Navigation Thoughts

Weather predictions for the area were all over the map with gusty conditions in many of the areas I frequent. As it was, the best of the weather would be nearby, so I set out for the Housatonic putting in upriver in Derby.  This would give me a tailwind on the return of the out-n-back trip. Other than that, it will be warmer than normal, getting into the 60's. The wind is out of the south at about 10mph.

About a mile down, I spot a mink working over the left bank.  Curious animals, they go for cover and then pop up as if they didn't remember what they were hiding from.  That behavior continues until the mink disappears about 30 yards upstream.

Mink 

This morning, I read an article by one of the old coot canoe experts about what has changed in canoeing during his lifetime.  The positives were canoes and paddles, which have both become lighter and more efficient.  I agreed about that, as I bought a new tandem canoe a few months ago - 43 lbs for a general purpose canoe - something I can portage as I age.  We also agreed about high tech gadgetry such as GPS and digital mapping tools.  I soured on GPS about 15 years ago.  I had bought my hand-held unit while I was assisting a local archaeologist.  GPS was a fine tool for giving the coordinates of an important feature or artifact so the someone might return to it at a later date. But, for my own navigation, while hiking off-trail or canoeing, GPS was annoying and distracting. You see, when one is trying to relate to the natural world, and trying to connect with wild places, one should be paying attention to what is at hand.  Wild land navigation is about spotting and remembering landmarks - a split tree, an unusual boulder, a large stump - just about anything that stands out. With that skill and a compass, you can find your way, or at least, you can find your way back.  It is a skill, which brings up another article (with a few peanut gallery comments) that I found about how people are losing their map and compass skills.  One of the comments was, "GPS has taken people's map and compass skills." This is complete bullshit as nothing took anything from people - they gave it up by relying on a high tech piece of equipment that tells them what direction to move (not that that is always possible). For these people, basic navigation skills (which must be practiced) have been replaced by an electronic arrow telling them what to do.  And, when I get into discussions with people who rely on GPS, I find that there is a certain lack of spirituality - Wildness is no longer something to wonder about and bath in, it is just a sports field, a place to rack up distance and time and checking off goals.

I paddle down to the wind tunnel and then turn back.  It will be a distance just short of 12 miles.  I collect another twenty yellow toy ducks.  I figured out that they most likely come from a Untied Way fund raising event in the town of Naugatuck, which is up the river of the same name.