Mazamas Wilderness Navigation�Part I

James Jula�and many thanks to John Godino for prior work!

Overview

• Part I
• Saturday Plan
• Staying found and survival
• Maps - key points

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• Break
• Classroom exercise

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• Part II
• GPS - and Smart Phones
• Trip planning
• Weather forecasts

“What is chiefly needed is skill rather than machinery.” Wilbur Wright

Saturday Plan

• 8:00am: MMC – Final Lecture on Compass and UTM
• Bring your phone with GPS app installed, field session waypoints imported, compass and writing utensil��*Note: if buying a compass, get a baseplate one with declination adjust like the Sunnto MC-3 [NH]

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• 9:00am: Depart for Hamilton Island

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• 11:00am: Field Session Start Time at Hamilton Island
• Plan for standing water and wet vegetation. Waterproof boots and rain pants usually recommended

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• Change of clothes for the car ride home and a thermos of a hot beverage also recommended

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Navigation in the 21^st Century�Prep Phase

Pick a Destination�(Half Dome!)

Chose a Route

(Snake Dike 5.7RRR)

Obtain a .gpx track

or manually create a route�(Google Earth 3D View)

Import .gpx into GPS App(s), convert to a route for “Guide Me”

Download

offline maps�for Airplane Mode

Print Maps w/.gpx Route - Zoomed In�[and Out…for Emergencies]

Adjust Declination for Destination Area (Yosemite Valley)

Charge up electronics to 100%�and Test Satellite Beacon

Start watching the weather

Navigation in the 21^st Century�Climb Day

Manage Battery Life

(also for emergency…)

Use Map & Compass to preserve battery life

Mark waypoint of Trailhead/Parking

Start recording breadcrumb track�(also on backup)

Stay unLost: navigate heading and time to each transition…repeat (“Guide Me” makes this easy with routes)

Resume route or Follow recorded track back to the trailhead �(Garmin TracBack shown)

Reach the destination (Half Dome Summit!)

• Core skills covered several times

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• If we move fast tonight you don't get it all, no worries

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• PDF of the slides are on the ICS class website

Many chances to

learn the material

Best places = no trails

Navigation can be �intrinsically rewarding

Navigation, a foundation skill, is often lacking in otherwise savvy folks

These skills could save �you or someone else

• When you walk on a trail, you follow someone else’s idea about what your natural experience will be.

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• When you walk off trail, you create your own experience.

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• Think of off-trail hikes you’ve done. Do you remember them more vividly than your on-trail hikes?

Navigation skills let you have a richer and deeper outdoor experience

Lost in the Gorge

• In this case, it’s okay to dissect the story.

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• Could this have happened to anyone?

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• What are some good and not-so-good decisions?

Lost in the Gorge

• Stayed put
• Had phone and cell coverage
• Knew how to transmit GPS coordinates to 911
• Good clothing
• Physically fit, experienced

• Split up team
• Listened to audio book
• Took an off-trail “shortcut”
• Dead phone battery, no backup
• No headlamp or fire starter

Good

Not so good

#1 way hikers get lost in the Gorge

At any point on a hike or climb, �what’s your degree of �“Navigational Confidence” (NC)?

Maintain high navigational confidence and you can’t be lost!

• Habit: Every time you take a break, find your point position on the map

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• A quick GPS check can be a big help

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• In challenging terrain, write your locations and time on the map

EVERY climber or hiker with a smart phone should have a GPS app (or at least know how to get their coordinates.)

Hi 911, here’s my

lat long coordinates.

Smartphone�Share your Coordinates

GPS Location�(Android)

Gaia GPS�(Universal)

Compass�(iPhone)

My GPS �Coordinates°�(iPhone)

Note: “Long Touch” will copy/paste coordinates on some of the apps

Staying Found

• Best way to get unlost - Retrace your route to your last known point -> Do not plow on ahead!

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• Pay extra attention on “semi-familiar” trails

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• Do not spilt up your group unless it is for a very good reason

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• Pay equal attention to both the ascent AND descent route! �
• When heading out, turn around and look back each junction for the trip back down

Everyone on a climb is accountable for navigation

• “I’m not the leader, why do I need to know the route?”

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• Don't be a “Ma-Zombie” (mindless follower)

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• With free GPS tracks and maps online, there’s really no excuse for being off route or not having a map�
• Always be ready to take over if something happens to the group navigator�

Three best practices

• Always carry the 10 Essentials

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• Emergency Contact: Always tell someone your intended route and when you expect to get back. (Or leave a note in your car, especially if plans change at TH)�
• Make a realistic estimate of how long your trip should take and make sure your emergency contact knows what to do if you are not back in time!

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Survival stats

• Of all lost people, 90% survive

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• Of the 10% who die, half of these deaths come from hypothermia

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• So, mitigate hypothermia (focus on shelter and warmth) and your survival chances go to 95%!

