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help with maps

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jimmy25:
It may be best to join your local club there is plenty around derbyshire there is peak and potteries  they do local laning and also travel further afield

Chris Putt:
I don't understand your sentiment of 'too much detail' when walking, maybe if driving, but walking, unless it is 'walking' in terms of wandering up a path any extra detail is great for Navigation. For micro navigation it is essential.

The idea of not seeing wood for trees is simply in most cases a lack of familiarity with using maps, its like driving, look in the near middle and far distance to confirm location. With 1:50000 its very difficult to identify smaller local features and whilst yes, you can locate yourself by looking for a MASSIVE feature and going to it to confirm position, this is not adequate at night, or low visibility when you may not be able to see, let alone identify a large feature.

Also, often features such as crags, small streams outcrops etc are often not marked- these can provide a significant problem inhibiting ascent/descent.

With regards to counting walls. A wall can be a useful linear feature BUT as with any man made feature, they may not always be there, or exactly where marked and therefore you should look for other additional features to confirm position, and try not to be totally reliant on these features (having said this, finding a substancial wall in low visibility to handrail down has been one of the most reassuring things I have ever found whilst out with a group).

If you are out navigating look for obvious 'tick features', these might be walls, streams, woodlands, buildings, cairns etc. BUT keep your options open, try and plan a route or navigation leg (if walking try and avoid much over a Km at a time as it is very difficult to pace that distance, and timing over steep ground and that distance can also be challenging unless you are very familiar with it) in short legs, maybe a few hundred metres at a time if off paths, and I find that sort of seeing a route as a story can help confirm where you are.

So I might say:

Im going to walk roughly 500m, on my way I will be walking initially steeply uphill, but the ground will steadily level out, as the ground levels out I should be able to see a stream running parallel to my left before reaching a crag, which I will need to box around, once I have boxed around the crag I will continue for approximately 100m (pacing at this point) before reaching a re-entrant between two spurs which I will follow and climb up to the top of, the highest point at the end of the reentrant is my destination.

I may then add in a catchment feature, say a stream, wall, wood, change in relief, ie. If I begin to descend I have gone too far!

Whilst this is a very basic sort of route plan I hope you kind of get the idea, be selective about what you choose to use, make sure the features are quite easily recognisable, in my experience I would say that people don't use enough different information and in particular tend to ignore really obvious features such as crags, and slope aspect/relief. The other issue is often that people learn to use a compass, and become heel-bent on using one all of the time, ignoring all of the other useful tools on offer, interpretation of contours and route planning makes a good navigator, not the ability to use a posh protractor!!!


Hope this proves of some use to somebody!!

Chris

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