Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: Navigation method
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Tony |
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joeandali |
I also download the portages and campsites from another website to GAIA GPS on my phone. Twice it has helped me in areas where I got turned around. Both were in bays of bigger lakes, and everything started to look the same. |
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Speckled |
How do you do it? GPS? Map and compass? Map and reading terrain? Memory? We've never brought a GPS, always bring a compass, but have never used it. For us the compass is there for emergencies. I use the map and read the terrain. The map is always out and in front of me on the floor or strapped to the pack in front of me. I'll look at it frequently as we make our way across a complicated (lots of points, bays and islands) lake. |
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TreeBear |
Compass is always in the life jacket, pretty much only comes out in worse-than-normal conditions like a white out snowstorm or a starless night. I did use laminated air photos on this last trip for the PMA (since the maps are almost worthless there) and loved it. There was no more guessing at what a marsh looked like or whether or not there should be open water. It was way easier to use to navigate than any map ever could be. It was an interesting thought for me going forward. |
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Jaywalker |
Compass: always have one, or usually two. I have in some 30 trips probably looked at my compass 6-7 times? I've probably needed it 3-4 times, but would not go without one. Once I left the island site on Kek in a dense fog with 10 yard visibility and needed a compass to keep on track to the southern portage. GPS: I started carrying a Garmin InReach Mini 3 years ago that is paired with my phone which has Earthmate. I can at any time look up via satellite where I am, but have only done this twice that I can recall. Once I could not find a portage on the Perent River and took an alternate, then checked to make sure I was on the right lake. Later that trip on the Kawishiwi River found I had about a 3/4 mile gap due to two different map companies so checked where I was once. In general, as easy as it is, I find using GPS unsporting and something of a failure of outdoor skills for me. I won't judge others though. |
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Marten |
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doorbluff84 |
Folded Nat Geo map in my PFD. I’ve gotten plenty lost out west in the mountains before and learning how to triangulate was super important. Though in the Midwest that can be challenging. |
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sns |
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Hammertime |
As others have said the key is to always know where you are on the map, marking the next point, campsite, bay, etc as you go. |
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Savage Voyageur |
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Sunburn |
johndku: "it's no fund if you don't get "turned around" once in awhile. Was tripping when my kids were younger, and got semi-lost for an hour or two, (we knew what lake we were on but couldn't get oriented)...that was part of the fun. What's there to worry about if you get lost? You're carrying food, water filter, shelter, fire making tools, clothing, etc....enjoy the adventure!" Agreed! |
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wxce1260 |
I like to have two different maps just because they compliment each other. Always have a compass in the jump bag but I've never used it. However this year for the first time I used Gaia GPS. I was really impressed. It was nice on insula or there were a ton of Islands and we were paddling around. It was really slick device. That said, I know it is an electronic device. However you can lose compasses too. I think having the compasses in my backup is nice, but from now on I'm sold on the Gaia GPS app. |
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Minnesotian |
I bring map, compass, and GPS. Map - Primarily used to navigate. It sits in front of me while I paddle in a laminated case, which is tied into the boat. The map is orientated to the landscape of the lake. Compass - On my PDF. Mostly just use it for foggy mornings when I am crossing a large lake. I'll set the heading when I leave camp and paddle right into the fog, sometimes not seeing any shoreline. I also use it when I need to go in the general direction when I am bushwhacking. GPS - Don't like to rely on it as it runs off batteries. But every blue moon or so I'll pull it out to confirm a location, mostly when I am bushwhacking. |
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Blatz |
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dustytrail |
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OCDave |
I use paper maps. I carry a compass next to the maps but just like grandpa's it is more for show, |
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A1t2o |
Banksiana: "Navigate nearly entirely by memory. I carry a Chrismar Park (Quetico) map but it generally never leaves the pack unless I venture outside of Hunter Island. I love the strange interaction between landscape and memory and the freedom of paddling without ever having to look at something besides the land and water." If I went to the same spot every year then I would do this as well. I like to travel to a new location every time and explore new areas so I always have my map accessible and check it often. I do not bring or check a compass though. I have my phone GPS if it ever gets that bad, but we keep track of the sun and I am usually good at telling which way is north. |
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MikeinMpls |
I have a larger size SeaLine map case. It is two-sided. I have my map sheets folded to the area in which we are paddling. One side I usually put a Voyageur map, the other a Fisher or McKenzie. Maps vary on occasion and I like to be able to see possible map discrepancies in real time. My compass is located on the top of the thwart in front of me, secured with Velcro. I have the cover closed while portaging, and open when I am paddling. Since the cover of the compass has a mirror on the inside, I try to keep the mirror at an angle so that it will not flash in the sun and inadvertently signal to aircraft that I might be in trouble. The map is secured with a BDB to the thwart or the pack in front of me. My map is ALWAYS oriented to the direction I'm traveling. I constantly use terrain association, known campsite locations, and other physical features to follow along on the map and know where I am at all times. Mike |
