Classroom Outing

Classroom Outing

Government Of Canada Government Of BC, Printed by Gotrekkers: http://www.gotrekkers.com/bc-topo-20k-britishcolumbia-topographic-map/ Gemtrek Mark Klassen et al John Baldwin Chrismar

Symbols Scale Colors Contour Lines Magnetic Declination Grid systems and map datums

Agricultural Building Geographic / Geologic

Elevation Land Cover

Man Made Hydrological Natural Hydrological Miscellaneous Transportation Railway

Road Recreation

Expressed as a ratio 1:50,000 1:63,360 1:62,500 1:25,000 1:24,000 1:20,000

Color Red Blue Black Green White with blue contour lines White with brown contour lines Brown Purple Meaning Roads Water Features, UTM Grid Minor Roads, trails, railroads,buildings, benchmarks, Forested areas Glacier or permanent snowfield Dry area without substantial forest Contour lines and elevation Revisions to an existing map

Join areas of equal elevation Various maps have different distances between lines: 20m, 40m, 50m, 80m, 100m, 100 ft Flat areas have no contour lines Gentle slopes: widely spaced contour lines Steep slopes: closely spaced contour lines Cliffs: lines extremely close or touching

The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid Map Projections Earth is a sphere, any representation of its surface on a flat sheet of paper involves distortion. Relatively insignificant for maps showing small parts of the Earth, such as city maps. Quite considerable for maps of whole countries or continents. Map-makers decision is not whether to have a distortion on a map, but what type of distortion. Geometrical schemes represent the curved surface of the Earth on map sheets known as map projections. All projections have certain advantages and disadvantages Size and shape of the country determines the most suitable projection for its system of topographic maps. Very large countries must be divided into strips, called zones, which are projected onto a plane. One is the Transverse Mercator called this because the strips run north-south rather than eastwest along the equator, as in the standard Mercator projection. Special type is the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Projection. The Centre for Topographic Information uses the UTM Projection for its popular National Topographic System (NTS) series at 1/50 000 and 1/250 000 scales. Tied in with this projection is the rectangular grid, a system for finding points on maps. All topo maps also carry lines of longitude and latitude.

To understand how the projection works, imagine the Earth as an orange, with all geographical features and the parallels and meridians already drawn in. Now imagine taking a knife and, after slicing off small circles at the poles, making a straight north-south cut in the peel of the orange and repeating this north-south cut, at equal intervals, until 60 strips or zones have been detached Figure 1 - Shape of a UTM Zone. The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid Map Projections

Each of these zones forms the basis of a separate map projection. The flattening may be visualized as a strip of orange peel placed on a level surface. By depressing its centre, one could force the peel to flatten until all of it touches the smooth surface. This results in a slight distortion of the geographical features within the zone, but because the zone is relatively narrow, the distortion is small and may be ignored by most map-users. Because the globe is 360 in circumference, a division into sixty vertical zones gives each zone the width of 6 of longitude. By international usage these zones have been numbered 1 to 60. Sixteen of the zones, bearing numbers 7 to 22, cover Canada, as shown in Figure 2, below. The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid Map Projections

The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid Map Projections This UTM grid uses as its basic element of identification, lines. These lines are standard on all UTM maps. They are drawn on our "orange strips" after the strips have been flattened so the grid lines are perfectly straight and undistorted. The basic grid lines, both horizontal and vertical, are drawn 100 000 metres (100 km) apart. All vertical lines run parallel to the central meridian of each zone. All horizontal lines run parallel to the equator. Parallels of latitude shown on our UTM maps are not parallel to the equator, or to each other, because they are slightly distorted by the flattening. The equator itself is not distorted by the Transverse Mercator projection.

The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid Map Projections The squares formed by the intersection of the 100 000-metre lines are almost always further subdivided by 10 000- metre lines, 1 000-metre lines, and even 100-metre lines, depending on the scale and purpose of the map. Most maps show less than the width of a UTM zone, but information relating the map to the zone and defining the grid spacing, is always provided on the margin, for example: ONE THOUSAND METRE UNIVERSAL TRANSVERSE MERCATOR, GRID ZONE 17 The beauty of the UTM rectangular grid is that by using a brief code consisting of zone and grid-line numbers it is possible to identify any point in Canada, even if that point is not otherwise marked or identified on any map.

