Sighting with the Cammenga 3H/M27 Lensatic Compass

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Dick

Like its British cousin, the M73/88, the Cammenga military 3H/M27 lensatic is fitted with a sighting wire in the lid, which is raised to a 90-degree angle for taking bearings, as shown below.

(This week’s images are sourced from U.S. Military Field Manual 3-25.26, Map Reading and Land Navigation.)

Fold the back sight down slightly and bring the compass up to the eye, as indicated. Sight down through the lensatic back sight, pushing forward on the sight with your eye and cheek until the image of the compass dial comes into focus. Look through the now-focused lensatic back sight and align the sighting wire on the object on which the bearing will be taken. The compass card will be visible at the same time through the magnifying lensatic back sight. The bearing can then be read against the black index line on the glass compass dial, as shown below.

The 3H/M27 is graduated in both degrees and mils. The degrees on the compass card are in five-degree graduations; individual degrees must be “eyeball-estimated” is using the degree scale. With a little practice, by dividing the space between the five-degree graduations by 4, readings of 1.25 degrees can be made.

Here I will, once again, repeat a point made in last week’s blog concerning the Silva Expedition 54. A very rough bearing can be taken on a landmark without using the 3H/M27′s sight system, as shown below, by holding the compass level at waist height, pointing it at the landmark. The results, however, will be coarse; you’re lucky to be within 10 degrees with a “waist level” bearing.

To put these levels of precision (or lack of them) into perspective, note that one degree of compass angle subtends about 30 yards per mile. Thus, if the distance involved to a landmark is, say, five miles, a compass providing accuracy to within one degree will be accurate to about 150 yards. (1 degree x 30 yards x 5 miles = 150 yards.)

On the other hand, if a “waist level” bearing is used – accurate to within only 10 degrees, at best – the level of precision will worsen to a whopping 1,500 yards, which is nearly a land mile. (10 degrees x 30 yards x 5 miles = 1,500 yards.)

DIY Milk Jug Lantern

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Rebecca

Here’s a DIY camping tip that’s been hot on Pinterest the past year. Inspired by this “pin“ we took a few minutes to test out the Milk Jug Lantern.What do you think? Is this a useful camping tip or just a fun backyard project?

Weekly News Review

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Al

General Interest:

I know it’s Father’s Day weekend and we should be celebrating bad ass Dad’s but we can’t help but mention a bad ass Mom who recently became the first woman to climb and ski the Grand Teton solo.
Has anyone visited Yosemite’s Mist Trail? Lately it’s been in the news, in fact Park Officials may be closing it due to deaths as people go over the falls near the trail.
One of our favorite sites at Death Valley is the ‘Racetrack Playa’ and these magical stones that move effortlessly across the desert. Here’s a cool article all about how these rocks move.

Southeastern Wyoming

I had two surprises the when I read this the other morning. The first is that people harvest mushrooms in the Medicine Bow National Forest and the second is that people need a permit to do it. Permits for harvesting wild mushrooms are now available at all Medicine Bow National Forest offices.
Everyone is getting geared up for the Dead Dog Classic next week. Information and a race schedule can be found here.

Northern Colorado

One year ago the High Park Fire significantly effected Larimer County. Here’s an interesting article about the effects of the fire one year later.
Speaking of fires, Rocky Mountain National Park is currently dealing with the Big Meadow Fire and of course there is the much worse Black Forest Fire just north of Colorado Springs. These last two links are from the InciWeb web site and may load slowly due to high traffic.

Just Trails News

We have added the Round Mountain Trail to our website. Jump on over and check it out.

Rocky Mountain Jim

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Rebecca

Today’s tale takes us to Colorado as we talk about an interesting man named James Nugent, also known as Rocky Mountain JIm.

You can listen to today’s podcast by clicking ‘play’ or read our show notes below.

According to the book “Pioneers of the Colorado Parks, North, Middle, and South Parks from 1850-1900, by Richard Barth, Rocky Mountain Jim has been described as a “chivalrous gentleman, drunkard, poet, liar, mountain man and ruffian” he also worked for the army as a guide, scout and Indian spy when he needed the money. He’s was just this rough and tough misunderstood man with a fascinating story.

