NGS Topo! printouts. This is great!

Jim

[Hikin_Jim]

Went out this weekend using maps printed from the USGS link provided by Rick M. Really good resolution maps -- much better than what I get from my Topo! software. Went on an abandoned trail in the SGW (which was in just as good of shape as the maintained trails, but I digress) this past Friday and didn't miss a turn even in a couple of vague spots. Thanks again to Rick!

HJ