#orienteering

[rebeccathenaturalist]

The above link includes articles on lost mushroom hunters in the Pacific Northwest over the past ten years. Many of these people were found deceased, and others were very lucky to have been found alive.

One of the things I really emphasize with foraging is safety, and not just the danger of picking something poisonous. While some people come into this practice with a realistic idea of the risks involved, others have....well, let's just call it a romanticized idea of foraging. They're not wrong in that it can be a fun, fulfilling activity that gets you all kinds of tasty things. But you have to be able to also navigate what can go wrong.

This is especially true for foragers who decide to go off-trail. I see this especially with people looking for mushrooms, because the lure of potential huge flushes of chanterelles, morels, and the like frequently leads people to head out onto public land in areas without marked trails. Sure, these locations are less heavily traveled and so it's more likely you'll stumble across a patch that no one else has gotten to yet. But--you're also more likely to get lost.

I personally tend to not go off-trail because I know for a fact that my sense of direction is abysmal (I've managed to convince myself I was lost on an out-and-back trail more than once.) But if I did, here's what I would do to mitigate the chances of getting lost:

--Take a GPS unit. These make finding your way back a lot easier, especially if you're able to drop pins as you go along or even digitally mark your trail.

--Take a map and compass and know how to use them: GPS isn't perfect, especially if signal is sketchy, and if your battery dies, well, there you go. So a topographic map and a compass make a good backup--if you know how to use them. Many urban areas in the U.S. have orienteering clubs, and failing that there's always YouTube.

--Take biodegradable flagging tape and tie bits of it to branches along the way. Then follow that path back when you're done, taking the tape with you as you go. If you miss one or two, they'll break down pretty quickly. DON'T leave the tape up on purpose to keep the trail to your patch of mushrooms or berries, though; not only are you adding plastic to the local environment, but you're leaving a trail for anyone who finds it.

--Take a friend! If something happens to one of you, the other can go for help. Or, if you're like me, only go off-trail with someone who's much better at orienteering than you are.

#foraging #mushroom foraging #mushroom hunting #foraging safety #nature #outdoors #mushrooms #fungi #fungus #berries #wild foods #berry picking #safety first #orienteering #hiking

[scavengedluxury]

Radio orienteers, 1970. From the Budapest Municipal Photography Company archive.

#budapest #hungary #fox oring #orienteering #radio #old tech #1970s

[spiralflute]

Went orienteering for the first time in ... erm ... a while I remember how it works, I swear!

#furry #furry art #anthro art #anthro #furry sfw #character art #orienteering

[temperate-rain-dragon]

I never have be able to get into doing quadrobics just not my thing I guess. However I feel the most dragonish doing orienteering which I guess makes some sense. Orienteering pretty much just running around in nature finding stuff which strikes me as very dragon. I don't know just another weird thing about me I guess.

#dragonkin #otherkin #orienteering #meme

[axeandantler]

Come with us on our second trip to Maine since buying a remote 60 acre property. We go to an Amish general store, meet a new friend, stay with an outfitter, and start navigating challenging terrain to reach the back half of our land for the first time.

#cottagecore #outdoors #homesteading #aesthetic #naturecore #rural #woods #nature #off grid #maine #new england #orienteering #travel #Youtube

[toiletgoer]

Don't judge a fish's ability to climb a tree, fine, but I was never told whether I'm a fish, or if I'm even supposed to climb a tree. Which animal am I supposed to be? Are we climbing trees? What's happening?

#autism #fish #trees #albert einstein #neurodivergent #neurospicy #advice #orienteering

[thursdayisbetterthanfriday]

OpenStreetMap - An open source online street map

Google Maps is incredibly useful - but did you know there's an open source equivalent? OpenStreetMap has been running for quite some time, and is a community driven replacement for Google, Bing and Apple maps. https://www.openstreetmap.org/

It's accessible via website, but there's also an app version which you can get for your phone which can be used similarly to Google Maps. The sat-nav functions aren't as good as other company-based products, but it does contain very good local-level information.

I've personally used it when hiking, visiting foreign cities in Europe and to create personal maps for tourist attractions, bookshops and good rock collecting spots. You can also download map data which can be used offline even if you don't have mobile signal.

They also have a community stories part of their website dedicated to the people who have used the project: https://www.openstreetmap.org/diary

If you want to support community led, open source, mapping software - do take a look at the funding page at: https://supporting.openstreetmap.org/

#openstreetmap #orienteering #map #maps #opensource #open source #open source software

[midwesternlife]

I just wrote a guide on how to get started using a compass on the blog. There is also a post featuring my recommendations for a compass there as well if you want to pick one up and start orienteering.

If you want me to dive deeper into the subject of navigation, feel free to reply and I will put together more focused content since this just scratches the surface.

#backpacking #hiking #compass #orienteering #midwestern life #navigation #how to use a compass

[semiotomatics]

im still thinking about that poll i reblogged

talking to @astraldepths it sounds like this might be a pedestrian/city-dweller vs. driver/rural folk thing? bc they made a very good point that when they're driving theyre paying more attention to what road theyre on and where they need to turn when rather than what direction theyre facing, esp since in their area the roads/highways dont tend to follow a grid pattern. whereas when i wanna go somewhere i just. face that direction and go. depending on what route i wanna take i might need to make a turn at some point but i can very reliably head in the general direction of where im going and know that ill eventually get there

but also like. idk, people in the notes of that post were talking abt being inside/somewhere unfamiliar/etc and not knowing where north is, or just straight up never knowing where north is. and thats just. so unfathomable to me. i admit im at home right now in a city i know like the back of my hand but like. i not only always know which cardinal direction im facing, but it feels, idk, intrinsic to my understanding of my surroundings. when i think abt work i know it's north of me, when i think about the ocean i know it's west of me, when i think about my local starbucks i know its almost due south of me. living in the neighbourhood i do throws me off a lil cause the streets run NW-SE and SW-NE (so on a diagonal) but i can still make that adjustment in seconds in my head. i honestly cant imagine not thinking in terms of cardinal directions.

next time i go somewhere unfamiliar/without a grid system im going to test myself to see if i maintain that sense of where north is or if i lose it and just dont realize, cause i honestly feel like id keep it but now idk. definitely gonna be hyperaware of my own orienteering for the next little bit, thats for sure xD

#this has been an original post #personal spewage #orienteering #spatial awareness #i think?? is that what that means??? #idk #still fascinated by how ppl who dont think in cardinal directions navigate #pls tell me abt your experiences

[niemernuet]

Every woman at the world orienteering championship when the speaker announces her name: 😃👋 Hiiii!!☺️ So great to be here!🥰 Ready to give my best!🙌

Tove Alexandersson: I'm not locked in here with you, YOU'RE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME!

#you go you funky little swede #orienteering #world orienteering championship #woc 2022 #tove alexandersson #mine

[spiralflute]

Orienteering moment

#anthro #anthro art #furry #furry art #character art #orienteering #poison oak #protogen

[carto-graphics]

150 #schoolmaps ready to go! #orienteering #maps #cartography #eastbourne #custommade #custommaps #inspiritcartographics https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf6LgJZIHXH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#schoolmaps #orienteering #maps #cartography #eastbourne #custommade #custommaps #inspiritcartographics

[axeandantler]

#cottagecore #outdoors #homesteading #aesthetic #naturecore #camping #rural #woods #nature #maine #orienteering

[atmsnatcher]

domestic animals who would tell me riddles

#borzoi #cat #riddles #oriental shorthair

[astraltrickster]

Dear tumblr newbies of #196:

#196 #memes #im sure someone has already done something like this before #but here #a little orientation meme