The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid Map Projections Horizontal lines are designated by their distance from the equator in metres. Canada's southernmost point is about 4 620 000 metres from the equator, all horizontal lines in Canada have a "northing" value above that figure. Zones never attain the full width of 1 000 000 metres In northern Canada, zone widths shrink to as little as 80 000 metres (40 000 metres on either side of the central meridian). Vertical lines are counted from the central meridian or 500 000 metre line, those to the left of it having an "easting" value of less than 500 000 metres, and those on the right having a value above that. The number of metres north of the equator represented by the bottom horizontal grid line on a map is always shown in the lower left-hand corner of the map. The number of metres east of the zero vertical line represented by the left vertical grid line is also shown in the lower left-hand corner. If a given point on a map is positioned exactly at the intersection of a vertical and horizontal line, its location may be read off simply from the map margins. Its full designation or its "coordinates" would include the zone number, followed by the easting and northing values. On a 1 000-metre grid, these coordinates might read: Zone 14, 357 000, 5 476 000. The values of the first vertical and horizontal lines appearing in the southwest corner of the map are given in full. The other grid lines are numbered in an abbreviated fashion. Few points, however, are conveniently located at grid intersections. Usually the point to be described is somewhere between lines. In this case, it is necessary to measure or estimate the distance to the nearest vertical line to the west and to the nearest horizontal line to the south and to add these metric values to the grid values given at the margin.

If a point is located 400 metres east of the vertical line of 357 000, and 200 metres north of the horizontal line of 5 476 000, its coordinates would be: Zone 11, 357 400, 5 476 200. With these three numbers, any point on the northern hemisphere can be unmistakably identified. There is a similar reference in the southern hemisphere, but confusion never results from this. The civilian system of designating UTM Grid coordinates is straightforward and, since it uses only numbers, it can be handled by digital mapping software and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), an important consideration with any kind of technical data. It does, however, require the use of large and somewhat cumbersome figures. The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid Map Projections

With a full grid reference of: 357 400, 5 476 200 Sometimes it will be shown as 574762 To get the full reference: Split in half i.e. 574 and 762 For both, add two zeros on the end: 57400 and 76200 For the easting, look at the map; 57400 is between 57000 and 58000. The full number starts with a 3 so the full easting is 357400. For the northing, look at the map; 76200 is between 76000 and 77000. On the map, the full number starts with a 54 so the full northing is 5476200. The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid Truncated Grid References

A Map Datum is a mathematical model describing the Earth The Earth is not exactly round There are three datums that we use in North America NAD 27 NAD 83 WGS 84 NAD 83 and WGS 84 are functionally the same Kananaskis Country Trail Books use NAD 27 National topographic maps use a mix of NAD 27 and NAD 83 Gemtrek Maps use NAD 83 BC Government Maps use NAD 83 To convert from NAD 83 to NAD 27: Northing Subtract 221; Easting add 76

A compass points to magnetic north; but this may not be the same as grid north, which depends on your locality. If you live close to the imaginary line that runs from Thunder Bay through Savant Lake, in northern Ontario, northwest through Churchill, Manitoba, you're in luck. Here your compass north is approximately the same as grid north. But if you live east of this line, your compass points off to the west, while west of that line it points off to the east. The reason is that the North Magnetic Pole, which attracts the compass needle, is situated at 81.3 N, 110.8 W (2001). (Visit the Geological Survey of Canada's Canadian National Geomagnetism Program Web Site for more information about the North Magnetic Pole.)

North Magnetic Pole The Earth's magnetic field is shaped approximately like that of a bar magnet. It has two magnetic poles, one in the Canadian arctic, referred to as the North Magnetic Pole, and one off the coast of Antarctica, south of Australia, referred to as the South Magnetic Pole. At the North Magnetic Pole the Earth's magnetic field is directed vertically downward relative to the Earth's surface. Magnetic dip, or inclination is 90. The North Magnetic Pole is drifting across the Canadian Arctic. The Geological Survey of Canada keeps track of this motion by periodically carrying out magnetic surveys to redetermine the Pole's location

Parts Of The Compass

Base plate and rotating housing Sighting mirror Luminous points for use in the dark Declination adjustment Designed for your latitude band