We don’t know much about Jim’s background, he just sort of showed up in Estes Park Colorado around 1868, there was a lot of speculation about him. Some said he was a desperado, some said that he had served with the Hudson’s and American Fur Company others said he was a defrocked priest, and others say that he was a former schoolmaster from Canada or a bushwhacker from Kansas or the son of an english Army officer stationed in Canada. Regardless, he ended up in Colorado and built a small a bin on the mouth of Muggins Gulch.

While there’s a lot that’s been written about Rocky Mountain Jim, today I’m just going to talk about an adventure that he had with a bear and next week we’ll talk about his alleged romance with the famous Isabella Bird.

In July of 1871 Jim was hunting and he saddled up his mule and left his camp to visit a deer lick. Now it’s noteworthy that he left his rifle in his camp and just had with him a large-caliber revolver. So, Jim and his dog, Ring, make their way to the salt lick and just as they are watching several deer in the area they notice that the deer tense up just as a huge bear and her two cubs come out from some brush. Jim fired 4 bullets into the massive bear but it wasn’t enough.

The bear attacked and threw Jim to the ground and just started tearing up his left arm with her teeth. Jim, who was in the midst of wrestling the bear fired a 5th shot into the bear’s body but as he fired a 6th shot had a misfire. Then the bear grabbed Jim’s head and ripped his scalp to the bone along the right side and across the forehead. At this point Jim passed out.

When he regained his consciousness he surveyed the damage. He was laying next to the dead bear in a puddle of blood. He was missing his left thumb. A flap of skin was covering his right eye and he was just a mangled mess. But, he drug himself to his mule, hopped on and set out for Grand Lake, a journey of about 8 miles. Along the way he became delusional and started hearing voices, he passed out once but his mule is the real hero of the story because she didn’t run off when he was being attacked by the bear and it eventually took him to safety.

Jim eventually made it to a lake where he found two men who patched him up as well as they could. One man set off to find a doctor while the other helped him get to Grand Lake. Slowly Jim recovered, and a month after the incident he went to a newspaper office to put a public thank you to those who had helped him in the newspaper which I think was very nice of him.

Jim did swear an oath to make himself a terror to the whole bear family and he set out to kill as many bears as he could.

Unfortunately, Jim met his fate, being killed not by a bear but but by a man named Griff Evans and there’s a few theories on why he was shot, some claim it was over the idea of a hunting preserve others say the the had insulted Evan’s daughter. Either way, the murder hit the region hard. Some people believed that Rocky Mountain Jim was nothing more than a drunk, others believed that he was kind, generous and well-liked.

Now, there’s really 3 parts to Rocky Mountain Jim’s story. We talked about the bear attack and a little bit about his murder. Rather than go more into the murder the story of his alleged love affairs with Miss Isabella Bird is much more interesting so be sure to tune in next week where we talk a little bit more about Rocky Mountain Jim and Isabella Bird.

I’d love to hear what you think of Rocky Mountain Jim’s bear attack, why do you think he left his rifle in his hunting camp?

References:

It Happened in Rocky Mountain National Park (It Happened In Series) by Phyllis J Perry

The Story of Early Estes Park by Enos A. Mills (link)

Easy scenic hikes in the Snowy Range.

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Al

Whether you don’t have time to walk a long trail out and back or you just don’t want to, we want to help. Here are some places to visit that offer some great scenery with little, and sometimes no effort beyond driving. In these areas you don’t have to walk the entire length of a trail. Just sit and enjoy a peaceful lake or take a stroll and turn around whenever you want.

