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WHEN NORTH IS REALLY SOUTH!
Published March 14, 2007 by MARK
Years ago I was in Yellowstone National Park. I own a business making back country ski sleds and other winter gear, it was February. I had a brand new Magellan gps, their first. Very slow and not real accurate. The defense department still had their off sets. I used the trips to test new gear and to come up with ideas for better gear. In Yellowstone many of the streams are warm water year round. When traveling cross country in the winter it's best to avoid as many stream crossings as possible. If you don't you end up having to cross a canyon 10 to 15 feet deep made from the snow pack piled up above stream level. The warm water melting out what in any other place would be a safe crossing. If it's a narrow small stream maybe you can throw your gear over the stream to the other side. You still have to dig down one side, and dig steps back up the other, wading the stream in the middle. That means taking off your ski boots, socks, rolling up your thermals and pants, crossing the water and having to dry off. You've had a good day if the air temp is above 0 degrees. Wider crossings just get more difficult. So, the point of all that was to let you know why I pour over my maps to find the best route to get where I want to go with the least stream crossings. This particular year I was traveling along the East edge of the Pitchstone Plateau. I had my compass and had taken a bearing. I wanted to head dew South for about 4 Klicks. ( I prefer UTM coordinates) It was just past noon after traveling most of the distance and I stopped to grab a snack. I pulled out my compass and literally felt nauseas, dizzy and ready to fall over. For the first time in 40 years of back country experience I felt completely disoriented and lost. The compass needle said I'd been heading North! I didn't know where I was! This was a long time before cell phones became popular and when you went into the park you went through a review with a ranger, usually two, and signed a release that no one was going to come and look for you if something bad happened. Your corps would be bear food as they came out of their dens in the Spring. Well maybe that's a little mellow dramatic but you understand. Feeling almost helpless I pulled my new Magellan GPS out of my pack and turned it on. The first units took about 15 minutes to acquire a few satellites. When it did, it told me I was right where I was suppose to be! What the heck! I checked my map several times. The compass needle was still telling me I was lost. I stood up and started walking South, using the GPS. After about 100 meters the compass needle slowly swung back, 180 degrees. Volcanic activity under Yellowstone, (lets hope it stays under), apparently creates these magnetic anomalies all through the park. After making my way to the South entrance ranger station, I had quite a discussion with a couple of the rangers about my experience. They were impressed with the GPS, remember this was a long time ago, they didn't have them yet. I have never gone into the backcountry without a GPS since. This occurred just a while after wolves had been reentered back into the park. On my way out I had run across a den of new wolf pups. I made note of the location on the GPS and also gave that to the rangers. They had no idea wolves were spreading so fast through the park. The wolf biologist would be very interested and I could give him the exact location minus the defense departments fudge factor. Pretty cool. In my business I work with the USMC Winter warfare program, I supply gear. I have recommended that they train their mapping instructors on a compass course in Yellowstone. Too many of them are so good with a compass and map they fake it with their GPS units, and we're buying them really good Trimble's. The recommendation was taken seriously. www.wildernessengineering.com
Category: BACKCOUNTRY Views: 3603
Tags: story
Place: yellowstone

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