View Full Version : GPS anyone?
I was curious as to how many people use a GPS unit on their hiking experience. Are hi-tech toys the wave of the future or is there still room for the old school methods? Just curious.
Ramble~On
05-16-2004, 06:34
I do a lot of solo exploring...I love new trails...where I live there are a lot of wilderness areas and the trails in them are unblazed and some are seldom hiked which means that they are rarely maintained. In new areas I try to buy maps...but that isn't always possible...so I have the topos of areas I want to explore custom made...I forget the website but they can make a killer map of anywhere in whatever detail I want. I always take the trusty compass.
I also love my GPS...it's amazing...with the GPS I can track my entire hike and later plot and download with mapping cd's...I end up making my own map..and since I am home writing this I guess it means that I haven't gotten lost yet.
BUT...I wouldn't even think of taking the GPS on the AT...it's a blazed highway.
JimSproul
05-16-2004, 06:50
I don't use the GPS for navigation as much as recording where I have been. On well marked trails, like the AT, I "navigate" only on breaks and poorly marked cross roads. I always carry a map and compass for the area I am in just in case there is a problem and plans need to change. That is what happened to me on the AT in March when I had to get my injured son off Springer.
I use a Garmin Vista and upload the map for the area I intend to hike. With the detail turned up their topo maps are pretty good, some states better than others. They are NOT as good as a standard 24k USGS map.
I got a Garmin etrex for my birthday 10 days ago, mostly to produce more accurate maps of the trails we have built on the nearly 800 acres our town land trust has acquired over the past dozen years.
However, this is spring planting season on the coast of Maine and I've yet to find time to figure out how to do useful things with the GPS.
Weary
Bankrobber
05-16-2004, 17:49
I am learning GPS. It is great for exploring off trail areas. The Dolly Sods in West Virginia seem perfect for exploring with GPS. I am planning a CDT thru-hike in 2005, and from what I hear GPS is necessary unless you like being lost a significant portion of time. GPS on the AT? I would consider bringing it during the winter, if I somehow lost the trail due to heavy snow. The AT is too easy to follow to bring the extra weight of a GPS.
cryptobrian
05-17-2004, 00:01
I always hike with a GPS and will usually take map/compass as well. Frankly, I enjoy the map and compass for in the field navigation ... the GPS is mostly a nice way to keep a record of the hike and is great when combined with a digital camera. Using the timestamps from the pictures and the timestamps from the GSP tracks you (or nifty sofware rather) can combine the two to coordinate precise location with your photo journal.
I have to agree with Peaks. I have not done a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail. But I have hiked 98% of the Appalachian Trail in Maine and no navagation devices are needed in my opinion.
cryptobrian
05-17-2004, 00:27
I suspect this response was meant for the other current GPS thread, but I'd have to agree .. that when it comes to the AT you generally won't need extra navigation aids. That doesn't make it without merit to have them, though. I for one simply enjoy them and so pretty much always have them.
I have to agree with Peaks. I have not done a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail. But I have hiked 98% of the Appalachian Trail in Maine and no navagation devices are needed in my opinion.
Pencil Pusher
07-24-2004, 16:55
I like using the GPS. When going light I opt to leave it behind. Where it has really shined bright is in the darkness or crappy conditions. Those things are worth their weight in gold then. As I (and I'm sure others) have found out, just make sure the batteries are good or you have spares. Doh!
So I never paid much attention, but didn't they mention on the news about turning off that selective-whatever to allow commercial units to be accurate to within 10 meters? That's pretty nifty they have GPS units for the car that show streets, and ones for the backpacker that show sections of topographic maps. Technology! :)
Kozmic Zian
07-26-2004, 11:16
Yea.....If you're talking for the AT, No nav divices needed. Just something else to fiddle with. KZ@
Youngblood
07-26-2004, 12:06
I always hike with a GPS and will usually take map/compass as well. Frankly, I enjoy the map and compass for in the field navigation ... the GPS is mostly a nice way to keep a record of the hike and is great when combined with a digital camera. Using the timestamps from the pictures and the timestamps from the GSP tracks you (or nifty sofware rather) can combine the two to coordinate precise location with your photo journal.
Just another perspective.
