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- Feb 28, 2007
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Just came back from a weekend trip out at Waterloo State Recreation Area in Michigan with Brian Andrews and his family. Brian was kind enough to give me a crash course on Saturday on map reading and compass technique. He teaches a course through an outdoors club that he is affiliated with and brought out all his teaching tools to personally tutor me. His teaching and the teaching tools were really great and involved different topo maps, physical models corresponding to the topo map and physical models with the topo map overlaid on top of it.
The great part of learning from him was his emphasis on trying to visualize the map contours into actual terrain features. One of the things that helped me the most was simply walking on this stretch of road that was featured on the topo map. We were walking on the road more so to get to a specific site, but the fact that the road was on the map and you could follow each contour as you walked up and down them helped sink things in.
Different things covered included compass and terminology and how different compasses vary in features, orientating the map, using the map and compass to establish a bearing between two points, walking the bearing to find the point indicated, reversing your bearing, using visual cues (terrain topography and landmarks) to orient yourself on the map, how to use GPS in combination with map and compass to get your location etc. All in all it was really useful. Even though I didn't actually run a test and find pre-selected flags on my own, the time spent going through the exercises and bushwacking through the terrain to designated areas were really helpful.
Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures of this outing. I'm not sure why. I think when I was with Brian, I was trying to concentrate on soaking up lots of information and then when we are on the campsite I was focusing on ingesting as much liquids (water then beer) as I could! I'm not quite sure how far we walked on Saturday. It wasn't that far, but for some reason the heat + humidity just bogged me down more than normal. I know by the time I hit my tent at night I was out before I knew it.
I'm more and more impressed with the terrain, lakes and campground condition everytime I get out to Waterloo State Rec. area. It really is a jewel in Southern Michigan!
The famous tentpi that Brian has
Our little aboad - the Nunatuk by MEC
We did start our nightly campfires by traditional methods. Friday night I started our campfire by bowdrill using cottonwood for hearth and drill harvested from one of the trees in my yard. Didn't get any shots off of that one. On Sat. we harvested some wood to try and make a bowdrill but the piece I collected, although passing the fingernail test, turnout out just too moist and fresh. After a lot of effort, I could just start to get smoke. I would probably be possible to get a coal from it using Rick's method of just going at it slow and over time to dry out the hearth & drill by friction then going for gusto. However, I was tired from our day of walking and we opted to go for flint and steel.
One of things fun was we had Brian's son do the honours of blowing the ember in the tinder basket to flames. He even shaped the birds nest of jute twine to hold the flame. I think he really liked it and he's going to be one heck of an outdoorsman when he grows up!
(p.s. normally I wouldn't post photos of somebody else's child, but Brian's boy is certainly no stranger to this site)
more coming....
The great part of learning from him was his emphasis on trying to visualize the map contours into actual terrain features. One of the things that helped me the most was simply walking on this stretch of road that was featured on the topo map. We were walking on the road more so to get to a specific site, but the fact that the road was on the map and you could follow each contour as you walked up and down them helped sink things in.
Different things covered included compass and terminology and how different compasses vary in features, orientating the map, using the map and compass to establish a bearing between two points, walking the bearing to find the point indicated, reversing your bearing, using visual cues (terrain topography and landmarks) to orient yourself on the map, how to use GPS in combination with map and compass to get your location etc. All in all it was really useful. Even though I didn't actually run a test and find pre-selected flags on my own, the time spent going through the exercises and bushwacking through the terrain to designated areas were really helpful.
Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures of this outing. I'm not sure why. I think when I was with Brian, I was trying to concentrate on soaking up lots of information and then when we are on the campsite I was focusing on ingesting as much liquids (water then beer) as I could! I'm not quite sure how far we walked on Saturday. It wasn't that far, but for some reason the heat + humidity just bogged me down more than normal. I know by the time I hit my tent at night I was out before I knew it.
I'm more and more impressed with the terrain, lakes and campground condition everytime I get out to Waterloo State Rec. area. It really is a jewel in Southern Michigan!
The famous tentpi that Brian has
Our little aboad - the Nunatuk by MEC
We did start our nightly campfires by traditional methods. Friday night I started our campfire by bowdrill using cottonwood for hearth and drill harvested from one of the trees in my yard. Didn't get any shots off of that one. On Sat. we harvested some wood to try and make a bowdrill but the piece I collected, although passing the fingernail test, turnout out just too moist and fresh. After a lot of effort, I could just start to get smoke. I would probably be possible to get a coal from it using Rick's method of just going at it slow and over time to dry out the hearth & drill by friction then going for gusto. However, I was tired from our day of walking and we opted to go for flint and steel.
One of things fun was we had Brian's son do the honours of blowing the ember in the tinder basket to flames. He even shaped the birds nest of jute twine to hold the flame. I think he really liked it and he's going to be one heck of an outdoorsman when he grows up!
(p.s. normally I wouldn't post photos of somebody else's child, but Brian's boy is certainly no stranger to this site)
more coming....
:thumbup:
