The worldwide survey story - This section contains short stories about our mapmaking expeditions (in chronological order). The text is accompanied by graphics that show the difference between a basemap (what we had when we first enter a terrain) and our survey. To see the difference precisely move your mouse cursor over any left small map.
Some of our expeditions are covered by longer stories - reportages.
Woodhill Forest 2003 Black sand dunes by Tasman Sea Our last mapping in New Zealand was several kilometers north from Murawai (story no. 38). The black sand terrain was generally flat however with many wind formed shapes. The shallow parts made mapping difficult, our basemap usually did not show anything in these places.
In May 2003 we simultaneously worked there with loggers. They were thinning the pine plantations making dense ride system. We decided instead surveying each ride to use a generalizing symbol as you can see in the cut out.
The surroundings of Woodhill Forest - with trimmed branches on the ground, winding motorbike tracks, wet pits for watering illegal cannabis, native bush areas and big turves of cutty grass (in Maori language toi toi) - was the center of the World Cup 1994.
Big King 2003 Basemap Water tank on the top of Big King Auckland the biggest city of New Zealand was settled on a quite active volcanic area (in geological terms). There are 48 small now silent volcanoes scattered around the windy city. Big King is one of these cones also with craters that tower above Auckland and serve as a public park.
Sun exposed volcano hills were also popular among the pre-European settlers - among the Maori people. Maori tribes used them as fortifications to fight against each other. Some of the remnants of Maori life are very useful for orienteering. Especially Maori storage pits (mapped as depressions) for storing kumara - the sweet potato.
Auckland orienteers organized here the first official Sprint Championships of New Zealand in April 2003.

Murawai 2003 Murawai 1992 Water lilies on Lake Okaihau Our first touch with New Zealand countryside was on the Murawai beach (a one hour drive northwest from Auckland). This straight long shore is covered with soft black sand that is regularly washed by the mighty tides of Tasman Sea.
Strong constant winds from the sea formed beautiful sand dune features now mostly hidden in dense pine plantations (Pinus Radiata). The forest can be really tricky for orienteering because of its very low visibility.
The coast than steeply rises to a scenic farmland. Black cows enjoy there splendid views - open erosion terrain, water lily lakes, big native puriri trees, and a 15 meter high waterfall. The surrounding of lake Okaihau also hosted the New Zealand Relay Championship 2003. And we mapped it (Ales and Vendy).


Konigstein 2002 Basemap Konigstein It was freezing and the small castle town of Konigstein im Taunus was in cheerful Advent mood. We were instead jollying in Christmas decorated streets mapping nearby castle complex, parks, meadows and forest.
The castle ruin Konigstein is one of the largest in Germany. It thrones on a hill area of nearly 1,5 hectares. The majestic ruin surroundings are rocky while adjacent meadows and beech forest are quite smooth only with some gullies, marshes and vegetation details.
This map was made for secondary students of local convent school. Their first orienteering map.


Prospect Hill 2002 Basemap Juniper meadow The Prospect Hill in the Waterloo Recreation Area was green. Thorny shrubs usually grow on places with a lot of sunshine - in this case on a former sunny golf course. The most obvious objects you could put a control on were nesting boxes on poles.
The northwestern part was nicer. Oak trees combined with juniper meadows had created a perfect hunting arena. I sang, whistled and loudly walkie talked to Vendy to prevent hunter encounters. They stalked through bush - bows and arrows ready with them.
Fortunately nothing occurred and we left Michigan with a safety souvenir - blaze orange cap.


Peach Mountain 2002 Basemap Stirling 1964 Shiny maples Mainly leafy forest turned in the late October yellow and red. Gold above, gold beneath, maple leaves were falling down and rustling on ground. That was the "indian summer 2002" we spend mapping together (Ales and Vendy) in Michigan.
On the top of the highest peak on the Peach Mountain there were two huge radio telescopes. The University of Michigan was using them for its research.
The terrain was rather unusuall in comparison with other "more" glacial parts of Michigan - steep, with long valleys, reentrances in reentrances, nearly no bush and marshes, with pine plantations.


