[at-l] compass

[Paul A Magnanti <pmags@juno.com>]

    For the sake of maybe two ounces, a compass is a  nice thing to have.
Yes, many hikers have done the AT w/o needing it, yes - the AT is well
marked. Yes, the AT is usually not far from "civilization"...but that
means diddly squat when visibility is nill somewhere on a bald or in the
Whites. White blazes and cairns do not work too effectively when you can
not see them!   
	Also, as others have mentioned, a compass is nice to use when looking at
maps, so you know what you are looking at, so you know the land around
you. It is a good way to know the lands around the trail, not just a four
ft. wide corridor that extends for 2167 miles(damn..does that mean I have
to hike those seven additional miles now?!?!? :D). 
     Along the same lines, a map and a compass is worth diddly squat if
you do not know how to use them! People who do not know how to use a map
and a compass seem to think it is some black art. Nope, pretty easy.  
Many local outdoor clubs, colleges, and outfitters offer inexpensive
classes that teach the basics of orienteering.  I took a class  through
the Naragansett (RI) chapter of the AMC. Total cost was $10. That
included about 10 pages worth of literature, a topo of the place where we
had a field exercise,  six hours of "classroom" time, and 4+ hrs of a
field exercise.
	Once the skills are learned, practice! My stomping grounds for quick
hikes was Arcadia Management Area back in Rhody. Sure, the top elevation
was 600 ft in this local forest, but the trail map was a joke, and there
were 14000+ acres of relatively dense woods to explore (And pretty, too.
Old stone walls from long abonded farms that nature has reclaimed,
streams, isolated ponds, all mixed in with mountain laurels and a mix of
decidious hardwoods and conifers) . Perfect conditions to keep up with
map and compass skills. So if I found a place to practice in the most
densley populated state in this country after New Jersey (and Rhody does
not have a large city like Newark, so that figure is skewed a bit!) , I
am sure you can find a place to practice in your home state, too.  

So, please..take a compass. Do you want to trust luck? Or for the sake of
a couple of ounces and a few hours of your time, knowlege that you can
get out of a jam where white blazes and cairns won't help you a bit? 
Many of those names on the plaque on top of  Mt. Washington trusted in
luck.



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"..and felt indeed as if I was truly repaid for the toil and pain of the
day, so much will a  good shelter, a dry bed, and comfortable supper
revive the sperits of the wayred, wet and hungry traveler."

----- from the journal of Meriwether Lewis
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