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Learn to navigate with a map and compass
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Map-reading skills aren't essential at Hillscape, but they might help! So we offer advice and some basic instruction in navigation and map-reading to our guests. Many of our self-guided walk routes are suitable for complete beginners, and can be followed simply by using our detailed instructions; some of our guests hardly ever look at the map which is also provided. However, map reading skills are essential for some of the walks in more remote terrain, which offer the opportunity to practise your map and compass skills in open hill country. Even if that sort of walking isn't your "cup of tea", knowing that you can use a map and compass will increase your confidence whenever you are out walking. So if you haven't had much previous experience of walking by yourself, and of having to find your own way; or you are baffled by the instructions that came with your new compass, we'll be happy to get you started, and we are always here to offer advice at any level, to help you to get the most out of your holiday. There's no charge, and we usually do it round the lounge table in the evening. Anne is a geography graduate and has had experience in teaching on navigation courses run by the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and both Richard and Anne have taught map-reading and compass skills to beginners through their involvement with the local orienteering club, Mid Wales Orienteers. Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology has changed many aspects of navigation, and there is a widespread - but mistaken - belief that map-reading will soon become a thing of the past. Well, that may be true for people driving cars on roads, but for walkers in open country, a map and compass will continue to be important, because you will still need map skills to work out the best route to follow with your GPS receiver! They are also much quicker to use than a GPS. But if you get totally lost, a GPS is definitely the quickest way to pinpoint where you are. There are also some popular pastimes for GPS owners, and if you'd like to learn more about one of them, see our Geocaching page. The illustration on the right shows complex open mountain terrain on the northern slopes of Cader Idris, near Dolgellau, used for elite orienteering events. The area was surveyed initially from air photographs, using a process called photogrammetry; this process uses two overlapping photos to obtain a stereoscopic view, and a sophisticated viewing apparatus which allows the operator to measure the altitude of any point on the photo, and thus to plot contours. The operator also plots as much detail as he can see, such as boulders, crags, marshes, streams, walls, fences, trees, and even sheep - which can easily be mistaken for boulders! When the photogrammetric plot is complete, a land surveyor takes the plot into the field and checks its accuracy, adding features which the photogrammetrist may have missed, deleting any spurious features (such as sheep!) and incorporating any changes which might have occurred since the air photos were taken. Finally a cartographer uses specialised computer mapping software to create a file from which the finished product can be printed. |
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