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Hiking

For the grown-up beside a child who loves hiking.

The child's own door is Hiking on Spark & Anvil.

There is no Whetstone tool or course for hiking yet, so this page is the sideline card and your child's ladder.

The sideline card

Three numbers to notice

  1. The contour interval under the map’s scale bar, often 20 or 40 feet: the climb from one brown line to the next.
  2. Lines close together mean steep ground; lines far apart mean gentle ground.
  3. Every fourth or fifth line is darker and labelled with its height, so you can count up from it.

On the way home, ask: “Where on the trail did it feel steepest, and would the map have told us?”

Ask because you are curious, and let any answer stand. Print this page for a half-page card.

Numbers checked against: USGS Circular 368: Features Shown on Topographic Maps

Your child's ladder · on Spark & Anvil

The same idea at every age

  1. Ages 3–5Not made yet
  2. Ages 6–8How Much Farther?
  3. Ages 9–14How Long Is the Walk?
  4. Ages 15–18Tobler’s Hill Rule

Your child will meet this idea again at every age. The sideline card is the part for you.