I really should answer these in a future podcast instead of here since many won’t see the response.
Glasses are of no use to me. My problem is not with the lens; it is with the retina. Furthermore, I only have one eye and the vision in that eye is quite limited.
It’s difficult to explain the difference. I snuggle up to my computer screen to read text. I snuggle up with a book to read it. To read a map I have to work from close-in to far-away. I can’t absorb the whole map like a normal sighted person can. I am far less likely to spot the trail a few dozen feet away from me if I have lost it in a boggy bit. It’s pretty much an article of faith with me that their is a large “E” on top of the eye chart. But I do a lot of travel both with friends and solo and am still around to tell the tales.
I frequently say that I have gotten temporarily misplaced numerous times but only lost a couple. Even on a couple cruddy days of the Challenge last year I wasn’t ever lost but was going very slowly through places like Heatheryhaugh. I get through but far far slower than a hiker with normal vision who can easily take in a larger vista and see where the best route lies.
At some time in the future I’ll devote a podcast to issues of navigation. Not exactly sure how it’ll play out since I would rather it not merely be a monologue which would get boring to listen too after a while (I’ll happily take suggestions).
By the way, while I don’t mind answering questions here it’s perhaps best from the podcast’s point of view if they be asked on the site devoted to the podcast which you can find here.
** Ken **