Lake Marie from the Medicine Bow Peak Trail

Mirror Lake or Lake Marie: Both of these lakes sit right below Medicine Bow Peak next to Wyoming Highway 130. There is a very wide and gentle trail between them. It’s a little over 1/2 mile one way and great for a leisurely stroll. You can find it on our Medicine Bow Peak Trail Map. From Lake Marie you can also head down the Tipple Trail and within the first 1/4 mile you’ll come to a little bench with great views of Medicine Bow Peak and South French Creek. And of course you can spend some time at Lake Marie Falls. It is common to see the Lake Marie parking area full during the summer, but you can usually find parking around Mirror Lake or at the Tipple Trailhead parking area a few hundred feet beyond the Lake Marie parking area.
Lewis Lake

The Sugar Loaf Recreation Area: This is the area around Sugar Loaf Mountain, Lewis Lake, and Libby Lake. There are several options here for great scenery with little effort. Even though there are no trails around the lakes you can still walk around them. You can head up any of the established trails where you’ll be surrounded by rocky peaks and alpine lakes. Or you can perch yourself on a rock and take just take it all in. There are several picnic tables around so bring a lunch. There is a parking area near both of the lakes and the one near Lewis Lake always fills up first. We show the area most clearly on our Medicine Bow Peak Trail Map.
Brooklyn Lake

Brooklyn Lake Area: Brooklyn Lake is just below the tree line which gives it a slightly different feel than the two areas listed above. There are two trails that start from Brooklyn Lake, the Lost Lake Trail and Sheep Lake Trail. You’ll also pass the trailhead for the North Fork Trail before you come into the clearing around Brooklyn Lake. If you travel along Sheep Lake Trail you’ll get a unique view looking back toward Laramie. You’ll also walk past the start of the North Fork of the Little Laramie River in the small lakes that dot the first mile of the trail. Lost Lake Trail is also fun as it starts in the trees taking you gradually into the alpine zone passing several lakes along the way.

If you’re tried one of these let us know what you think here or leave a comment on the trail page. We’d love to hear about your favorite easy scenic hike in the Snowy Range.

Sighting With the Silva Expedition 54

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Dick

To take a bearing with a Silva Expedition Model 54, first set the compass dial on “North.” (This positions the back sight prism.) Note the position of the back sight prism on the compass dial, as shown below.

Raise the compass to the eye, sighting into the back sight prism as illustrated in the following figure from a Silva manual. Keeping both eyes open and the compass level, turn your entire body until the landmark or other object the bearing will be taken on is atop the index line visible through the prismatic back sight

The large number on the bottom of the dial in alignment with the index line is the magnetic bearing to the object (and is the bearing you’ll be dealing with); the smaller number on the top of the dial is the bearing from the object – the back bearing. The bearing to the object is easily read in single degrees and often down to ½ degree.

As with the M73/M88 and the Cammenga U.S. lensatic, accurate bearings can be taken with a Silva Expedition 54 even in darkness, provided that a landmark is visible and identifiable and you give the compass a good “flashlight shot” before taking your bearing.

Here I will repeat a point made in last week’s blog concerning the M73/M88. A very rough bearing can be taken on a landmark without using the Silva Expedition 54′s sight system, as shown below, by holding the compass level at waist height, pointing it at the landmark. The results, however, will be coarse. While, as we have seen, a bearing down to the precision of ½ degree is attainable with the Silva, (using the prismatic sighting system), you’re lucky to be within 10 degrees with a “waist level” bearing.

Next week – Sighting With the Cammenga U.S. Lensatic 3H or M27.

DIY Toothpaste Dots

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Rebecca

Today’s trail tip is inspired by this pin and this pin. For the ultralight hiker looking to ditch some toothpaste dead weight here’s one for you–toothpaste dots.

A quick show of hands, who thinks that camping and backpacking are just excuses to NOT brush your teeth?!?!!!!

