It's An Opisometer

Day 30: People will think you're being vulgar if you call this device by its proper name. Yep, it's an "uh-PIS-uh-meet-er." I call it my "map-walker," a term which may raise questions but not necessarily eyebrows. By rolling it along a trail on a topographic map and using different conversions depending on the map's scale, it's actually fairly accurate for measuring distance. I've compared it against actual mileages on a 7.5' map often enough to trust it to give me an error factor of no more than a tenth of a mile over a five-mile run. Of course a lot depends on how many switchback corners there are and how carefully the operator can trace them, but it's a good sight better than "as the crow flies," a functional tool for telling this Crow how far she'll have to leg it.

Aptly Called "Horridus"

Day 319: Oplopanax horridus, otherwise known as Devil's Club, is aptly named in either English or Latin. The bane of hikers (especially those who travel cross-country rather than on trails) grows to ten feet in height with foot-wide leaves and one-inch diameter stalks which bear 2,473,876 hooked thorns per square inch by actual count. Or at least that's what you'd think if you accidentally grabbed one to pull yourself up a slope. It is arguably one of the thorniest plants in the forest and often chokes streambeds with an impenetrable tangle. Topographic considerations aside, Devil's Club provides an even stronger reason to stick to ridgelines when you're travelling off trail!

Easily Amused

Day 157: I'm easy to amuse. Just give me a map and compass and turn me loose! Although nowadays, I do a lot of plotting beforehand using the computer, and in the field, I'm likely to be navigating by GPS, I always carry map and compass for backup. You don't want to find yourself with dead batteries five miles off trail.