Wavokovo 2002 Radyne 1990 Views from the very top of the castle ruin Radyne is a characteristic landmark on Pilsner horizon. It is a ruin of a medieval castle that was founded by the emperor Charles IV. The surrounding stony forest gradually raises to a rocky top. On the top in the middle of the map there is the castle Radyne.You can distinguish there an old fortification ramparts and moats. It is the highest peak of local countryside - 567 meters above sea level.
Wavok liked this forest. He was a member of our orienteering club. A small memorial on one of the rocks reminds us him - a spontaneous enthusiast Wavok. Sport was his destiny.


Jesterci louka 2002 Basemap Scouting camp In the southern part of Sumava Mountains we made a small map for scouting purposes. My beloved ranger girlfriend Vendula invited me to organize a cartography workshop there. Snail, Il-tchi, Raccoon, Dino, Cub, Beaver, Dolphin, Andy, Nancy, Spy, Mosquito (nicknames) tried to make their first map.
The scouting camp is situated in a former German village. You can find massive stone walls, mossy orchards and old ruins all hidden in shrubby and marshy woods there.
The pit you can see on the map sample is a seasonable camp latrine.


Hebalm 2002 Aerial photo / White sheet work Moorland Maltese knights run downhill and cross-country ski resort Hebalm (southern Austria) - 1294 meters above the sea level. Seasonally very busy sporty place however in springtime (when we used to be there) the mountains are very quite and desolate.
Long steep slopes are interwoven by many timber tracks. Small brooks, purple azalea rocks, stones, moorland can be found there as well. On the top of one of the mountains there is an impressive forest dome (land art work).


Sklene 2002 Basemap Meadows of Vysocina Czech highland Vysocina is typically rich in details - sundry vegetation, winding brooks, marshes, sometimes rocks and stones.
On a bottom of a former pond I mapped a nice blooming meadow - pink brushes, yellow dandelions. In winter covered wit snow these meadows are full of skiers. Nove Město is an often organizer of cross-country World cups.



Sohre 2002 Sohre 1991 Spring streamfalls in foggy beech forest Our task was to make two orienteering maps of similar neighboring terrains by Kassel in Germany. Beech forest was covering most of the forest. Other parts (spruce) were usually very thick.
Interesting landforms were only in the valleys; otherwise the hills were smoothly falling from 425 meters to 275 meters. The challenge of this mapping was the constant drizzle and rain. As a result a compost dump started to rot quicker and the local roads had to be closed.


Ramzova 2001 Basemap Knolly meadows and the Giant rock Again in the Jeseniky Mountains (see no. 15) mapping long slopes with many stony knolls and rocks.
The hillsides are covered with beech and spruce forest. Unfortunately it had not been so before the Second World War. Mainly German speaking farmers had cultivated these former meadows and fields. However they had to leave their property and move to Germany. They were accused of collaboration with nazi troops.
As another war reminder you can find in the southern part of the map a concrete bunker. It is piece of a long protecting palisade, which was never used. Czech Championships 2002.


Waterfall Glen 2001 Waterfall Glen 1991 Rocky canyon by the Hindu temple The founder of the mapped forest preserve (and the preserve itself) is called Waterfall Glen. That had been causing some misunderstandings. People had thought a waterfall should be there. So they had made a small one.
The vegetation is bushy with several large rough open areas that offer fine control points. On the southwestern side of the map you can find a Hindu temple, artesian well, water shaped contours and a dry rocky canyon. I suppose there must be a real waterfall in the spring when the water flows down.


Palos North 2001 Basemap Stirling 1994 Croaking sloughes in Palos On the southwestern side of Chicagoland where the Calumet River flows through a hilly countryside there are several nice orienteering terraines. Palos North is one of them.
The upper plateau with many lakes as Tomahawk Slough, Bull Frog Lake or Maple Lake is trimmed by undulating inclines. The hilly area is mostly covered with thick forest.
I worked partially with a photogrammetry basemap. It was quite accurate but I could not absolutely rely on it. I did some changes as you can see on the pictures. US A-meet April 2002.


Cesky les 2001 Basemap Shocart Lonely meadows of Cesky les The 5th World Rogaining Championships 2002 take place in the Czech Republic.
Rogaining is rather new orienteering sport with emphasis on cross-country navigation in large areas. Teams (2-5 members) try to find as many checkpoints as possible in 24 hours.
I prepare the maps. The whole competition area is about 170 square kilometers and is situated on the western border with Germany in Cesky les.
The highland (500-900 meters above the sea level) is mostly covered with forests. There are no expressive terrain details, several rocky areas, marshes, ruines of old villages. There live very few people because of the protected border before 1989. It is a nice forgotten part of the Czech Republic. Come and see.


