MAP
READING IS a rather technical subject with understanding influenced
greatly by the magnetic needle of a compass and by your
interpretation of your surroundings into your map. I learned the
basics of map reading while with the Boy Scout movement in the ‘70s
under the tutelage of the best scoutmaster in the country - the late
Sergio Damazo Jr.; and progress into a much better navigator while in
Tanay, Rizal in the late ‘80s.
This
year – 2012 – is my first time to teach map reading to a group of
people and I thought it easy but it is not. It’s different when
you are the recipient of knowledge instead of the one giving it. All
my life had been used to receiving such valued instructions and I am
very grateful for all my very patient teachers. I am not trained to
be a teacher but, this time, I have to start acting like one --- even
for free!
I
did my first lecture about map reading on March 18, 2012 and nine
individuals from the different outdoors groups came. I held my
morning activity indoors at one of the abandoned buildings of the
Department of Agriculture compound in M. Velez Street, Guadalupe,
Cebu City. The afternoon segment was dedicated to the practicals at
the hills above Guadalupe and Banawa. Critique and review came
afterwards.
Aiming
to improve my manner of instructions, I scheduled another session for
April 29 at the same locations and I may have to accompany the
participants, especially during the actual part, so all could fully
absorb and understand the mechanics of reading a map in harmony with
the compass. Three participants of the previous class availed of
this free lecture while two first-timers join the rest.
I
start the instructions at 7:30 AM inside the room where a bare wall
with light blue paint became an improvised blackboard. Unhinged
doors propped up with wood crates were used as benches, improving the
classroom situation in a more relaxed manner. As usual, I have my
set of maps that will be used as instructional aids, my chalks, my
lecture handouts and photocopies of the city map under section
3721-I.
The
first order of lecture touched on the basic information found in the
topographic map and the rudiments of using a compass. Succeeding
instructions proceeded with how to use the grid lines; how to place
and identify land shapes into the locations found on a map; how to
orient the map with the compass; how to get a bearing and how to
interpret these bearings into your grid coordinates.
The
instructions move surprisingly very fast that, at 9:30 AM, it is over
for the indoor lecture. I doubt it very much that I have mastered
the art of teaching map reading to others but it is just simply that
I have a present set of students who absorb all what I taught like
water on sponge. I could not be more happy than to end this in
lesser time than what I have expected.
So,
we leave the DA Compound for the direction of Guadalupe church. We
may have to eat a meal – a brunch – to better prepare us for the
difficult part of the activity. By 10:30 AM, we start to head for
The Portal, by way of Bebut’s Trail. Along the way, we may also
have to tackle Heartbreak Ridge on a hot almost-noontime sun.
Walking up a hill with a map and compass presents a good combination
of brawn and brain exercise.
The
sun – the tormentor at Heartbreak Ridge – gave us a wide berth
and did not show face until we reach the treeline. In between, the
boys tried their best sighting azimuths on reference points and
drawing straight lines or the back azimuths on their test maps. One
such bearing was taken at the very place where there is a tunnel
vent. Participants are forbidden to use GPS.
Everybody
are instructed to locate three positions using the resection or
triangulation method; one location using a modified resection method;
and another location using dead reckoning. The last task requires
self to develop the skill to analyze and find your own position when
you run out of reference points to sight upon. All were up to the
challenge and manage to finish an imaginary short orienteering course
in less time.
We
leave The Portal at 12:30 noon bound for a small community where
there is a native version of a gazebo with a good supply of water.
One participant carried a camp stove, fuel and cook set. I remember
us buying sachets of instant coffee from a store and so we boil water
for that. After the coffee break, the participants took readings of
our present location as a bonus. It seems to me that they are hard
to stop when they start on to something.
We
leave the place at 1:30 PM, the participants fully assured that they
have complied with my map reading requirements. There is one more
task to do and it will commence an hour from now. We walk down the
road from Baksan to Sapangdaku crossing by a river spillway then on
to Guadalupe.
We
transfer to the Red Hours Convenience Store in M. Velez Street, just
across the old DA Compound, where I conduct critique and review of
the participants’ test maps over glasses of ice-cold beer. Over
these same glasses, I teach them how to plot and connect each
position and how to read their grid coordinates. At the end of the
day, my Grassroots Bushcraft Teaching Series about Map Reading
navigate itself to good waters.
Document
done in LibreOffice 3.3
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