So to save you some sleep, I'll pass a few of these "thunk up" ideas to you right now.

• If you line up the white (south) needle of the compass with the orienting arrow, you can go in exactly the opposite direction. If, for example, you're going in and out of the park along the same chain of lakes, you really only need to plot your course once. When you're up in the park, sitting in your canoe, align the red (north) needle inside the orienting arrow when you're going in and, using the same bearing settings, align the white (south) needle when you're going out.

• Your paper maps aren't waterproof, but you can make them water resistant. You can buy clear Krylon fixatif - it's a coating sold to artists who make charcoal drawings. A few thin coats on each side of the map seals the paper so that it won't fall apart when it gets wet. If you can't find the fixatif, clear Krylon spray is just about as good. Try it on a small area of your map to see if it makes the ink run.

• I consider a map to be an essential part of my outfitting. Since an extra map doesn't weight very much, I usually carry two copies. I start by making copies of sections of my topo maps at 150% on 11" X 14" paper. I then transfer the UTM Grid Lines from my topo map to my copies. I also transfer the Map Number (example: 52 M/1). Next, I get out a magnifying glass and carefully transfer the portages and portage distances from the Park Map to my topo map copies. Then I line up my copies, tape them down, and add in Magnetic Bearings. Finally, I give them each a coat of Krylon, front and back. One copy goes in my map case, along with the Park Map, one copy goes in my pack that doesn't have the food in it.

• If you carefully hide your maps and compass from your partner in the bow, you can sneak a look at them when he or she isn't watching, then dramatically stop the canoe and call for complete silence. When your partner looks back at you to see what's the matter, you can "feel" the air, smell the wind, and dip your hand into the water before announcing exactly the correct direction to the next portage landing. For the more practical traveler, you could explain your "secret" system, thereby insuring that your partner could drag you back to civilization should you manage to tweak your bad back into a knot while landing that giant Jackfish.

I talked about Woodland Caribou Park, and used examples from the park to explain the method of marking bearings. All right, I admit it, I started doing this with my McKenzie maps when I traveled in the boundary waters. Hey, I had to do it, I was always getting myself lost. You can too. The declination for the Superior National Forest and Quetico Park is close to 0 degrees right now. If you set your compass dial to 0 degrees (SLIDE 11) and line up the edge of the compass with the "North" arrow on your Fisher or McKenzie map, you can chart your course just as I do with my topographic maps.
Now if you're going to travel in Wabakimi Park, the declination is only 2 degrees East. You would set your compass for 358 degrees (SLIDE 11).

In Algonquin Park, near the eastern border of Ontario, your declination will be close to 10 degrees West, not the 5 degrees East of Woodland Caribou Park. To align your Algonquin map for taking magnetic bearings, you would have to set the dial on your compass to 10 degrees (SLIDE 11) instead of the 355 degrees we used for aligning the Woodland Caribou map. Take a look at the map above. This map came with my Silva compass and it illustrates and explains why the declination changes:

Hey, you read this whole thing! Not only did I save you some sleep, I probably put you to sleep. Sleep is good. Think about the things I've shown you, sleep on it, and then get a map and give it a try. If you have any questions, or would like me to give you a reality check, send me a letter.