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Backpacker Magazine – May 2010

Navigation: Canyons and Deserts

Learn how to stay on track and find water safely in the desert and canyons.

by: Kristin Bjornsen, Dougald Macdonald, & Kristin Hostetter

PAGE 1 2 3
Key Gear
1. Mytopo.com lets you order aerial photographs with UTM grid overlays for any U.S. destination. Choose between color or black-and-white, waterproof, glossy, or laminated, and multiple sizes. $15 and up

2. Brunton’s 54LU has all of the normal functions of a baseplate compass and also allows you to sight through it for extremely accurate plotting, a valuable tool in the featureless desert. $109; 1.4 oz.; brunton.com

3. Need to take a bearing to a very distant landform? The lightweight, thumb-size Columbia Companion Monocular has a 10x-to-30x zoom with high-quality focus. $41; 3.2 oz.; krugeroptical.com

Photos by Courtesy, Illustrations by Supercorn, Maps by mytopo.com
PAGE 1 2 3

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