The Northern Lights

(AP) Wire Story follows:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Northerners thawing out from a bitter freeze may get rewarded with shimmering northern lights the next couple days.

Federal space weather forecaster Joe Kunches said the sun shot out a strong solar flare late Tuesday, which should arrive at Earth early Thursday. It should shake up Earth's magnetic field and expand the Aurora Borealis south, possibly as far south as Colorado and central Illinois. He said best viewing would probably be Thursday evening, weather permitting.

The University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute predicts much of Canada and the northern fringes of the U.S. should see the northern lights. Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Seattle and Des Moines might see the shimmering colors low on the horizon.

Lost Hikers

This happens all to often - carry the right gear for the conditions.

Rocky Mountain National Park (CO)
Lost And Unprepared Hikers Rescued from Backcountry


On the afternoon of Wednesday, January 8th, two hikers – a man and a woman, both 23 and both from out of state – contacted the park by cell phone and reported that they’d become lost while hiking back down from an ascent to the summit of Flattop Mountain (12,324 feet). 


Park SAR personnel immediately began a search for them in the Flattop Mountain and Mill Creek Basin areas. They were found above the Banana Bowls at an elevation of roughly 10,600 feet around 8 p.m. They were escorted out of the backcountry, arriving at the Bear Lake trailhead around 9:45 p.m.


Neither of the hikers had snowshoes or backcountry gear, and neither was prepared either for the freezing temperatures or for a night in the backcountry. Due to post-holing in deep snow, the man’s jeans, cotton socks and leather work boots were frozen solid when searchers found them. Rescuers used a backpacking stove to thaw his boots so he could walk out. 

Night Travel and Navigation For The Backcountry Hiker

What should you consider if you must travel at night in the wilderness?

The day started clear and bright as the hikers left the trail head near Newport, Oregon.  The temperatures were to be moderate most of the day with slight cooling in the evening.  They pressed on determined to reach the summit before twilight.  After reaching the summit at dusk, the group started to make their way back to the trail head as fog began to roll in.  Within an hour the darkness was becoming a problem and the safety of continued travel became questionable.

So what are some basic considerations for night time travel and navigation in the backcountry?

First, let us consider that we are not in a “lost hiker” scenario.  If lost, the best thing to do is to just stay where you are.  This makes the job much easier for the searchers. 

Further, recommendations are based on the concerns and issues of hiking when it is really dark, not during the period of a full moon with some ambient light.

One of the key factors in this situation is to have an understanding of the physiology of the eye. Our eyes are designed to provide optimal performance during periods of light.  The components of the eye (the retina, rods and cones) are arranged specific to their function.  The cones are the discriminators of fine detail and color.  Cones are the most effective in light, and are located near the center of the eye interior.  In complete darkness, a cones’ effectiveness is significantly reduced.  Rods are located on the periphery of our interior eye, are not fine detail discriminators and have a higher sensitivity to low light levels.  Rods are important to our night time vision.  

 To read the complete post go here.

Marking a GPS Waypoint

Marking a waypoint with your GPS is easy.  I offer a few recommendations improve your techniques and make it a "sure thing."

The solo hiker was ready to return to the car after a long day on the trail.  The weather was slowly degrading; it was getting cooler and overcast.  It was time to march to the car.  He pulled out the GPS, selected the “Find” feature and scanned the waypoint listing.  No waypoint.  Nothing to identify his car was shown.  Now that sinking feeling slowly crept in.  It was going to be a longer afternoon.

Marking a waypoint takes just a few button pushes.  The process ends with the saving of coordinates, elevation, date, time of entry and a name into the memory of a GPS.

My recommendations to mark a waypoint include the following steps.

Start with a quick look at the “satellite view” page.  Ensure the GPS is tracking four or more satellite signals.

Next, select the mark button.  Touch screen models will require you to go to the main menu to touch “mark waypoint.”

To read the rest of the post go here.

Emergency Tips For Handling the Cold

Posted on January 2nd, 2014 by Leon in Leon's Blog

The weather in Bend, Oregon, where I live, has been beautiful, with highs in the mid-50s and sunshine. But for those of you in the colder areas, here are some survival tips from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

by Leon Pantenburg (www.survivalcommonsense.com)

Cold weather and storms are battering much of the country. How will you survive when the power goes out?

Cold weather and storms are battering much of the country, and for people without power, the situation may be grim.

But if  you are reading this in a cold, dark room, and wondering what to do next, here are a couple suggestions.

