Mapping

     At least someone needs to know how to use a compass and map when people are on a camping trip, lost at night, or whatever, so we practiced mapping, as well as different measuring methods. Everyone who came on the trip (me, Brother Shaw, and Hunter Shaw) thought that the saluting method was easiest. The other methods were like algebra. The car was parked at the tennis court, Hunter had the map, I had the compass, and Brother Shaw told us to find the Spanish Fork River. Hunter found which way was north, and I put a compass on the map to find which direction the river was in. We had to go south, so Brother Shaw twisted the compass to say where south was. As I pointed the compass south, Hunter led us (we weren't walking through the trees) and kept track of where we were.

    Eventually we reached a rather pathetic looking lake. Brother Shaw told us that in the summer, the lake was huge and filled up the gap that went diagonally into the stream. That answered my question about why the bridge was so big for that "river." Now, it was time to measure the width of the water. I went first to measure it. I stood at the edge of the road, facing the river, and did the Boy Scout salute. I tilted my head until the bottom of the fingers I could see appeared to touch the water, and then I turned 90 degrees. Brother Shaw put a stick on the road where it appeared to be under my fingers. Then I walked to the stick, counting my strides (a stride is one step, a pace is two), then figured that the river was that many strides wide.

     After Hunter had done the same thing I did, and got a different width than me, Brother Shaw crossed the bridge until he was standing above the water's edge. After that, he counted his paces until he was above the water's other edge. He said I was halfway across the river, and Hunter was three quarters across. Well, no one won that battle.

     Back to the mapping, I now held the map and Hunter held the compass. Brother Shaw told us to find the nearby high school. I found out which direction it was in, and Hunter went that way. Hunter was ahead of me and Brother Shaw nearly the whole time. A few times I ran up to him, but that really hurt my feet (I have a foot problem), so I stopped doing that after the second time. I kept telling Brother Shaw where we were to show him I understood the map. Soon, we found the school.

     After getting there, Brother Shaw told us to go find the car at the tennis court. I didn't know where the tennis court was on the map, but Brother Shaw pointed out it was the area where it said "Sports Complex." So, we started walking along the baseball areas in between us and the vehicle. On a map, the baseball stadiums looked like a piece of pie! Eventually we reached our destination. Hunter was so sucked into his compass, he nearly ran into a pole! Good thing Brother Shaw warned him. After finding the car, we got up in it and drove home.