Lab 10: Orienteering at the Priory

Introduction:

This week's lab took the class out orienteering in wooded property owned by the university. Orienteering is often viewed as a competitive outdoor hobby that requires navigating from given point to point in unfamiliar territory using only a compass and map. This lab is very different from other labs in that no modern technology is used. This can be helpful in the real world in times of technology failure and the like.

The location of the orienteering course, the Priory, is a plot of land owned by the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire, located 3 miles south of campus (see figure 1). This site is used for multiple purposes by the university including child care, student housing, and research projects conducted by university students. Most of the 112 acres are wooded, with a small portion of that land being the buildings for housing and child care. This wooded and hilly area provides a great place to hone in on orienteering skills.



Figure 1. Map of Eau Claire Wisconsin, which highlights the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire and the Priory. The orienteering area at the Priory is highlighted above.

A map was created in lab 3 (see figure 2) that depicted the area of the Priory using a Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system. Because the grid is divided by meters, not degrees, it proves very helpful in navigating with a map. This is because one can easily determine distance using the grid system and not just the scale bar. In addition, knowing one's pace for 100 meters gives the map user the ability to physically pace out the intended distance from point to point. In lab 3, the class individually measured their pace count to reach 100 meters; this information played an important role in being able to estimate distance in the field during this lab.

Figure 2. This navigation map was created back in lab 3 to illustrate the orienteering course at the Priory.  The digital elevation model (white to green coloration), imagery, and contour lines were included on the map to aid in the ability to 'orient' ones' self while orienteering.

Methods:

The class was split into teams of 3 and given 5 UTM coordinates to find in the woods. First, the route needed to be mapped out from the given UTM coordinates (i.e. point 1-2, point 2-3…etc.). This would then allow the groups to determine how far each point was from one another and determine the number of paces that it would likely take to get from point A to point B (see figures 3 and 4).

Figure 3. This is this area in which the orienteering course took place.  There was a miscommunication between the class and the professor about where the point boundary for the course would take place. Ergo, some of the orienteering points assigned to the class ended up outside of the visible map and onto the legend.



Figure 4. Instead of the originally thought orienteering boundary (the yellow rectangle), the course ended up taking place in the red circle, which prevented the digital elevation model (white to green coloration), imagery, and contour lines to be seen. This could have effected the efficiency in which the groups were able to navigate their orienteering points.

Three people in the group were needed in order to effectively and efficiently take on the orienteering course. It could have been done with less people, but it could have been harder to keep track of the angle of travel, distance etc.

One person generally oriented the compass and the map. To do such, the compass was placed on the map and its edge was used to determine the azimuth between point A and point B, for example. This was done by facing the 'direction of travel' end of the compass toward the direction of travel on the map  (see figure 5). If this is facing the opposite way during the orienting step, the orienteers will go in the opposite direction of desired travel. Next The dial on the compass needs to have the north facing the north on the map. Once this is done, you put 'red' in the 'shed' and follow 'Fred' meaning that you turn with the compass parallel to the ground until the moving arrow (red), into the red area on the compass (shed), and then follow the 'direction of travel' arrow (Fred), until you reach your destination. Keep in mind, that the moving arrow must stay facing north for the entirety of travel.

Figure 5. Note the 'start' and 'destination' line on the left side of the compass. The compass's straight edge serves as the intended path of travel. Also notice how the 'direction of travel' arrow on the compass faces the 'destination' point on the map, this is a vital step in the process. The dial on the compass needs to have the north facing the north on the map. Once this is done, you put 'red' in the 'shed' and follow 'Fred' meaning that you turn with the compass parallel to the ground until the moving arrow (red), into the red area on the compass (shed), and then follow the 'direction of travel' arrow (Fred), until you reach your destination. Keep in mind, that the moving arrow must stay facing north for the entirety of travel.

Another member of the group would then hold the compass and be in charge of maintain the direction of travel. As the stood stationary, a runner would go ahead of the group and the compass holder would tell the runner to go left or right in order to be in line with the direction of travel. The third person was the pacer, who used their pace count (determined back in lab 3) to determine the approximate distance from one point to the next. This method worked very efficiently, as we were able to locate all of the points with relative ease. Below are a couple of pictures that indicate what the tagged orienteering trees looked like (see figures 6, 7, and 8).  

 



Figure 6. As is fairly clear, seeing pink tape is not always as easy as it looks. The class was told that all of the orienteering points would be located on birch trees, which helped, but it was still somewhat difficult to seek out the marked trees.



Figure 7. Here I am holding a part of the pink tape around the orienteering destination points. The points were located on birch trees, which aided in navigation.

Figure 8. A close up image of the pink taped destination points. The words 'pt 2' helped indicate the orienteering point destination, which helped in reassuring location during orienteering.

 

Discussion:

One of the issues we ran into was the location of the point boundary on the UTM map that was used. The topography was basically obsolete because the legend was in the way of the orienteering location as a result of a miscommunication of the class with Professor Hupy. This meant that we had to strictly rely on the use of our pace count. Most of the time we would underestimate the size of our footsteps and end up at our destination before we finished pacing out the number of steps we thought it would take us to finish.What made the pacing difficult was the elevation change which made it difficult to gauge the size of steps. This, in turn, created more of a guessing game for finding the orienteering points. However, although our pacing was off, the angle of direction was always correct, so having one out of the two orientations worked out just fine!

Another issue right from the start of the orienteering experience was the estimation of the location of the points on the map. Given that the UTM was grid was marked every 50 meters, there was quite a bit of room for estimation error. This was proven when my partners and I compared our hypothesized orienteering points; none of them were truly accurate so we had to estimate the points' location, meaning that the angle of the path was always 'off' a bit. This was not a big deal in a small area such as the Priory, but it would play a more important role in a larger orienteering course.

Our group did not have this issue, but some groups had a difficult time using their map because their grid system lacked detail. The grid that was used in our map was 50 by 50 meter, and quite honestly it could have been increased in detail, however, then the issue comes with visibility of the rest of the map then.

The rest of the map, the imagery, digital elevation model, and contour lines were very helpful and not distracting when navigating at the Priory. However, because the legend was in the way of much of the course, the other features of the map were used a lot less than they probably would have been if the course had been completely visible on the map.

Conclusion:

I had previously done some orienteering, but it is always good to refresh one's skills. The nice thing about orienteering is that virtually everyone can have access to a map and compass, unlike a lot of the other technology that we have been using throughout this semester. In addition, it is a good idea to have this as a back up plan in case all forms of technology fail in the process of navigating in a remote area.

We were also provided a unique experience in being able to design our own orienteering maps to use in the field. Most people orienteering use existent maps, but it gives you a bit more satisfaction when the map you created, in combination with orienteering skills, helps you locate the orienteering points.