Full Description
"The Essential Series" presents your trusted guides. 'Puts the world of wilderness navigation in the palm of your hand' - "Adventure West". 'Teaches the essential disciplines of compass and map-reading...but goes beyond the basics with useful, eye-opening advice on how to read nature's highway signs - vegetation bands, wind-whipped ripples in sand or snow, and the positions of the sun and stars' - "Northeast Outdoors".If you're at all unsure of your backwoods direction-finding skills, "The Essential Wilderness Navigator" is the guide you've been looking for. It teaches you how to observe - to see, smell, hear, and sense the details of the environment around you. Then, to supplement your newly enhanced sense of direction, you'll learn to read maps, use a compass, and find your location and route with reference to landmarks. This updated second edition also includes: the basics of global positioning system (GPS) navigation and CD-ROM maps; a full-color section on reading topographical maps; and, navigating in deserts, mountains, and snow. Whether you're planning an extended wilderness trek or a day hike on marked trails, here's how to stay found.
Contents
IntroductionWhat's New in this Edition1. A Sense of DirectionLocating Your Sixth SenseHow Not to Get LostWhy We Get LostHow to "Get Found"2. MapsThe World in Your HandsTypes of MapsThree Dimensions into TwoThe Language of MapsReading the TerrainLatitude and LongitudeScaleDistanceDirectionPutting Yourself on the MapMap Care and Gear3. CompassesWhat Compasses Can DoEarth's Magnetic FieldHow Compasses WorkMake Your OwnDeclinationCompass TypesOrienting Your Compass to Magnetic NorthOrienting Your Compass to Geographic NorthBearingsDeviationFollowing a Compass CourseTesting Your Skills4. NavigationMap and Compass CombinedOrienting the Map with a CompassFinding a Course from the MapLocating a Mapped Object in the FieldLocating an Observed Object on the MapA Bearing from a Mapped ObjectOther Lines of PositionWarning BearingsCrossing Lines of PositionReturning to the Same SpotA Running FixFinding Distance OffMeasuring Distance CoveredDead Reckoning5. Navigation in UseRoute PlanningThe Practice of NavigationOn the TrailHitting What You Aim ForLandmarks as GuidesSources of ErrorWhen You Are Lost6. Looking to Nature for CluesFinding North and South at NoonNorth and South from a ShadowQuick but InaccurateMovements of Sunrise and SunsetBearings from Sunrise and SunsetPolarisThe Southern CrossOther Stars7. Extreme EnvironmentsMountainsSnowDeserts8. Electronic NavigationGPS 101Getting StartedE-Maps: Topos and Charts on CD-ROM9. AppendixBearings of Sunrise and SunsetDeclination CorrectionsMetric Conversion TablesOrienteeringSources of Maps, Books, Compasses, Videos, GPS Manufacturers, and Electronic MapmakersTravel PlanIndexAcknowledgments
