Thursday, July 28, 2011

Move over Lewis & Clark....

....make room for Scott & Kelly.  


Yesterday evening K and I took a class at REI Coop (an outdoors store) on map and compass reading.  Years ago I knew how to navigate by compass but over the years I've forgotten most of it.  We hope to be able to go back to Colorado next year and thought we'd try some hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, hence our new found interest in maps and compasses.  





Now if we get lost we can put our new skills to use....or use our iPhones to just call for help.  (Just doesn't sound as rugged, does it?)  


We have reservations to rent some kayaks this weekend and paddle around White Rock Lake.  They've actually rigged a portion of the Trinity River to include some rapids for recreational use, but I think we're a long way from being able to do that.  Baby steps first.


Tropical Storm Don is in the Gulf of Mexico and looks to eventually make landfall somewhere along the lower Texas coast.  While I certainly don't want to see anyone get hurt by it, some rain would be welcome.  We're bone dry here, some lakes so low you can't put a boat in, some further west totally dry.  This heat and drought is working its way to the very top of the record books.  I'm hoping the northern-most projected storm track, the one that comes closest to us, will be the correct one.


One day closer to the weekend.  Yea!


S

11 comments:

  1. The only thing I learned from map and compass class - we are screwed if we use any "knowledge" from that barely awake instructor - I kept waiting for him to say "dude" for no reason.
    He was essentially useless. I will be checking online for some videos on how to use a compass and a map. At least the class was free - I would have been raising hell for a refund if we had paid any $

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  2. ...K and I took a class at REI Coop (an outdoors store) on map and compass reading.

    Wow!!! Totally cool! Map reading and land navigation is one of the few "practical" skills I learned while in the army. I was air defense and while I was excellent at using and maintaining the Stinger missile weapons system there is a zero chance I will ever practice with it again.

    I'd like to do a long hike spending days in the woods but circumstances with job and family just will not allow it. Plus, "walking the Appalachian Trail" now has a completely different meaning here in South Carolina if you get my drift.

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  3. if you don't input how many degrees away from true north you are, it can cause problems. I have wound up 500 or so yards off target going through the Chesapeake Bay on that stunt and we have to pull out the binoculars and charts..UGH!!!

    I do like old school navigation.

    Hope you get rain but no nasty storms. They SUCK!!!! I watch those cells like a hawk. The kick off is a little anemic so I'm sure there will be bigger ones to follow...

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  4. Bobby...yes, we learned magnetic declination. It can make or break you, for sure.

    Bum...I'm looking forward to a nice quiet trip into the mountains. Sooner the better.

    K...Yeah, he definitely wasn't the brightest bulb in the pack.

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  5. we have only 1° variation in my world which makes navigating with a compass easy-peezy.

    In April/May it was so dry here that even the Rhine River was low and they were afraid to have to stop shipping. Now it's overflowing everywhere! We had some wild thunder storms yesterday and more expected tonight.

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  6. Your cell phone won't work if it's not in line of sight of a tower.

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  7. Not a problem...I'll just send my wife up to the top of one of those 14,000 ft. mountains to call for help, and maybe order a pizza for delivery, too. ;)

    S

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  8. We are 11 degrees of of true North in these parts.

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  9. Isn't there a compass app and/or GPS app you could download on your iPhone? Gotta love modern technology!

    Next you'll be telling us you're going geocaching!

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  10. Peeper...yes, I have both those apps, but you shouldn't count on technology exclusively. Redundancy is necessary these days. As they say, "feces occurs".

    And actually I have heard of geocaching, but no, I have no interest in it...yet. ;)

    S

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  11. I get lost just walking in the mall perhaps I should look into this class, it looks like fun

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