Talk about compasses
- Thread starter Texas Star
- Start date
5-Shot
Member
A friend of mine was an electronics specialist for the Great Smoky Mt. National Park. Each new ranger would request a GPS as soon as he arrived at the park. My friend would smile and provide one, knowing full well they are useless in this part of the country. Any attempt to travel 5 miles in a straight line from point A to point B would result in about 25,000 feet of elevation gain and loss and gain.... Folks around here learned a long time ago to navigate by creeks and hollers. Just head down this holler 'till you reach the creek an turn left. Then go up the second holler on the right to the rhododendron patch and take the path up to the left. Works like a charm.
When Loretta sang that she "was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler" she wasn't just being lyrical, she was giving a specific address.
We need neither compass nor GPS.
Ed
When Loretta sang that she "was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler" she wasn't just being lyrical, she was giving a specific address.
We need neither compass nor GPS.
Ed
Yeah..but you can "see" your mountains!
Try it here!
In terrain like that about all you can do is find an open spot, locate your position and follow a magnetic bearing. However when you reach that open spot you’d better know how to locate yourself using terrain association.
When I was in the Army I was Artillery, we lived and breathed map reading because you have to be able to plot yourself exactly on the map in order to fire accurately.
I was fairly lucky in that I had some really good teachers
1morethan8
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
In the picture you'll notice the Sun is hitting the ground in front of where I'm sitting.. which means a clear overhead to check my location.
The plant the Sun is hitting is called "Mountain Laurel" which grows in the mountains where water is in good supply. Many times when you have an old prospect the digging will leave pockets for water to collect and Laurel is a good indicator of this. I'm sitting on the edge of an old corundum prospect that was worked over 100 years ago.
The "X" for this location was placed on a modern topo after transferring both the written info and old hand drawn map. Many times the old info is not real accurate making it a little harder to find a 12'x12' area in the middle of a heavy forest!
