Map - and a Compass

Remember When There Was No Such Thing As GPS? Yup. We Used MAPS!

Do you know why some compasses have mirrors on them?

I've always wondered about that.... But I'll get to that later.

I had an exposure to NAVIGATION very early in my life. Even before I figured out how to use a compass.

You see, my Mom and Dad were teachers... and every summer that I can remember, as soon as that last school bell rang before the longest vacation of the year, our Ford Country Squire station wagon was loaded up and ready to hit the road.

My Sis and I learned map reading and navigation as soon as we could read. (It was almost as if we were being homeschooled and map reading was our combination geography-reading-math-social studies assignment.)

Even before I was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout, I could figure out which direction we were heading--North, South, East, and West. My Sis and I knew that the sun rose in the East and it set in the West. We knew that if the East was to your right and the West was to your left, then North would be in front of you and South would be behind you.

The above paragraph represents a basic bit of map/navigation information. It's good stuff to know.

When we were traveling, Dad and Mom would explain things like...

--A map should ALWAYS be held with NORTH positioned at the TOP of the map. (You'd be surprised how many folks draw maps with North positioned in a different direction/orientation. This can make following the map ridiculously confusing!)

--Maps have legends. The legends explain the markings on the map. The markings represent things like roads, trails, rivers, creeks, airports, bridges, mountains, lakes, intersections, campgrounds, railroad tracks, and cities, towns, villages, and other landmarks. (So, it's helpful for you to learn how to read and understand the legend!)

--Maps are drawn in different scales. Sometimes an inch/centimeter represents a half-mile/kilometer (such as in a city map), sometimes an inch represents 25 miles (as it might in a state map), sometimes an inch represents 250 miles (as in a country map). Know your scales--and have a general idea of what a mile is. A way to get a feeling for the relationship of miles/kilometers to the map scale is to watch the trip odometer on your car (not too closely--keep your eye on the road!) as you drive a "sample mile" and a "sample five miles". Then, compare the drive you took with a city map to see how the relationship works. Do this occasionally until you are comfortable with relating actual distances to representations on a map.

--Some maps show landmark features through continuous or dashed light-tan lines that represent a single elevation. These maps are called "topographic maps". When the tan lines are close together, it means that the rise/fall is changing quickly --in other words, the elevation indicates a hill or even a cliff. If the tan lines are far apart, you have a gentle rise in elevation, thus a plain. If you see a blue line or blue shape beteween the elevation lines, you are seeing a river or creek or pond or lake in a depression or valley.

Again, to learn how to learn to recognize the representations on a map quickly, carry a map with you whenever you are out and about... and when you see rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and other landmarks next to recognizable roads and intersections, look at the map and see where you might be on the map. Soon, you will be able to look at any map and visualize how the landscape appears in reality.

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Map - and a Compass

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Remember When There Was No Such Thing As GPS? Yup. We Used MAPS!

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