Challenge #3: Bushwhack!
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 Before You Go...
1. Take a class. AMC and its chapters offer several workshops on backcountry navigation throughout the year. AMC also offers free walk-on map and compass skill clinics at the Highland Center.
2. Pack a compass. In fact, pack two. They are lightweight, so you won’t notice the extra one tucked in the top of your pack.
3. Choose the right map. Small-scale topographical maps cover a lot of land area and provide a good overview of what’s around you but offer less detail on terrain features for individual routes. Large-scale topos focus on a smaller area but provide greater detail on changes in elevation and terrain, which can be useful for off-trail travel. Visit AMC's store for comprehensive trail maps of Northeast peaks.
4. If you bring a GPS, pack extra batteries. Even if your GPS unit is fully charged when you begin your day hike, those batteries may fail right when you need the unit the most.
5. Weatherproof your gear. Paper maps are great, until it starts to rain. Store your maps in a clear resealable plastic bag for navigating in wet weather; or purchase waterproof maps.
6. Interact with your GPS unit. Before you head out, download waypoints for trails and custom routes to your GPS from AMC’s White Mountain Guide Online.
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We head down to a trail junction on the north side of our loop hike into a clearing of slab rock surrounded by woodland. I ask Tim and Lauren to bushwhack through the trees to reach a stream that runs alongside a nearby trail about 0.3 mile away. Tim goes first.
GPS: By noting on his map that the stream and trail are to the northeast of our current location, Tim decides to use his digital compass as a sort of electronic divining rod. As he begins to bushwhack, he adjusts his course based upon the digital arrow on the screen, intent on keeping it roughly midway between North and East. “If, for some reason, I miss the stream or miss the trail,” he says, “I would know that I can then head pretty much north to hit a road, which is going to be down next to the gully.” Both the road and gully are clearly marked on the map and make for an easier trek than if Tim were without such an aid. It takes him just under 13 minutes to reach the stream.
Map and Compass: Lauren begins by determining where she is on the map. For this exercise, it’s easy, since we’ve stopped at a trail junction. If she wasn’t sure, she could triangulate her position or make an educated guess based upon the terrain features and how far she thinks we’ve come.
Once her map is oriented to true north, she draws a line on her map from the trail junction to the stream and turns her compass until she has a reading on the stream’s location. She then draws a second line to another point farther east that intersects with the stream and takes that reading. The average of the two map bearings, minus 17 degrees to adjust from true to magnetic north, gives her a line of 41 degrees to follow through the woods. Like Tim, Lauren is choosing a route that falls within two boundary points.
Unlike Tim, she must move more slowly to calibrate her direction manually via leapfrogging. In this activity, trees are the “frogs,” and she “leaps” between them. From her starting point, Lauren picks an easily distinguishable tree that lines up with 41 degrees, makes a mental note of it, and then sets off.
“The straightest line is not always the clearest path, so you walk the path of least resistance,” she advises while dodging a steep embankment. “Leapfrogging is great because in the Whites you’re never going to have a straight line.”
We reach the designated tree, and Lauren picks out another one farther down the slope; the process repeats itself. In 21 minutes, we are trailside near the stream.
“Bushwhacking with a compass is not hard; you just need to have patience and come up with clear landmarks you know you can reach,” Lauren concludes.
The Finish Line
If this showdown were being evaluated only in terms of speed, there would be a clear victor. With a strong signal and a proficient user at the helm, GPS used with a good topo map trounced map and compass. And that’s partly why so many people carry GPS devices into the backcountry. The units can provide a quick and often accurate reading of where you are, where you’re going, and where you’ve been—especially if used in conjunction with a map. That’s critical information for any hiker.
But speed isn’t everything and technology has a funny way of failing right when you need it the most. Batteries die or freeze. Granite peaks or heavy tree cover can block satellite signals from reaching your device (a common occurrence in the White Mountains). Even with good signal strength, sometimes a GPS unit might think north is, well, south.
In terms of safety, map and compass trump GPS. Period. They are two items that every person entering the backcountry should have in his or her backpack (and know how to use), without exception. Navigating with these tools can require a little extra time, but a slow, accurate traverse is better than taking a wrong trail or becoming lost. The basic skills needed to use a map and compass are easy to learn and provide the foundation for understanding how GPS works.
Despite being a GPS devotee, Tim always packs his map and compass, which he likens to an ax. “The advantage of an ax is that it always starts,” unlike a chainsaw, he says.
“The greatest technology is always dependent upon some type of power,” he continues. “Relying on something that’s digital is a tricky thing…in the backcountry. I would always take my map and compass over the GPS. The GPS is a great tool to have and use in many applications but it’s less likely that your map and compass is going to fail you.”
GPS. Photo by Pete Ingraham.
