by Larry Wiggins

Created on: March 27, 2008   Last Updated: January 29, 2009

All tools and equipment taken into the wilderness should be important. Conversely it is extremely foolish to lug the weight and bulk of items that you do not need. Therefore the presence of a map and compass in my pack testifies to their importance. However, no tool is useful unless you understand its use. Without this knowledge, compass and map are just extra weight.

Over many years, I have witnessed many demonstrations on the use of the map and compass. Most of these demonstrations taught the student how to orient the map and explained the basic symbols on the map. These mechanical skills are important and you should take time to acquire the skills before you start with a map. But even more important is the next step, an understanding of what the map represents. Looking at a map, you can see waterways, hills, valleys and ridges not just lines on a map. This perspective of the map gives the wilderness traveler a feel for where they are going and a chance to prepare for the before the first step is taken.

A traveler who looks at a map this manner has a valuable resource for the trip. An understanding of the terrain will provide an escape route if you become disoriented. Knowing that following a stream downstream (or upstream) will lead to the road that takes you to safety is invaluable in the event of an emergency. Knowing that the trail passes three canyons on the right before it goes up over the ridge provides as much information, easier and quicker, than taking several compass bearings to prominent landmarks to determine your location

The first step in planning a trip is studying the map of the area you intend to travel. The type of map you use will depend on the type of trip that you are planning. For a trip on the water, elevation information may not be critical and may clutter the map unnecesarily. A map for a hike in the mountains or even hills definitely should contain show contours depicting the elevation changes.

Once you choose a good map, examine your route. You may even want to mark your route of travel on the map. A highlighter works well for this since it won't hide other information. Look for the terrain features that you will be traveling through. Locate streams and ridges. Contours on a map will show these, but it is easy to confuse the two. Ridges or valleys both will look like "V"s or "U"s on the map. The difference between these features is that streams are in the valleys and there will not be a stream on the ridges. You can usually tell the

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