Hiking - A Simple Introduction To Navigating Using Maps

Although you might think that it should be the other way around, it is a fact that most experienced hikers make use of maps in order to navigate their way along trails and across wilderness areas while newcomers feel that maps are unnecessary. The novice often believes that there is no need to go through the hard work of learning map reading and that sticking to used trails will be okay. Regrettably, that is a mistaken view.

You really can get yourself seriously lost even close to clearly marked trails and stepping a few yards off the trail into heavy woodland has confused more than one novice. In the absence of the sun, stars or geographical markers it is very easy to get turned around and to end up walking even farther from the trail and getting yourself well and truly lost in no time at all.

Now in the example given here a map alone would not necessarily help you to get out of the wood in question. However, you will usually come across another trail which joins your original trail and a good map would help you to find your way with ease back to your starting point.

Okay, so where should you start?

Start by getting hold of an up-to-date map which covers the area which you are planning to hike in and start by studying it at home in a relaxed environment. You will not of course be in a position to match the map to the features you see, but it will assist you in learning and understanding the symbols which are used on the map.

All maps have a legend (which will differ a liitle from one publisher to the next) and you need to familiarize yourself with the symbols. Also, you will have to familiarize yourself with the scale of the map which will be printed on it somewhere as something like 1 inch = 5 miles.

Do not forget though that distance is only part of the equation and that 1 inch representing 1 mile on level ground is a quite different thing from 1 inch representing 1 mile over an area which includes a steep winding path running up the side of a 3,500 foot cliff.

To factor in the latter, you have to consider altitude which is marked on the map by a series of curved lines that, if 'stretched out', would make a circle. The distance between two curved lines around a natural feature such as a large hill indicates the steepness of the terrain. Normally you will find that there are numbers printed along the lines in order to assist you. These are known as contour lines and the closer these lines are to each other the steeper the terrain.

Next, you have to study the longitude and latitude lines. Longitude lines showing North and South run 'up and down' the map from the top to the bottom while latitude lines indicating East and West run 'right and left'.

In the daytime you can use the sun and natural features to orient the map so that it is lined up with the ground over which you are hiking. Remember that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West so that early in the day facing the sun will have you heading in an Easterly direction. By the same token, late in the afternoon facing the setting sun will have you hiking more or less West.

At night you can use the stars and you will frequently be able to see the sky reasonably well as most wilderness areas are a long way from the glow of city lights. One of the greatest joys of hiking is to be able to hike out under the canopy of stars and familiarizing yourself with such formations as the Big Dipper and Orion as well as the North Star.