Priory Navigation

Introduction

In this weeks activity, the navigation maps that were create were put to use in the Eau Claire Priory. The Eau Claire Priory is a large, mostly wooded region with many hills and cliffs that make it difficult to traverse. Each group was given five different UTM coordinates and one of the maps that were created in the last activity. To find each one of these points, the groups needed to use classic navigation techniques to find each point. 

Methods

Study Area

The study area for this activity is the priory of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. This is a large wooded area that would be difficult to traverse with simply an aerial photograph. Figure 1 shows an aerial image of the priory. 

Figure 1. The study area of the Eau Claire Priory is shown by the black rectangle.

Tools Used

In order to navigate through the priory, different tools were used. The most important tool that we used was a compass. The compass allowed us to find the necessary bearing to make it to the next point. Another important tool that was used was a GPS. The only thing that the GPS was used for was to create a track of where each group had walked. 

Navigation

The actual navigation process was somewhat difficult. As stated before, each group was given a set of five different navigation points in the form of UTM coordinates. The points that my group had to find were:

618011, 4957883

618093, 4957823

618107, 4957942

618195, 4957878

618220, 4957840

Using the UTM navigation map, each point was placed on the map. The next step was to go out and find the points. In each group, it was important that each person play a different role to help navigate. Some of the roles included a pace counter, azimuth control, and leap frogger. The pace counter would walk between points, counting their paces to establish distance. The azimuth control would stand at a point and ensure that the pace counter was heading in the correct direction. The leap frogger would run to a landmark in the general direction of the desired bearing. At each point, the bearing had to be taken so that the group was headed in the right direction. The bearing was found using the compass. It required the use of the "red in the shed" technique. Each point was represented by a pink marker that was either wrapped around the tree or hanging on a branch. Figure 2 shows the first point that was found. 

Figure 2 shows the marker for the first point. The marker was wrapped around a large
tree and was somewhat hidden in the brush.

The next point was one of the few issues that the group ran into. The correct location, according to the UTM coordinates, was found, but the marker was not found. The groups were told that this could potentially happen. In that case, the marker was to be placed. Figure 3 shows an eager navigator marking the second point. 

Figure 3. There was no marker for point 2, so the group had to make sure that it was marked.

The next two points were rather straight forward. All the group had to do was get a bearing. For both the third and fourth points, the leap frogger was able to walk out and see the marker. This was possible because these markers were located in more open areas compared to the first and second points. Figure 4 and 5 show the third and fourth points that were navigated to. 

Figure 4. Another eager navigator found the third marked point. 

Figure 5. The fourth navigation point was found by the group without any issue.

The fifth and last point in the navigation exercise was located in another difficult to reach location. The group was required to climb down a steep cliff into a large valley and then up the other wall to reach the marker. The fifth and final point was located towards the end of the wooded area in the priory. Figure 6 shows a picture of the final marker. 

Figure 6. The fifth and final marker in the navigation.

Results

The results section will be very brief in this assignment because the vast majority of it was the navigation methods. The one thing that needs to be shown is the final track from the group's GPS. Overall, the track looks accurate. Figure 7 shows the navigation map with the GPS track that the group recorded. 

Figure 7. The final navigation map with the GPS track recorded on top. The track is represented
by the maroon dots.

Conclusion

This activity was extremely enjoyable and educational. Learning to navigate without the use of some of the high tech geospatial equipment is very important. There were many things that I learned throughout this experience. Personally, I am an outdoors person, so getting out and navigating through the woods was a blast. All of the things that we saw on this trip, from the wildlife to the miscellaneous items in the woods, brought together an important learning experience.