[pct-l] Astrolabe!

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good afternoon,
Being myself a navophile I’m always interested in technology, but the
astrolabe is very arcane; difficult to understand and use, particularly for
such a plebeian as me.  Above my desk as I write, hanging from the horn of
an unfortunate hoofed animal, is a simple and useful tool that probably
pre-dates the astrolabe by upwards of 850 years.  It’s a nondescript
gray-black rock about the size of a walnut which is suspended several feet
by a strand of horse’s tail hair.  The rock is magnetite -- a “lodestone” --
which, no matter how I spin it, always reorients itself to its original
north/south position.  With a mark on its “north” side I could use it for
navigation today.  I could even hold a printed compass rose beneath it in
the process.  Modern magnetic compasses differ from that lodestone only by
their convenience of use.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 1:26 PM, AsABat <asabat at 4jeffrey.net> wrote:

> Mags, I was waiting to hear you would be doing Gregorian chant as you
> walked
> along!
>
> Dominus vobiscum,
>
> AsABat
>
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 12:42 PM, Paul Magnanti <pmags at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Truth be told, I like to hearken [1] back to the days of yore...
> > (Show foggy scene, pipe in some music akin to a grade-C Tolkien-fantasy
> rip
> > off)
> >
> > I carry an astrolabe.
> >
> > Why an astrolabe?   Picture if you will walking along the desert in long
> > flowing robes
> > (my hiking clothes of choice now-a-days). The scent of cow poop wafting
> > from the valley floor near Tejon Ranch. I walk along. Confident
> > that I far from the border and won't get picked up by Border Patrol
> > due to my dark tan, black beard and pocket Quaran.
> >
> > But where am I?
> >
> > Why, I pull out my trusty astrolabe. With some dead reckoning, I'm able
> to
> > do the Kessel spice run in less than 12 parsecs!...or something like
> that.
> > (Pick up a 12 pack of beer in less than 1 hr?)
> >
> > Plus, the astrolabe is a work of art. With its beautiful gold filigree, I
> > always have
> > a wonderful conversation piece at campfires.  And, if I really get
> > desperate for
> > cash I can pawn it at one of the places near the casinos near the PCT!
> >
> > Yes folks. Carry an astrolabe.  A GPS may work with all the satellite
> > technology. A compass
> > is simpler. But an astrolabe? Why good gravy..it will give you the
> ultimate
> > in hiker bling!
> >
> > [1] I plan on using this word more often. Along with 'fortnight',
> >  'bully!', and 'repast'.
> >
> > "Bully! I hearken for a burger at VVR when I have  a repast in a
> > fortnight!"
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >  ************************************************************
> > The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust
> > caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
> > --Thoreau
> > http://www.pmags.com
> > http://www.redbubble.com/people/pmags/
> > http://www.facebook.com/pmags
> >
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