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Navigation Before GPS



It seemed prudent to drive to the nearest Department of Motor Vehicles in New Mexico to update my mail forwarding  address, lest there be complications with a speeding ticket from the Tucson reconnaissance-camera reich. After several nights of noisy, parking-lot boondocking my nerves were pretty frayed. Anybody who thinks that that style of camping is a quixotic, dreamy, escapist, full of holy Simplicity, Socrates and Thoreau-approved way of life has been sold a false bill of goods.

Thankfully I'm back on public lands near the Santa Rita mountains, south of Tucson. It's always a little surprising to see certain topographic features stand out so clearly, clear enough to serve as a navigational tool. In the Tucson area Baboquivari Peak serves that purpose. I like to call it "Babo".











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Comments

XXXXX said…
Now I know that the GPS system has gotten many a lost soul to their destination so that not a moment may be "lost" in their busy mostly neurotic lives. But much has been lost along the way that, unfortunately, most are too much in a tizzy to even notice. Imagine being able to chart our course with only physical landmarks. One must be very attentive to the physical in order not to miss them. Such a simple act ties one to the land and simply does not allow tizzy to develop for surely then you will miss it. We pay a high price for our modern conveniences. I for one am grateful for a map and that is as far as I go. Getting lost is half the fun in life.
March 2, 2012 at 6:06 AM
kaBLOOnie Boonster said…
Very well put, George. People think they need to blast to the next Starbucks or fast food drive-through, without missing a second, just as you said.
March 2, 2012 at 6:39 AM
Ed said…
I have also noticed when reading blogs that many authors will say they got lost and then something like "I turned on the GPS and found where we were and got back on track." It seems that people use their GPS or maps AFTER they get lost rather than guides to where they intend on going.
March 2, 2012 at 7:39 AM
kaBLOOnie Boonster said…
Ed, you will never hear something like that on THIS blog! I consider GPS unmanly and amateurish, the same way an Old Salt looks down on the gadgets of newbie sailors.
March 2, 2012 at 8:25 AM
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