Navigating the Priory with a Map and Compass

Introduction: 

The purpose of this lab was to use the maps we created last week in class to navigate the terrain to find points behind the Priory. The Priory is a UW-EC owned building about 5 miles away form campus. I was part of group two with two other people. For this lab, we could only use one persons maps we created last week. For this lab, we ended up using the maps I created as well as a compass to find five points behind the Priory. We brought a GPS along with us to track our path. We were given five points to find in UTM meter form. 

Methods: 

After meeting at the Priory on November 2nd 2016, we had to approximate where the five points we needed to find were on the map. The ticks on the map were in 50 meter increments that helped approximate where the point would be out in the field. Figure 1 below is a picture of the five coordinates we needed to find. 

Figure 1: Five coordinates group 2 needed to find

Once we knew where we were headed, we needed to figure out our pace count for 100 meters. My pace count was 76 paces per 100 feet. The pace count is used when moving towards a distant object when direction is not clear. In this case, we had to walk in the woods and find our points, so using a pace count to track our distances was helpful. We also used a Trimble Juno 3B GPS as seen in figure 2 below to track our path to our points. 

Figure 2: The GPS group 2 used to find the 5 points on the paper

In order to find the coordinates we were looking for, we used the compass to find the angle degree we were going to walk in. We pointed the north arrow of the compass north and lined up the compass in a straightedge to the point. This gave us a working "compass" to the point. We needed to do this from each point to the next. We decided to go to point 1 first, point 5 second, point 4 third, point 2 fourth, and point 2 fifth. In order to use the compass, we had to adjust the reading for each point. Then, we had to hold the compass at chest level to read the direction we had to walk. The person holding the compass stayed in one place and another person counted their paces to a tree in the compasses path and stayed there. We repeated this process over and over again until we found all our points. 

Results:

Group 2 took a rough path to our first point. Figure 3 below is a map of the track the GPS captured. 

Figure 3: A map of the GPS tracked as we were finding the five data points

It took a while to get used to finding the coordinate points. We took a heavily wooded path to the first data point labeled '1' on the map above. We then went to point '5' but we took a walking path to avoid going back into the dense brush. Then we went to point 4 which was close to point 5 and it was relatively easy to find. Then we went to point 3 and finished with point 2. 

Figure 4 below is a map of the GPS path of all of six groups in the class. The pink dots on the map represent all possible coordinate points given to the entire class. It is clear that all of the paths captured by the GPS were not straight lines and it appears that we all ran into some type of problem that took the group off course. Sometimes we were slightly thrown off because a large tree or massive brush pile was in our way. We had to move around nature and figure out how to overcome problems regarding paths.

Figure 4: A map of the GPS tracked paths for all six groups in the class

Conclusion: 

This lab featured using a map with a grid system to find five points in the Priory that were given to us as coordinate points. All we could use was our maps, a GPS for tracking, and a compass. The overall execution of this lab was definitely attainable and really taught me how to reach a destination with coordinates only.  

Using a 50 meter UTM grid was an okay measurement for this lab. The spacing was a little far apart, but it worked out in our favor nonetheless. This lab made it clear that straight lines from one point to another are nearly impossible because of the surrounding landscape. From an aerial view, the Priory does not seem like tough terrain to hike, but elevation changes as well as dense forests caused a bit of a struggle for group 2.