Weekly News Review

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Rebecca

General Interest

You may remember our post about dog poop and horse poop on the trails a few weeks ago. While we don’t mind the stuff, a town in Spain does. So much so that they mail dog poop to the dogs owners.
A recent article states that Yellowstone elk may stop migrating. There are several reasons why such as the drought, an increase of predators and urban development. You can read the full story here.
Here’s a good reason to hike with a fully charged cell phone. A Utah man recently took a simple day hike and didn’t make it home. While the entire story is tragic, local cell phone towers and his cell phone led Search and Rescue efforts to his body.
How do you plan on celebrating your 102nd birthday? This is a story about a rad Grandma who celebrated hers by base jumping.
Can humans and wildlife safely coexist? Here’s a great read from National Geographic about wildlife habitat and human encroachment.

Southeast Wyoming:

Curt Gowdy State Park is offering Fireside Ranger talks throughout the summer. They cover a wide range of topics and sound like they will be both entertaining and informational. You can find the full schedule here.
All the day use sights in the Medicine Bow National Forest are free this Saturday, June 8th. That means no trailhead fees.

Northern Colorado:

This bear can open car doors. Yes, there is a bear near Steamboat who can open car doors. It’s not part of a circus act, and it’s actually quite sad when a wild bear picks up a skill like this.

Yellowstone’s First Bicycle Explorers

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Rebecca

We ran across an interesting piece of Yellowstone history a few months ago involving an intrepid group of cyclists from Laramie. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a podcast about the first group to explore Yellowstone by bicycle…and yes, they were members of the Laramie Bicycle Club of Wyoming.

You can listen to today’s podcast by clicking ‘play’ or read our show notes below.

The main source that I used for this podcast is a first hand account of the experience by W. O. Owen who was one of the three members of the Laramie Bicycle Club to plan and complete the tour of Yellowstone. It’s a fascinating read and the link to where you can find his account is below.

So the year is 1883, and if you can imagine the West was still wild with outlaws and cowboys, trappers, and westward migration and expansion. But in 1872 the Yellowstone National Park Act had been established, making it the world’s first National Park. The act set aside two million acres in Montana and Wyoming as a place to be preserved and protected for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.

Now, wanting to explore this wild land, several members of the Laramie Bicycle Club started to plan their journey. Ironically there was a little bit of disagreement amongst members of the club-most of them believed that a journey through Yellowstone would be impossible. Not because they’d be dodging tourists stopped on the side of the road taking pictures of bison like we see now, but because the terrain was rough, the weather could be terrible, and if you can envision one of those old fashioned bicycles with a large front wheel and a small back wheel their equipment was pretty heavy and rustic. I can imagine that without shocks or a cushy seat that riding bicycles of the era was not a comfortable way to travel. Eventually three men, C.S. Greenbaum, W. K. Sinclair and W. O Owen decided to make the tour.

At that time there were two entrances into the park, the first through Bozeman, Montana, and the second through Beaver Canon, Idaho. The men decided to enter the park through Idaho so they traveled by rail through Utah and met up with a team, wagon, camp outfit and guide at Beaver Canon and then began their epic adventure.

Owen’s account of this adventure is just amazing. He describes traveling through Teton valley and seeing the Tetons, which he described as “sharp in the pure, strong blue with faultless definition,” which I think is one of the most accurate descriptions I’ve ever heard.

The group then traveled to Henry’s Fork of the Snake River and took a wagon across the river and then headed into the park. Now, the group knew that they were the first to enter the park by bicycle and Owen describes a race to be the first to enter the park.

He wrote, “For two miles we rode neck and neck and it seemed as if all were to share the honor equally, when suddenly Sinclair took a stunning header and left but two of us to finish. A dead heat was the result, for we crossed the line together.”

A little bit later they crested the top of a hill an noticed a large band of Native Americans below them. Not knowing if the Native Americans were friendly they decided to keep heading down the trail and just blew past the Native Americans. Owen once again gives a great description of what happened, he wrote,

“At this moment we were about a quarter of a mile from the Indians and perhaps a mile from the foot of the mountain. In my heart I believe that no men ever moved with greater velocity on a wheel than did we on this occasion. We dashed into their midst at a speed which I dare not even conjecture, and, with the most unearthly yells that ever reached human ears, squaws, chiefs, horses and innumerable dogs scattered in as many directions as there are points to the mariner’s compass. It was a desperate charge, but entirely successful, and, passing the Indians, we reached the foot of the hill in safety.

