[pct-l] Orienteering in Ashland? (was compass/Watches)

[Geoff]

I'll ask a follow up question. Does anyone know of
orienteering clubs in the Ashland, OR area? 

For those of you who haven't tried it, orienteering is
a race through the woods with a map and compass. You
have to hit a series of checkpoints in order and you
have to do it faster than the rest of the people.
Often (if the group is large enough) there are several
courses running simultaneously so that if you are new
to the sport, you can run the easier routes.

Orienteering is a tremendous way to practice and gain
confidence in your navigation skills and the groups
often have clinics to teach basics. You probably won't
need these skills on your average PCT hike, but they
are certainly good to have if things get confused.

An added benefit is that orienteering is a great deal
of fun, especially when you are slow enough that you
have no chance of being competitive (like me) so that
it really becomes a race against yourself.

And, if you are feeling even more daring, you can try
adventure racing which combines foot orienteering with
other disciplines such as biking and kayaking. Get
from point A to Z and get there under your own power
without electronics to guide you. When you are done
for the day, you'll be wet, muddy, scratched, hot, and
happy.

Geoff

--- Sandi <bowed1heart at yahoo.com> wrote:

> This is an interesting thread.  I am lousy when it
> comes to coapass reading/following.  I sort of
> learned in Girl Scouts back in 1970 something...but
> I didn't learn to well because y team never got to
> the spot we were supposed to end on.
>    
>   Are there classes anywhere?
> 
> "Eric Lee (GAMES)" <elee at microsoft.com> wrote:
>   Wheeew wrote:
> >
> Also- is it wise to have you compass as part of the
> watch, or is a separate "manual" compass better or
> necessary in addition to a watch compass?
> >
> 
> That depends on how much navigation you're actually
> going to do with it. If you've got a decent map and
> you want to navigate with it (either to triangulate
> your position onto the map or to figure a bearing
> from the map), a hand-held compass with a
> see-through base and rotating housing is very
> useful. See this link:
>
http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/manual/mapcompass3.shtml#Together.
> I've never owned a watch with a compass function so
> I don't know if there's a way to do the same sorts
> of things with one of them, but I would think it
> would be more difficult at a minimum. Maybe someone
> else can correct me on that.
> 
> You probably wouldn't need to do this kind of
> navigation on the PCT much, except maybe in serious
> snow cover where you lose the trail.
> 
> If all you want it for is to get a quick sense of
> which way is north, then it should be fine. And of
> course, a $20 dollar watch and a $10 dollar compass
> is a lot cheaper than a $200 compass watch, though
> it guess the former would weigh slightly more.
> 
> Eric
> 
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