Iron will affect the compass Magnetic fields will affect the reading (electrical lines generate magnetic fields) Functioning electronics can generate magnetic fields. Examples: Avalanche transceiver GPS Digital camera MP3 player Cell phone VHF Radio Most compasses are designed to be used within a specific latitude range Must be held level when being used

What is the UTM grid reference for the summit of Ha-Ling Peak? 11U 612050 5658100 What is the UTM grid reference for the picnic table at Quarry Lake? 11U 614100 5659500 Where is the following UTM grid reference located?: NAD 83, 11U, e618300, n5659900 ACC Clubhouse Where is the following UTM grid reference located?: NAD 83, 11U, e614800, n5649400 Old Goat Glacier trailhead What is the bearing from Ha-Ling Peak to the picnic table at Quarry Lake 53 What is the distance from Ha-Ling Peak to the picnic table at Quarry Lake 2.5 km

An altimeter measures the local atmospheric pressure of the air just like a barometer. This is usually expressed in inches or millibars of Mercury. The altimeter displays the current altitude on a dial with a needle or with a digital display. Since atmospheric pressure is constantly changing due to weather, you must calibrate the altimeter by first setting it when you are at a known elevation. Say you arrive at the trail head parking lot which the map indicates is at 2,400 feet (730 meters). Set your altimeter for 2,400 feet (730 meters). As you hike the altimeter shows the current altitude as your elevation increase or decreases. In order to maintain accurate readings you should recalibrate your altimeter several times each day. Recalibrate your altimeter reading before you go to bed. If the altimeter reads a lower altitude the next day, then the atmospheric pressure has gone up during the night (typically indicating stable or improving weather). If the altimeter reads a higher altitude, then the atmospheric pressure is falling (indicating potential stormy weather). You can use your altimeter in navigation as another information source to help locate your position. If the altimeter is properly calibrated, you know that you are at a specific altitude. Think of this altitude as corresponding to a particular contour line on your map. This may be enough to give you a very accurate fix on your location. If you are hiking up a trail and it crosses a particular altitude (contour line) at only one point, then you know exactly where you are.

3 Hour Pressure Decrease Altimeter Increase Recommended Action.6 1.2 millibars 6 12 meters None except normal monitoring of weather conditions 1.2 1.8 millibars 12 18 meters Watch sky for thickening and or lowering clouds. Watch for increasing shifting winds to east or southeast. 1.8 2.4 millibars 18 24 meters Same as above. Consider aborting due to high winds and or severe storm. 2.4 millibars or more 24 meters or more Run away!

Key tool is the map Compass, altimeter and GPS work with the map to help you locate where you are and where you wish to go Of the three tools used with a map, the most important is the compass

1. Point the compass direction of travel arrow to the destination on the land. 2. Rotate the compass housing until the north orienting arrow of the compass housing lines up with the red magnetic needle. This is referred to as "boxing the needle," since you want the needle to be inside the box defined by the orienting arrow. The north orienting arrow must be pointing in the same direction as the red (north) magnetic needle. Your compass will look like the photo with the needle boxed. 3. Read the bearing (in degrees) from the degree dial at the point on the compass base plate.

Walking a Bearing Taken from the Land: 1. After taking the bearing, as described earlier, hold the compass level and in front of you, so that the direction of travel arrow points to the destination. 2. Rotate your whole body until the magnetic needle lies directly over the orienting arrow. Make sure the north end of the magnetic needle points to N on the compass housing. The direction of travel arrow points to the destination. 3. Site a prominent feature to which your direction of travel arrow points. Walk to that feature. Continue to sight on other features along the bearing and walk to them, until you reach your destination. Walking a Bearing Taken from the Map: To walk a bearing taken from the map, you may need to correct for declination if you did not orient the map to magnetic north before you took your bearing. Once you have corrected for declination, follow the same procedure as indicated above for walking a bearing taken from the land. Techniques for Walking a Bearing: Sometimes the terrain isn't always so cooperative to let you just follow your bearing in a straight line so there are a number of techniques to use when traveling on a bearing. Line of Sight Walk to an obvious landmark a tree or boulder that is directly on the bearing. Then take another bearing on the next obvious landmark and walk to that. Keep it up until you reach your destination. By going to intermediate landmarks, you minimize the chances of veering off your bearing.