I imagine that from a Native American’s standpoint who had never seen a white man on a bicycle before that this experience was a little bit bizarre.

The group went on to travel through the park, Owen described the water in the park as being exceedingly “disagreeable to the palate” but that seeing the geysers, boiling hot springs, transparent pools of water, and Old Faithful were incredible. And like most early tourists, the group added their names to a silicate formation, signing off as the first bicycle tourists in Yellowstone Wyoming.

At one point Owen used a cup of boiling geyser water to make a cup of tea which made him terribly sick. But he recovered quickly and was able to continue the journey. He also talks about visiting Mammoth Hot Springs, and I didn’t know this but I guess it was customary for early tourists to suspend things like old shoes, bottles, picture frames into the springs and then let them dry and when they dried they be dried with a hard, white coating.

They eventually made there way back to Beaver Canon and took a train home to Laramie. And Owen sums up their journey nicely. He wrote,

“It would be difficult to arrange a trip of equal interest, and I trust any others will be persuaded to take it. Some toil and hardship, to be sure, must accompany the undertaking, what what figure do they cut? The shadowy forms of obstacles that were met and turned on this journey arise before me; but all the toil an hardships endured pale an grow dim when compared with the pleasure and the friendship of those welcome made our home where night overtook us, and left a green spot in our memoir that time cannot efface.”

It’s interesting to see how Yellowstone has changed since this first bicycle tour.What do you think about the first bicycle tour of Yellowstone? Would you have toured Yellowstone in the late 1800′s on bicycle knowing that you were going deep into a rugged and potentially dangerous place?

References:

The First Bicycle Tour of the Yellowstone National Park (link)

It Happened in Yellowstone, 2nd: Remarkable Events That Shaped History (It Happened In Series) by Erin H. Turner

(We are an Amazon affiliate, you can read our disclaimer here)

Waterfall Hikes near Medicine Bow Peak

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Al

One of our favorite things about spring is the waterfalls. When the snow melts, even the smallest streams comes to life and every waterfall becomes captivating as the water tumbles over rocks and sometimes beneath them. To help share all this, we put together this list of waterfall hikes near Medicine Bow Peak in the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Lake Marie Falls: We put this one first because it’s the easiest one to get to but I don’t feel right calling it a waterfall hike since you can almost see it from your car. It isn’t the most dramatic thing in terms of height or volume but it is in one of the most beautiful places near Medicine Bow Peak. The waterfall is the start of South French Creek as it leaves Lake Marie and works its way toward the Platte River. We recommend this one for people who don’t want to walk far and don’t mind other people nearby.
Reservoir Lake Falls: This waterfall ranks pretty high on our list of favorites but it is probably the hardest to get to on this list. The waterfall drains the very large and natural Reservoir Lake north of Medicine Bow Peak. It would be taller but it disappears under some boulders at the bottom and doesn’t reappear for quite a while. We recommend getting to the waterfall by hiking Gap Lakes Trail and then Quealy Lake Trail. This would be the shortest route at 3.4 miles one way and by far the most scenic. We recommend this one for people who don’t mind a moderately difficult and technical hike. You will most likely have this waterfall all to yourself.
Sunshine Falls: The third waterfall on our list in the area around Medicine Bow Peak is Sunshine Falls along the French Creek Canyon Trail. This waterfall isn’t hard to get to but it can be a pain to get back. It is 2.8 miles from the Tipple Trailhead which is the high point of the trial so it’s all up hill on the way out gaining 976 feet. Sunshine Falls is also easy to miss. You can’t see it from the trail even though it is very close to the trail. There is a sign placed by the Forest Service to guide you. The French Creek Canyon Trail is an amazing hike in its own right so you certainly won’t be disappointed even if you do miss the falls.

If it is still late spring or early summer probably only the Lake Marie Falls will be accessible due to the snow. Let me know if you’ve enjoyed these waterfalls and please tell me if I missed one.