Discussion: Best Map Name

Hammer's list needs to be updated again,
I think. It predates The Plains of Despair and Gates of AMT Hell, among others.

Ok, I'll start the thread. Hopefully it can get longer than that relay thread.

My favorite is Spaghetti Soup (Woodhill Forest, NZ)

Clarification... it is not my list but B. Myrvold's list (he writes for O-Today). Spaghetti Soup is a great name. Best/worst we can offer from these parts is Rattlesnake Point. Although the Gators club has a map called Sudden Tract - named after Hans Fransson I believe, or so the ancient legend goes.

Squirrel Kill (Ted Good, QOC).

This map near Ted's house covers part of a wooded area near Ft. Meade. As the story goes, one time Ted was out mapping and a Ft Meade patrol came by and asked him what he was doing. At the time he was holding a copy of the map - which was folded - and only part of the title was showing. Yes, he was running around on government property with a "Kill map."

I suppose it could have been worse: A guy running through the forest in his pajamas with a "Squirrel map."

There is an area called 'Great Cockup' in the Lake District, UK.

Would it be too much to hope that a prominent rock spire exists on that map?

It wasn't easy being the director of the first "A" meet at Gay City.

There's a map in SE England called "An Enchanted Place". It's of the forest that inspired the Winnie the Pooh books (northern part of Ashdown Forest in Sussex).

If you want really good place names you should be looking at road signs

There's always the Pits of Despair in NB, which I think has know been bought by the town to do something official with and hopefully the illegal logging will stop.

Welcome to the pits of despair. Don't even think about trying to escape!

OK Wil, bring on the quotes...

I think our "War Eagle" is a pretty cool name. And an awesome map, too!
I always think I should have known it would be bad before I wandered into "Fallen Timber Meadows". High grass with shin breaking logs and an early start time both days...

One day, EMPO will have an A-meet quality map at "Moreau". We're not there yet, though (only have a local-meet-quality map).

Are you ready for more O?

As long as there are lots of water stops.

I think we have a new contender for one of the best map names now.

This year's Giant's Rib Raid will be hosted on a few new maps in Caledon Hills. The southern most map will be called "Edelweiss". Park on south edge of the map is called Edelweiss. Woods are quite open but it is a small map. Fitting! One could even say the woods are "small and white, clean and bright".

A while back I went running with my Dad on a trail called 'Bog Swamp Trail'. About 2/3 of the way into the run we found ourselves facing 50ft of water and partially submerged trees with the trail markers heading straight across the expanse of water. Then a freak summer thunderstorm started and it was pouring. I suppose we should not have been suprised.

And now for the rest of the story....

At that time, we were combining orienteering with campus visits. Clothing, tent, shoes, were pretty wet and next stop was her first visit to Williams. Being a sunny day, we draped lots of stuff over the van to dry out and went for the general meeting. When Zan announced she was from Missouri, the host asked, "Is that your car with all the stuff drying?"

But she was accepted! Perhaps those Easterners weren't surprised by this behavior my Midwesterners:)

In Whitehorse we sometimes draw on the names of old mining claims that were staked along the Whitehorse Copper Belt. War Eagle is a recent example. Rabbit's Foot Canyon (named after a mining claim of tne same name) runs along one edge of the map so that was an option too. Our newest map will be "Copper King" - but in researching that I noticed that one old claim in the middle of the area was called Bingo.

Ross, you absolutely must call the map "Bingo". Copper King is great too but "Bingo" is perfect.

Copper Bingo

Whitehorse Bingo?

Shouldn't that be "Kopper King"? Or is that just the name of a bar? (I've camped 38 miles up the Canol Road.)

The bar is called the Kopper King spelled with a "K", the mining claim it derives from is spelled Copper with a "C". (Not sure why the difference but I will try find out!) The bar is about 1 km from the claim. There is also an adjacent claim called (wait for it... Copper Queen).
And I wonder how many alert readers have a clue how the reference to 38 miles up the Canol Rd fits in?

