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Tools
Maps
On
club hikes the leader should know the route so that he is able to advise
other members in advance, particularly concerning whether it is within their
capability. There may therefore appear to be little need for him / her to
carry a map. However, it is always good practice to have one handy in case a
problem arises or there is a need to change the route. The leader can also
show interested members of the group where they are, a bit like the moving
map displays on airliner seats! On
expedition-type hikes where all or part of the route may be unfamiliar to
anyone in the group, a good map of the area is absolutely essential. The old
Peter Slingsby maps are still very useful although they are not compatible
with a GPS. The newer KZN Wildlife maps produced by the park authorities are more up to
date, but clumsier since there are six of them instead of just three. The
photocopied maps produced by the hotels and resorts are almost useless to
serious hikers and should only be used to supplement the real ones. Map-reading is an acquired skill and cannot really be
taught. Rather, you learn over a period of many years, mostly through
mistaken interpretation! Even if you are not a
leader, you should take map-reading seriously and try to acquire the
necessary skills and experience yourself. The basic idea is that you confirm
your position on the map based on what you see around you. The map also
allows you to predict what lies ahead and select way-points to plot your
progress. A common error to avoid is trying to fit the terrain to where you
think you are on the map. Believe in what you can see, study your
surroundings carefully, and remember that it is all too easy to misread the
map! Maps are also never perfectly accurate in every respect and contain
small errors that may snare the unwary hiker. -
It
is always a good idea for a group to carry at least one spare map when hiking in
unfamiliar territory. It is amazing how easily a map can blow away in
a strong wind! It is also a good idea to have at least one other member in
the group doing their own independent map-reading as well. This way you can swap
notes without unduly influencing each other. If your notes compare, you are
probably both correct; if they don't, you both need to study your
surroundings and the map again.
Fold
your map to a size that will allow you to see your complete route for the
day, and then seal it like this in a large zip-seal bag. The bag will
protect the map from sweat, rain and dirt, and it is also less likely to
blow away. If you need to check more distant landmarks you will need to
remove the map from the bag to do so.
Watch
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You
may think that after a map the next most important navigation tool would be
a magnetic compass. Not so! If you know from the map how far you have
travelled, and you have a watch to tell you how long this took, you can
figure out your average speed and make more accurate predictions concerning
where you will be - or ought to be - in the future.
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Alternatively,
with experience you will be able to judge the distance you have covered to a
fair degree of accuracy, and you can use a watch to figure out how long this
took and thus where you are on the map - particularly useful if you missed a
landmark or two! This intuitive approach is often more useful than the
former.
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After
many years of hiking you will discover that you can also judge the passing
of time with amazing accuracy. However, a watch will ensure that you always
have something more accurate and reliable to fall back on when your
biological clock fails you!
Compass
A
magnetic compass has very limited use in the Natal Drakensberg. The terrain
is so rough it is almost impossible to walk a bearing for any useful length
of time, key reference points are not always as obvious as one might hope,
and the rock often has a high metal content which plays havoc with the
accuracy of the compass. Add to this the tedium of converting from true
north to magnetic north and back again, and you will quickly appreciate its
limitations. Altimeter
The
accuracy of a barometric altimeter is greatly influenced by atmospheric
conditions - i.e. the weather - so it needs to be recalibrated to a known spot
height on a map at fairly regular intervals. Unfortunately you need to be at the
spot height to do this, and spot heights are few and far between. However,
knowing your approximate altitude is of particular value when ascending or
descending a pass, since it gives you some indication of the vertical height
still to be negotiated. This in turn translates into time-to-go, and assists in
other decision-making.
GPS
A
GPS is a useful piece of technology, but never rely totally upon one in
case it fails. They also require a fairly extensive understanding of their
operation. Current models still have an alarmingly high power consumption
and they are only really useful when they are left on all the time you
are on the move, since there can be a considerable delay in re-acquiring
satellite signals each time they are switched on. In very cold weather
batteries also don't function too well and the GPS may be rendered useless
at a critical time. The leader and at least one other member should always
track the group's progress by old-fashioned map-reading as well.
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