#20 Take an REI Orienteering Course

Took a course in map and compass navigation from Peter Tay Tay at Crystal Cove.  This coincided with DH taking FIL scuba diving at the same place, so +$15 parking for me.  Here were my notes:

Positioning self to find/follow trail:

1.  LOT:  line of travel.  Use a straight side edge of the compass to trace the direction from your current spot to desired spot (i.e. parking lot to trailhead, curve of a section of the trail to rule out unmarked paths)

2.  DOT:  direction of travel.  Make sure the red arrow on the compass is pointed the direction you want to go so you don't end up going the exact opposite direction.

3.  CAN:  compass arrow N.  Set the hard-coded "N" on the compass to match the N on your map.  

4.  MAP: meridian points parallel.  Get the 4 gridlines in the face of the compass to match the lines on the map (magnetic north is about 11 degrees east of true north where we are in SoCal right now, so you'd use a tool that comes with your compass to adjust your meridian points accordingly).  

Once you've got that setup, you keep the "red in the shed" or the compass needle lined up with its red outline and you're traveling in the correct direction.  Helps to find landmarks to walk toward rather than missing all the scenery because you're so focused on the compass.  The closer together these are, the better you can course correct and not go too far astray.  Helps to have a partner you can guide if your straight line path goes through areas you have to go around.  

Taking a bearing to triangulate position: 

1.  BET:  Bearing extract from terrain.  Basically get to high ground, find a landmark (technically 2, but if you're sure you're on a trail listed in your map, you can use that as 1 point).  Point the red arrow of your compass at the landmark and spin the face so that red is in the shed.  

2.  CAN: compass arrow N.  Put compass on map and get it pointed in the direction of the map legend north. 

3.  MAP: meridian points parallel.  Get the 4 gridlines in the face of the compass to match the lines on the map.  

4.  COF: compass on the feature.  Get the edge of the compass lined up with the feature without messing up #2 and #3.  trace a line from the feature out in the direction you are standing.  Where it crosses the trail is how far along that trail you are.  Or if you took 2 bearings from landmarks, where they intersect is where you're standing.  

To pull this off, you need to get to high ground to be able to see landmarks.  

Taking bearings takes a lot of practice.  Figure out which eye is your dominant one (you can frame something with your hands and close one eye, then the other.  The one that doesn't move the image as much is your main eye).  I think my main eye is my left.  You should probably take a couple reads to be sure you've got it.  It is really easy to move or tilt the compass while you're trying to spin the bearing to get red into the shed so that it is no longer exactly pointing at your landmark.  Things far away are less precise for readings, favor closer landmarks like a trail fork or switchback in a trail you can see in a valley down below you.  In a real pinch, you could use the summit or V between two peaks.  Take a read off one end of a water feature or another, not the center which is iffy.      

A sighting compass helps you also avoid doing things like yawing by giving you a guideline to keep perfectly centered as you're taking a read.  The mirror can also work as a signal or help you admire yourself after a few days in backcountry.  I liked these more but apparently it is 50-50 on preferences. The one I used was a Silva Ranger for the northern hemisphere.  Compasses that work in both hemispheres are more expensive.  

You can use time and shadow to triangulate by putting a stick in the ground and using a rock to mark where its shadow lands.  The sun moves East to West so the shadows it throws move West to East.  Rock #1 is your west rock.  Time passes and rock #2 is your east rock.  You can figure out North from that.  

When reading topo's, ridges looks like gravy sliding out down the hill.  Valleys look like V's pointing up the hill.  If in doubt, water features are running downhill into valleys.  

When picking maps, favor ones with a scale that makes sense for what you're doing...  i.e. backpackers want scale 1:40,000 ft (I think?) or less to be able to see all the little details they are encountering, not 1 map that shows the entire 50 mile trail loop.  

You can use the strings on the end of the compass to calibrate to the scale on the legend so you know 1 string length is 1 mile or half mile or whatever.