Could it be something to do with this?

It's a very scary bar.

ahhh... good old (and unfortunately very dead) stan rogers.

Hey, I _swam_ in Quiet Lake (38 miles up the Canol Road). A way to cool down after a run on a hot day. (I'm sure the lake wasn't 48 below.)

...but I agree, Bingo is a pretty cool name for a map.

Even a good excuse for a "special event".

My recollection is that mile 38 was well before Quiet Lake, probably due to twistiness in the road that you don't see in the big picture. We actually camped a little past mile 38, at a place on the east side of the road that gave us access to the river. Anybody got a copy of The Milepost to check?

Google Maps says it's 143 miles from Johnsons Crossing to Ross River, so the place where "they found him" should be only about a quarter of the way. What was he thinking? He couldn't have been expecting to find a gas station out there. But it is fiction, after all.

38 miles is approximately at Cottonwood Creek, whereas Quiet Lake is at about mile 47. The place you camped may have been the informal site beside Nisutlin River at about Mile 42.
Anyone reading who is not a Stan Rogers fan should check him out. I like to crank the rock and roll big time, but the stories he tells, images he creates with "real" heartfelt lyrics are almost too much.

That sounds right, mile 42 is probably where we camped. Charlie broke out his fly rod and started trying to fish until he realized that it was 1 AM. So we had beans for dinner. A lot of mosquitoes there (just like everywhere else up north).

Stan did write a lot of heartfelt, tender stuff ("Harris and the Mare" is an absolutely incredible piece, for example), but "Canol Road" is a straight-ahead rocker!

"I was told we'd cruise the seas, for american gold we'd fire no guns, shed no tears, I am a broken man on a halifax pier... "

name the song :)

A quick Google search gave the answer: Barrett's Privateers - another Stan Rogers song.
I have to admit I'd never heard of him before he popped up here, but my research certainly made me interested in finding some of his music.

All of his stuff is great, but in particular I'll recommend "Between the Breaks... Live". I'm also quite fond of "Northwest Passage". His brother Garnet is no slouch, either, and he's still alive and kicking.

Should we have a Stan Rogers campfire singalong at the 1000-Day?

Actually Garnet is a grouch rather than a slouch, I used to live across the road from his farm and have seen him live a couple of times.

Stan Rogers is of course from the greater Hamilton area and Barrett's Privateers is played far far too much in universities and fake Irish pubs in the Maritimes and throughout Canada. Northwest Passage and Being the plough are other great ones.

Grouch... I could believe that, having met him briefly once. But a fine musician.

I'm sure the lake wasn't 48 below.

Maybe I misunderstand the lyrics, but I thought 48 below was a reference to the lattitude, not temperature. I've noticed that my Western Canadian cousins tend to mix in lattitude with place references. I presume I'm supposed to gain some climate information from such references, but I don't.

Definitely temperature, though I can't say whether it's Fahrenheit or Celsius (not much difference at -48). The latitude is about 60 N (and I don't know how "below" would apply to latitude). The point is that the guy froze to death.

Bubo, I have to admit that I'd never heard of him either, (my earlier answer also came from a quick google search). I am also now inspired to discover his music.

It's amazing what non orienteering related topics you can learn about on an orienteering website!

And if you think about it "Northwest Passage" has got to rank prettty high in terms of orienteering -related themes in songs.

Ugh... I think Stan Rogers is terrible torture!

For a laugh, listen to "White Collar Holler."
For a love song, "Forty-Five Years".
For a good song to paddle your canoe to, "Rolling Down to Old Maui".
For great (sometimes heartbreaking) stories and beautifully crafted word images, "Song of the Candle", "Harris and the Mare", "Lies", "Tiny Fish from Japan", oh I guess the list goes on far too long.

And if you're just too cheerful, and really need a downer, go for "First Christmas".