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Speckled |
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TrailZen |
TZ |
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okinaw55 |
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Banksiana |
A1t2o: " I don't go to "the same spot", though most often it is the same park and generally through Prairie Portage, but I choose different entry points and different routes. My first Q trip was in 76 and since the late 80's have tripped with some frequency/year so I've been through most of the park, my "geographic memory" just seems to work; by a second trip its sort of written to the hard drive. |
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kjw |
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ducks |
I have a compass in the map case, but don’t remember ever using it. I avoid big lakes so that plays a part in not needing the compass. I may start downloading maps ahead of the trip so I can use the offline map to find where I am in case I ever do get lost. |
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johndku |
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ForestDuff |
My first experience in the Boundary Waters was a school trip after eighth grade and I was appointed official navigator for the group because I was really good at it using the maps that were around in 1980. I went to school and earned my degree in Geography, and have been in the GIS business world since '90. You would think I'd be up to date with the most recent GPS offerings, but besides my boat GPS, I don't really use one. My only handheld GPS is the old Garmin 45XL. It's been mothballed for many many years, and the only points on it were stuff like sunken islands, boat accesses and canoe sized bogs that we would need to locate in the darkness while duck hunting large wild rice lakes. Not a true map GPS, just points and routes on display. So needless to say, I'm a map guy, and a memory guy, but I have a compass along for those foggy mornings. I'm always playing around on Google Earth, whether it's for work or play. One of the products I work on is a national coastline for the insurance industry. I've digitized all the coastal states, so I'm pretty familiar with what's out there. Woke up from a nap on a flight to Aruba once and looked out the window and recognized that we were above Jacksonville, FL. And I'm pretty good picking out cities when flying at night. It comes from many years of looking at national road bases day after day. With access to plotters, I've always printed out trip specific maps for my BW trips. These days it's satellite imagery with campsites and portages overlaid on them. I like all the map offerings these days, but I prefer the more natural view of the imagery. And I study that imagery both before I go and when I return. Zoom in on certain areas that I've been or would like to see. It truly is amazing that you can spy certain logs or rocks that you have fished from imagery. I do bring my phone, but have never had to check it's GPS yet. It's nice knowing it is an option should the need ever arise. I don't even really use the truck GPS, before we go somewhere new in the Twin Cities, I'll bring up some mapping software and check out how to get there before we go. Drives my wife nuts that I can just look at a map for a few minutes and I'm good to go. She also hates it when I play the "Which direction are we headed?" game in the truck while covering up the digital compass on the rearview mirror. She never guesses right. lol So it's part of me, even my fishing boat is an Alumacraft Navigator. :) I get it though, even to the most veteran canoe country traveler, it can all look the same up there. Not surprised in the least that newer folks can lose their way even with a map in hand. |
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straighthairedcurly |
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Sunburn |
As a canoeing newbie, I still navigate using the topo and terrain, but I like having the Garmin and off-line maps on my phone to check myself. I have never been lost, but have definitely made a few minor wrong turns while distracted by the beautiful scenery around me. Although I seem to be good at realizing something is not right before getting too far off track... |
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boonie |
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Stumpy |
Speckled: "A question from another post deserves it's own thread. I agree.... Just a map.... unless you are brushcrashing |
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YetiJedi |
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Stumpy |
Middle of the night (we had been wind bound on Alice). No compass & just a 100 series map. No problem. |
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Banksiana |
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blackdawg9 |
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TipsyPaddler |
I review the day’s route on map before leaving camp but I use Gaia or Earthmate app for quick position/progress checks while paddling. Maps usually only come out in camp. If my bow paddler doesn’t have a phone or prefers traditional maps, I make sure they have a map to help navigate, follow our progress, etc. If I am tripping one of my teenage sons I make them use the map over the phone as map reading and terrain recognition is a good skill to learn. |
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gravelroad |
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Speckled |
At the time we were just using the big red Delorme book. and reading the terrain lines. Today - that's gone. I don't know when or why, but I get turned around bushwhacking and have to have a compass. This came after a couple times in the last 5 or so years of getting slightly lost. One time in particular, grouse hunting, every fiber in my body told me I needed to go a certian direction to get back to the road and ATV and after walking in that direction for a while and not finding the road. I had stop - re-assess, remember the time of day, remember what direction I went in from the road and put the sun on my right shoulder and keep it there as I walked out. It worked, I hit the road I was looking for, but was a mile or so down from my ATV. After that a compass always comes with and I just check before marching off. |