Teichelberg-Nord 2001 Basemap Pechbrunn It was for the second time I checked a piece of land in Pechbrunn (see no. 10). I stayed exactly in the mapped area by the O-family Dohlers.
The terrain gently rises to a basalt quarry, where you can find interesting man-formed contours. The quarry is connected with the village by a tube that transports stones to a railway station. On both sides of the tube grow huge plants - Heracleum mentegazzianum. Metternich brought them to this region in the 19th century as a green shield for pheasants. The whole plant is very poisonous and is spreading to other parts of Germany and Czech Rep. Bayern Relay Championships 2001.


V ohbi Berounky 2001 Basemap The river Berounka 13 members of our club surveyed during the spring 2001 on both side of the river Berounka 7 square kilometers.
It is wonderful that such a beautiful landscape is so close to Plzen (the fourth largest city of the Czech Republic).
On the map there is a variety of terrains that offers difficult course setting such as narrow gorges, flat parts and steep hillsides with rock pillars and boulders. On these slopes you can even see a mouflon.
I swam to a small island in the Berounka river on the last survey-day and checked 14 672 square meters of bushy land that contained 1 knoll, 1 depression, 1 pit and 7 distinct trees.


Wadlhausergraben 2001 Schatzgrube 1994 Nice views of the Alps Rain. Drizzle. Rain. - Cloudy March 2001 in the woods of southern Bayern (Germany).
Continental type of vegetation combined with glacial terrain - many small hills, valleys, ridges but nearly no stones and rocks. On the other hand a dense communication net makes the running in this difficult terrain easier.
When the weather allowed it we could see a long range of huge mountains in the south - the Alps.
TSV Grunwald organized there in July 2001 the Bayern Championships.


Pernink 2000 Ortophoto basemap Krusne hory There are not too many places to organize a ski orienteering event in the Czech Republic. A suitable cross country ski center and favorable snow conditions are the only limits. Therefore, it is not an easy task to find a totally new ski-o terrain.
Our sport club found it in the Krusne hory, on the northwest border with Germany. This is one of the range of mountains that forms the characteristic shape of the Czech Republic.
It was in the time of first snow one week before Christmas 2000. Seven members of our club, in the heights between 875 and 1110 meters above the sea level, surveyed 21 km2. Forest combined with open land, peat bogs, tiny pine trees, wolf pits (made by tin miners in the 19th century).
The work was focused especially on the communication network and open land features. Because of aerial photos and simplifying approach, it took only two days to survey it.


Brada 2000 Basemap Bohemian Paradise The annual meeting of the Czech Cartography Committee took place in the sandstone terrains in the northern part of the Czech Republic. Its mission is to train new cartographs and to develop mapmaking standards.
Twelve experienced cartographers from the whole country surveyed the same piece of land. Different approaches and tolls as compasses, altimeters, range finders, GPS brought different views how to percept a countryside.


Isar 2000 Isar 1991 Beech forest by the Isar river The river Isar springs in the Alps, flows through Munich and empty into the Danube River. Fragments of minerals tint the river dark green.
The countryside in the south of Munich, direction Grunwald is very flat (see no.12). One of the exceptions is a steep valley of the river Isar. The strong current formed on its banks many terrain details.
Other things were pebble beaches on both sides of the river. Naked naturalists were catching here last beams of the late summer 2000.


Mt McIntyre 2000 Mt McIntyre 1994 Hidden Lakes Nine-hour flight from Europe and you are in the pristine wilderness, in the gold rush country - the Yukon in Canada. The capital Whitehorse is lost in never-ending forests of the very North America.
Variety of Scandinavian type of terrains that were shaped by glaciers, real wildlife next-door, hidden lakes with beavers, moose, eagles and bears.
I started survey round the Mount McIntyre Recreation Center where was the World Cup 1996 in cross-country skiing. The accuracy of the basemap was not too high, so the work was rather challenging. Yukon Championships 2000.