Aiming Off: It is almost impossible to walk a perfect bearing. In most cases your error can be anywhere from 3-5. This is known as lateral drift Being off just a few degrees can make a major difference after several kilometers. Therefore, rather than head straight for your target, it is best to deliberately aim to one side of your target (left or right). Then you will know whether to turn right or left and walk to the target.

Baselines: Baselines are helpful because they provide a large target to aim for. A baseline is a reference line that lies across your course. It can be a trail, cliff face, road, stream, or other feature. You can combine a baseline with aiming off to help navigate Find a baseline near your destination, then aim off of it. When you hit the baseline, you now know which direction to turn to walk along the baseline to reach your destination

Triangulation Triangulation is used to locate your position when two or more prominent landmarks are visible. Even if you are not sure where you are, you can find your approximate position as long as you can identify at least 2 prominent landmarks (mountain, end of a lake, bridge, etc.) both on the land and on your map. 1. Orient the map. 2. Look around and locate prominent landmarks. 3. Find the landmarks on the map (preferably at close to 90 degrees apart). 4. Determine the bearing of one of the landmarks. 5. Place the compass on the map so that one side of the base plate points toward the landmark. 6. Keeping the edge of the base plate on the symbol, turn the entire compass on the map until the orienting lines are parallel to the north/south UTM grid lines. 7. Draw a line on the map along the edge of the base plate, intersecting the prominent landmark symbol. Your position is somewhere along this line. 8. Repeat this procedure for the other prominent landmark. The second landmark should be as close to 90 degrees from the first as possible. Your approximate position is where the two lines intersect. 9. You can repeat this process a third time to show an area bounded by three lines. You are located within this triangle. 10. If you are located on a prominent feature marked on the map such as a ridge, stream, or road, only one calculation from a prominent landmark should be necessary. Your position will be approximately where the drawn line intersects this linear feature.

You are hiking up the trail to Mt. Fairview and your calibrated altimeter reads 2,600 meters. The X marks your location.

Mapping Software Google Maps Google Earth Other Internet Resources http://www.hillmap.com/

Map and Roamer Clinometer Compass Ski Poles 50 cm 45 42 cm 40 35 cm -35 29 cm - 30

General Considerations Pacing Rest step Avoid side hilling If you can see destination from afar study it. If you have a digital camera, take a photo to refer to later. Watch for hazards, i.e. cornices and avalanche slopes. Orient yourself at the trailhead. Look at your map and identify some prominent landmarks. Keep pack weight down.

General Considerations Pacing Rest step Avoid side hilling If you can see destination from afar study it. If you have a digital camera, take a photo to refer to later. Watch for hazards, i.e. cornices and avalanche slopes. Orient yourself at the trailhead. Look at your map and identify some prominent landmarks. Keep pack weight down. Factors To Consider When Plotting Route Steepness Ground cover (i.e. brush, swamp, rubble) Is there a trail? Aesthetics Environmental impact Topo Maps Google Earth Guide Books Locals Rangers / Wardens / Guides Sources Of Information

Whiteout Tips Before it happens Have a plan prepared before it happens. Continuously monitor where you are on your map. When you are caught Rope up. Second on rope carries compass and controls the leaders directions. Use wands to count ropelengths. One ropelength is ~ 50 meters. Use a prussic cord on end of pole and throw downhill. Ski to it and repeat. Once a track is in, it is easier for the rest of the group. Try to find handrails. Wait it out.

Naismith s Rule For every 5km of easy going, allow 1 hour For every 3km of easy scrambling, allow 1 hour For every 1km of rough land, deep sand, soft snow or thick bush, allow 1 hour Add an extra hour for every 500m up (cumulative) Add an extra hour for every 1000m down (cumulative) Add an extra hour for every five hours, to allow for fatigue.

Proposed Trip: Bow Hut to Balfour Hut Weather forecast: A mix of sun and cloud with a chance of a flurry (on the Wapta Icefield this translates into a real chance of whiteout conditions Avalanche forecast is: BTL Moderate, TL Considerable and A High (note: avalanches occur most frequently on slopes of 30-45 ; occasionally on slopes to 25 when the hazard is high) Bow hut is at: NAD27 11U 535296 5720566. Balfour hut is at: NAD83 11U 537754 5715765

Cell Phone Satellite Phone VHF Radio SPOT Device Signaling with a mirror Arm signals with helicopter

http://www.rod-plasman.ca/map.pdf