Why Learn to Read Paper Maps?
Written by Chad on June 9th, 2008“Because your GPS may quit working and you need to know how to do this.”
I overheard that while camping out at Hickory Run State Park last weekend, I had the site next to mine full of first year boy scouts (I have not seen that many mohawks, rat tails and mullets in YEARS!). They had just gotten back from a day of Orienteering and were complaining greatly about having to use paper maps and compasses. And what caught my attention was that a couple of the kids said it was pointless to learn this because they could just use a GPS. To which one of the leaders asked, “What do you do if you get no signal, or you’re batteries run out, or it breaks?”
Was hard to keep from laughing too loudly when one kid complained that Google Earth didn’t show that the area had a lot of steep hills to climb, and water to cross (Amazing what a good Topo map shows and what GE skips over, but then GE wasn’t meant for that really).
I asked the scout leader later about the day, and he said they did do well once they learned the basics (they did have 3 backup GPS units, just in case). But they don’t have them doing time and distance maps though, said there were too had for first year boy scouts.
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I remember when I was in scouts (10 years ago). I loved orienteering. One of the trips our troop did every years was the “Lost Man’s Trip”. Basically the leaders took us up to the north GA mountains, gave us a map (paper) and compass, pointed to a spot on the map and said be here in two days. Didn’t tell us where on the map we were or how to get where we need to. It was alot of fun.
PS. we never carried any GPS units.
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Getting lost at Kickory Run State Park–now there are some memories….
BT