Chadburn Lake 2000 Chadburn Lakes 1994 Chadburn Lake On the right bank of the Yukon river there is the second terrain I worked in - Chadburn lake, Hidden lakes, full of depressions, knolls, lakes and sandy slopes.
The basemap was very good. I only reworked vegetation and expressed (suppressed) some terrain shapes to make the map more understandable to a orienteerer.
There is round 15 000 bears in the Yukon, they are said to be peaceful but sometimes I didn't fell too safe. Pepper spray, jingle and my loud voice were the only things to scare them. And my imagination: "I am hitting a huge grizzly with the sharp edge of my compass," that finished it of course. In fact I saw 6 bears and all of them survived.


Waldsee 2000 Waldsee 1989 Germany/ Hessen/ Odenwald/ Furth Meadows with scattered fruit trees, apple and pear orchards, grassy highlands full of frisking horses and sleepy cows. In the south of Frankfurt - Hessen, Odenwald.
Fenced fields are naturally combined with beech forests. Steep hillsides are falling to shallow valleys with rural residences where you can taste local specialities as apple wine and cottage cheese.
Being once in Hessen don't miss the zig zag orienteering in vineyards.


Kuncicka hora 2000 Basemap Czech Rep./ Jeseniky/ Kuncice The Jeseniky Mountains, a border range in the northeast of Czech Republic. It was one-hour walk from my base to the mapped area, higher and higher from 500 meters above the sea level to 900 meters.
Thousands of knolls and small ridges that were made by the original inhabitants were covering long slopes. They gathered stones from their fields and piled up the knolls, unbelievable.
I used altimeter, without it would have been nearly impossible to survey here. In the spring 2000 there was one of the best orienteering competitions in the Czech Republic.


Karmei Yosef 2000 Basemap Israel/ Karmei Yosef In March 2000 the Israeli Orienteering Association (ISOA) invited me to the heart of Israel. Karmei Yosef - settlement on the halfway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Right here fought David with Goliath.
Stony ground, a lot of details as rocks, stones, cliffs and rather well runnable vegetation. Pine trees, high cony cypresses, plenty of caves (sometimes as big as for all biblical characters), antic ruins, wells, memorials from the independence wars.
While surveying I met armored uniformed girls (army service is obligatory also for girls), mapped Jewish cemetery with special symbol - David's star (download it in .ocd file 2 kb) and fought with fleas. Israeli Orienteering Champs 2001 terrain.


Lobokros 1999 Basemap Plzen - my home The heart of the map Lobokros is a hilly park - a recent quarry.
It surprised me that surveying a park will take such a long time. I mapped untraditionally in a scale 1: 3333 due to many details. It allowed me to use the conversion double step = 0,5 mm. How long is my step?


Perlacher Forst 1999 Basemap Ales and Vendula in Nymphenburg, Munich Three km from the center of Munich (Germany) there is a 25 sq. kilometer large forest. Totally flat, divided into regular squares by vehicle tracks. The only terrain objects there were 15 meters wide circle depressions caused by bombing during the World War II.
The vegetation out of the paths was very dense; thorns of blackberries were too sharp.




Becovske rybniky 1998 Basemap Becov nad Teplou Some Czech regions suffer from a lack of new orienteering terrains as for example the surroundings of Prague. Everything had been already surveyed there. Only the Westbohemian forests seem to be full of new interesting orienteering terrains. One of them is in Becov nad Teplou.
Bigger and smaller knolls with boulders all round the map; steep hillsides with rock cliffs. You have to be in a very good condition and work carefully with the detailed map to finish successfully a competition.
On this map there was one of the best-evaluated orienteering competition in Czech republic in 1998.
During my work here I had been hearing strange terrible voices. It sounded like a killing of innocent babies. At the end I found out that this voice comes from an eagle owl.


Rote Marter 1998 Basemape Pechbrunn It's the last time I am going through the forest by Pechbrunn in Germany, July 1998. It's a map I wholly made alone, 8 sq. km. The terrain is hilly with many vehicle tracks and paths; the growth is nearly unrunnable.
The orienteering club of my host family organized here in autumn 1999 a big orienteering event for the whole Germany.
I am looking to my handmade map and at once an old nimble man started to talk with me in a Bayern dialect. "Please more slowly." He talks about a Czech sportsman Emil Zatopek, who won three golden Olympic medals in 1952 (5 km, 10 km, marathon); about today lazy young people; about a birthday.
I am proud of my German language skills so I started to shake his hands and congratulate him, when I had heard something about birthday. It surprised him, on this day celebrated the 75th birthday the Czech sportsman Emil Zatopek.