Click on prepare for cold inside to learn simple techniques keep your house warmer without electricity.

The following information on  from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency was distributed Thursday by the Milford  County Health Agent.

 To read the complete story, click on handle the cold.

Is Your Compass or GPS Receiver Broken?

What do you do when a compass breaks or the GPS just doesn’t seem to be working right?  Here are a few suggestions that will help the navigator.

The theme of this post is to discuss what options the backcountry navigator has with equipment that might not be working correctly. 

When equipment does not appear to provide the correct indication (such as the GPS bearing to the trail head) it’s time to stop.  Never rush navigation.  Stop and take the time to really look over the information provided.  Consult with the rest of the group.

Being able to recognize the proper operation of the hiker’s equipment is important.  This is obtained through field checks well before any trip.  The gas stove can be tested at home before the journey.  The navigation kit can be evaluated throughout the year at the local park or forest. I recommend to the elk and deer hunters in my GPS classes to take their receiver everywhere they go for two weeks prior to leaving for camp.  Push buttons, change displays, mark a waypoint and finally, return to a destination.  Like a pilot of a plane, a map, compass and GPS are the instruments in the backcountry cockpit.

Normally a magnetic compass’ needle rotates freely.  The needle rotates on a jeweled pivot point.  The magnetic compass should be kept level while in use allowing the magnetic needle to move about in the compasses housing.  My Suunto recently just stopped rotating.  I would change direction about 30 degrees and the magnetic needle would move about 15 degrees and then just hang up.

Sadly, there is no simple in the field fix for this.  I gently tapped the compass body and checked the movement of the housing but nothing seemed to work.  Never let broken gear clutter your pack or be used mistakenly.

A back up compass is very helpful in such a situation.  It doesn’t have to be expensive, just reliable.  No matter what you use for a back up, it has to work well and requires testing.  I take all my new compasses to a location in town where the streets run north and south (degrees true.)  I will hike the streets insuring that the compass is on the mark.  This only takes a few minutes.  Recently I noticed that one of my small ball compasses seemed to be at least 20 degrees off; it’s a goner.  Note, that a small back up compass may not be as precise as your primary model.  Also recognize that some compass will only provide a trend of direction such as moving in a northerly direction as opposed to tracking on a direction of 025°.

Before throwing a quality compass out, contact the manufacturer to see what the warrantee offers.

So what does the hiker do if the GPS receiver appears to be broken?   .

The following are steps that I’ll perform:

1.    If I have a GPS with an electronic compass I’ll ensure the compass is activated.  For example on the Garmin 60 series, pressing and holding the “page” button will turn the compass on or off.

2.    I’ll ensure the electronic compass is calibrated.  The compass must be calibrated after each battery change.

3.    Check the charge on the batteries.  If in doubt replace them.

4.    When the “Go To, Find or Where Is” option has been selected, older models will require motion to cause the compass arrow and displays to adjust.  Take five or more steps and see if there are any changes with the display.

5.    Turn the GPS receiver off, open the battery case and remove one battery for about twenty seconds, return the battery and power up the receiver again. 

6.    Once powered up, I want to be certain that the receiver has captured the signals from at least four satellites.

7.    Worse case - call the manufacturer.  Call early in the morning.

In the field, I leave my receiver powered on, collecting data the entire trip.  I keep my receiver in a holster that attaches to one of my shoulder straps.  Before leaving the trail head I “dump the junk” and get rid of old waypoints (e.g., last year’s fishing trip hot spots), I reset data fields on the odometer page and I will clear out my track log.  As I hike, my receiver is collecting all my trail data.  Should my receiver’s compass display fail I can follow my track (the “bread crumb trail” on the map page) back to the trail head.

Lastly, I will consult my map. Using the major land features (e.g., ridge lines, peaks, etc.) I will orient the map, determine my location (using terrain association) and direction of travel.

15 GPS Tips

Rich Owings at GPStracklog.com has a super post on key tips for the new hand held GPS user.  Learn how to better use and set up you personal GPS.  

If you got a new handheld GPS, I’m hoping the weather is nice enough for you to get out and play with it. Here are some tips to help get you off on the right foot.

To read Rich's post go here.

A tip I would add is to "dump the junk."  Get rid of those old GPS waypoints that you don't use.  Keep the waypoints that you will need for y9our next journey afield.  I recommend not using your GPS as an electronic filing cabinet.