Top survival priorities

Shelter and Warmth

1) Heavy duty (3 mil) 42 gallon “contractor clean up bag” - 5 oz, about $1��or�

2) Emergency Bivy sacks, reflective, can also be used as a tarp - also light 5.5oz but expensive

Top survival priorities

Shelter and Warmth

• Balaclava - most warmth for the lightest weight�-Tip: Bula 2-pack at Costco! Skip the Baklava�
• Bivy tip - arms and sleeves inside your jacket�
• Extra socks double as mittens

Top survival priorities

Shelter and Warmth

Warmth - mini Bic lighter and cut up bike inner tube

Bike tube:

• free
• waterproof
• burns about 7 minutes

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

Let’s see a few slides from the

Wilderness Navigation Challenge�

�Note: some of these lecture slides are from an older version of the challenge, and I have added stuff for the purpose of the lecture to others

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

A contour line shows a line of constant

elevation.

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True / False?

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

True.

A contour is

a line of

constant

Elevation.

Challenge Question: what is the contour interval of this map?

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

When crossing a ridge or spur, contours bend to point which direction?

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1 - uphill

2 - downhill

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When crossing a gully or stream, contours bend to point which direction?

1 - uphill

2 - downhill

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

Contours bend downhill when they cross a ridge or spur. Contours bend uphill when they cross a gully or stream.

HIGH ground

LOW ground

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

Find the 3 main ridges, or spurs, extending from the summit block of this peak.

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

Ridges / spurs are in red.

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Notice how the contour lines bend downhill as they cross the ridge.

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

“Shaded relief” make terrain features MUCH

easier to see.

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

While a map and compass should be your main navigation tools, your smartphone can be pretty handy.

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A smartphone can be used for which of the following?

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A) Map

B) Compass

C) GPS

D) Altimeter / Barometer

E) Show your current GPS coordinates

F) Inclinometer

G) Signaling device

H) All of the above

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

When measuring distance on your map, which of the following can be helpful to use with a bar scale?

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1. Your finger
2. A twig broken to match the length of 1 mile or kilometer
3. Your compass lanyard
4. All of the above

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

Demo - Finger Scale

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Put your finger on the scale bar, and see what fraction of a mile or kilometer matches your finger width.

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(For example, your index finger might equal 1/3 of a mile on a 1:24,000 scale map.)

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Move your finger along the map to measure distance on a curving feature like a stream or trail. �

Use a stick /twig broken to match a mile or Km to measure straight line distances.

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

What would be a possible route to get from A to B across the Puyallup Glacier? (contour interval = 40 feet)

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

The line marked in red might work.

This takes a route where the contours are farthest apart, through terrain that is less steep. (But glaciers can change quickly, don’t count on a map!)

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

You are on the Cooper Spur trail.

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Your altimeter gives you an elevation of 7,510 feet.

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What is your point location, A or B?

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

Answer: B

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When you’re on a linear feature (e.g. stream, trail ridge) where a contour line crosses your feature is your point location.

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You can find your elevation from either an altimeter or a GPS (both may be smartphone apps.)

B - @7,500 feet

GPS Bearings

You are camped at Hopkins Lake and want to go to the unnamed lake.

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Your GPS tells you it’s 2 miles and a bearing of 250 degrees from your camp to the lake.

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Would following this bearing be a good idea?

Why or why not?

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

GPS Bearings

A GPS shows only the straight line distance and bearing between two points.

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Following the straight line bearing leads you into steep terrain.

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A better route is the purple line.

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(Straight line travel in the mountains is often not possible nor the best route choice.)

Wilderness Navigation Challenge

GPS Bearings

1) Drop waypoints along your route.

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2) Get a bearing from your phone from your location to the first waypoint.

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3) Use your compass to point you in the general correct direction, walk to the first waypoint.

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4) Repeat until you reach your objective.

Wilderness Navigation Challenge�Terrain Visualization

Now, you'll see some different map layers from Caltopo.com that show a particular terrain feature.

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Try to get a picture in your head of what that feature looks like.

Then, you'll see a Google Earth image of the mapped terrain.

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Were you close?

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Note: The Google Earth image is mostly not the same “north-up” orientation as the map.

Visualize this terrain . . .

Symmetrical cinder cone, with depression in crater

See Lesson 13, Contours and Terrain

Visualize this terrain . . .

Plateau / mesa - flat top, steep sides

See Lesson 13, Contours and Terrain

Visualize this terrain . . .

Long ridge line with lots of knolls

See Lesson 13, Contours and Terrain

Visualize this terrain . . .

Valley below alternating steep spurs and gullies

See Lesson 13, Contours and Terrain

Visualize this terrain . . .

Glacial basin, U shaped valley

See Lesson 13, Contours and Terrain

Visualize this terrain . . .

Twin peaks, steep ridge with knoll

Topographic Vectors by Vecteezy

TBD�tbd

TBD