Pekre 1998 Basemap In April 1998 in the time of the last shivering of winter I went again to Slovenia, where all plants were already green. By the town Maribor at the foot of the range Pohorje.
Mountain with no end. On these hillsides the World Cup downhill skiing competitions take annually in winter place.
Sometimes it was too steep. I was to fall and roll down. Clear beech forest with many deep gorges. I cannot explain the origin and meaning of those gorges till now (they were obviously manmade).
I had seen many of tiger salamanders. The nature there was unspoiled and nice. The mushroom cream soup was excellent.


Nebesa 1998 Basemap The western part of Czech republic is surrounded in all directions by Germany. And in this region 1 km to the border came to existence another map Nebesa.
There are only three ways how to get to As - two roads and a railway, everything is on the mapped terrain, even the electricity connection. The access to this region was only with a special permission till the year 1989 . Because the communist regime was aware of an uncontrolled emigration to western Germany.
A wavy marshy terrain in the south flavored by a rocky ridge with a cave. In this cave 3 meters above the normal ground there was during the orienteering competition in spring 1999 a control. It was rather difficult to get there. This range of mountain Smrciny continues to Bayern (the highest peak is Schneeeberg 1005 m).


Sika 1997 Sika 1985 Sika 1972 In the summer 1997 I had finished a map close to my hometown - Plzen. The forest was full of deer. It was a special type of a deer called Sika and that is the name of the map.
It was not the first orienteering map in this terrain, already in 1972 and 1985 other mappers had surveyed this forest. So it is interesting to compare their survey approach and mine. The terrain is still the same but the contour shapes differ. The vegetation is also year by year different.




Ilirska Bysrica 1997 Basemap Kozlek Ilirska Bystrica 1997, a small town or better a summer resort on the way to the Meditarian in southern Slovenia.
The mountain range was 600-800 meters above the sea. Big and deep depressions 20-30 meters - upside-down hills.
From the trees were hanging living green ropes, poison scorpions were bathing in the sun - a Slovenian idyll. Because there were nearly no paths and tracks I had to use toilet paper to mark my orientation points. It was very funny.
After a fortnight my shoes looked like I had been using them for a year - totally destroyed. The local dogs were dangerous. They bite.


Oehrenstock 1997 Basemap Oehrenstock The first time I surveyed out of Czech republic - in central Germany in Thuringen in Ilmenau in 1996, where lived part of his life the classical author - J.W.Goethe. He marked here the tourist routes, so well - colleague. Dense communication net, the forest was bushy, the terrain hilly but without any clean-cut shapes.
Their definition of special symbols: brown crosses for fox lairs and anthills; black crosses for banks and anthills rounded by a fence; Black circles for plateaus (you needn't to cut off condolines) Characteristic features of this landscape were 10-20 wide narrow rides going over hills and valleys.


Pansky Vrch 1997 Basemap Vast forests by Marienbad with romantic names as - Three Axes and Blackbird stream. In the map area there is a forgotten Jewish cemetery and not far away from here is a spring of a mineral water. I surveyed in this central European forest 10 sq. km.
In the southern part there is a military ground. Once I went there with my friend to angle. The night was quite. But immediately some tanks started to circle on the exercise ground. Our only way home led through this ground. I felt as a soldier but we survived.



Hubertus 1996 Basemap From the Beech hill to Hurky In the cold winter 1996 I had finished the map Hubertus west of the thermal spa Karlsbad. This terrain geologically belongs to the volcanic range Doupovske hory. There are two dominants on this map, two cones - Beech and Grass hill. Nearby is a medieval castle ruin Angel hill, which was devastated from the Swedish troops in the 17th century. Steep hillsides fall in the north to the Ohre river and in the south smoothly come to a Czech famous golf resort.




Podes 1995 Basemap Silver stream I started making and surveying maps rather early at the age of 16 in 1995 by Horni Slavkov on the map Podes. My father Josef Hejna had already finished mainly in the region of West Bohemia 16 orienteering maps. He taught me how to survey.
Tin and uranium used to be mined in these deep forests till 1966. The countryside is hilly, bushy with many mining relicts. There is even a stream that disappears in a stony ground. The whole range of Slavkovsky les has a strange atmosphere. The every day life after the Second World War has never reached the old intensity.