Locating Yourself in the Landscape

 
Maps. I love maps. I love having maps in my head. I love trying to place myself in long vistas, imagining how early peoples located themselves in relationship to natural features.

For example... at one vista from the trail on Saturday, I tried to determine what that white "scar" is in the middle of the view. I'm pretty sure it's actually the sand road leading down to Harvey Bridge where I started hiking that day.



Here's the really fun one. Remember how I keep finding views of Briar Hill, the highest point in the Lower Peninsula (1706 feet). Got it again!

The lump just right of center in this picture is Briar Hill from the north, and the little pimple left of it is the confusingly named Briar Ski Hill (1314 feet). Both are near Mesick, MI.



Here is another view. In this longer shot, Briar Ski Hill is hidden in the ridges in front of Briar Hill. The other pimple to the left (east) has to be an unnamed hill that is over near Silver Creek at 1251 feet. But this does show how these peaks stand out from the mostly consistent level of the far ridge. In this picture, Briar Hill (the big one) is about 8 miles away.



In both cases, I took a compass bearing just to be sure I wasn't trying to see something that really wasn't what I wanted it to be. But when I checked on a bigger map at home, I was right.

Now that you also know what to look for, you can spot those distinctive prominences in several of the other pictures from the last couple of days.

In other news: I worked on projects of mine all day long. I finished the jigsaw puzzle. I made potato-leek soup for supper with some leeks I brought home from my hike. Life is good.

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