I hike the Georgia section of the AT probably at least once each year and have gone to using the GPS to locate features, like what mountains you can see from where. The trail twists and turns so much that it is difficult to maintain enough sense of direction to figure out what is where. I place waypoints using computer software of mountains and features that I think I might can see along the way. With the GOTO feature of the GPS giving me distance and compass heading, I can use a good sighting compass and get a new look at the terrain, it is not just a forest of mountains anymore. For instance, I can point out the ridgeline that I traversed to get where I am at or even see the one that I will cross tomorrow. Can I see Yonah Mountain, Brasstown Bald, Rabun Bald, Standing Indian, etc? I can remember last month hiking the Georgia section of the AT with a college student and sighting Cowrock Mountain, Blood Mountain and Slaughter Mountain from a rock outcrop after we made the hard ascend from Testnatee Gap to Wildcat Mountain. Sure made the needed break and the vista more enjoyable. We didn't get to see anything else, but knowing what it was we were looking at definitely made it more enjoyable and somehow, it seemed like we got a little satisfaction seeing that those mountains we had just climbed where still there.
Youngblood
I would never think of using a GPS on the AT. Very much overkill!
The GPS for off-trail hiking makes a nice complement (not a replacement) for a map and compass use.
Personally, when I do off trail hiking, I find the GPS is great for re-solving the *** factor (as in where the F*** am I ?!?!?!? :)). Once I get the right co-ords, will place myself on the map then take a bearing with a compass to get where I need to go. Off trail hiking out West is also easier than back East by far. Lots of wide open space out West. Back East lots of thick woods that make picking out a landmark a bit more difficult. Of course, if I am paying attention, the *** factor does not happen too often.
The GPS is also great for waypoints, but that feature is not quite as useful on a long hike as it would be on a shorter hike. (Making a waypoint for the car/campsite for example)
i still carry a COMPASS...
i've found that most hikers are still carrying a COMPASS.
Most guys that are carrying GPS units are usually techno-geeks or simply need a "toy" while out on the trail to "play with". :D
Youngblood
01-24-2005, 08:57
i still carry a COMPASS...
i've found that most hikers are still carrying a COMPASS.
Most guys that are carrying GPS units are usually techno-geeks or simply need a "toy" while out on the trail to "play with". :D
I use my GPS as a tool and calling me a techno-geek would probably insult the techno-geeks... not that there is anything wrong with being a techno-geek. :)
A GPS has its place and can do things that a compass couldn't dream of doing. It can show me exactly where I am on a map... and I don't need recognizable land marks. If I have info ahead of time and load it into the GPS (you really need a computer interface and topo maps for the computer) it can show me where the trail is relative to where I am, if I lose the trail, without having to refer to a map. It can also show me where other landmarks are relative to where I am. I can use it for distance and bearing to landmarks, distant mountains and such; then use a sighting compass to indentify these objects... its kind of fun locating some of the distance moutains that you crossed or will cross along the way.
But the thing I use it for the most is driving to trailheads. I have one that has dang near every road there is on it and I can program every turn into it and it will beep at me 1 minute before I get to that turn. It's great, when it works... but as you know, since you work with electonic equipment, it seems like its least likely to work when you need it the most. :) But I seldom drive to a trailhead without it and I have ALWAYS found the trailheads since I have been using it.
So yes it is a toy, but it can also be a great tool.
Youngblood
Tha Wookie
01-24-2005, 09:05
I used one on the Colorado Trail to update the newest edition of their data book for campsites and water sources. Waiting around for satelites was a drag on the flow of the hike. I decided not to carry one again unless for research purposes. I find it as an unessassary distraction during recreational hikes. Yields some interesting data, but in the end it's a computer screen in the wilderness.
Compass work is an art.
Pencil Pusher
01-24-2005, 20:03
... but in the end it's a computer screen in the wilderness.
Like your digital camera?:p
Buckingham
07-11-2005, 14:58
Don't really need a GPS, but it was a gift, and I really have nowhere else to use it, so, what the hell.
Footslogger
07-11-2005, 15:03
Wouldn't consider carrying one on the AT but since moving out west have found them to be more practical. You often have to bushwack to get from point A to B out here and the GPS info comes in handy.
'Slogger
justusryans
07-11-2005, 21:13
got a gps for a wedding present along with the whole Appalatian Trail software package. my question is this? The gps with batteries only weighs 7oz. would carrying the maps for the at sections weigh equivilant to the gps? suggestions?
Footslogger
07-11-2005, 21:17
got a gps for a wedding present along with the whole Appalatian Trail software package. my question is this? The gps with batteries only weighs 7oz. would carrying the maps for the at sections weigh equivilant to the gps? suggestions?======================================
Might be about the same but the maps don't run out of batteries.
'Slogger
fiddlehead
07-11-2005, 21:35
i voted combination gps/compass but really wasn't thinking AT in that vote. I wouldn't carry one on the AT. Just follow the white blazes. (the only time you need a compass is when you come out of some shelters in the morning and don't remember which way you came in) Gps's are handy tools for all kinds of stuff. I wouldn't be without mine when i'm entering a new city that i've never been before as i like to jog and that way i can always find my way back to my bed (wherever it may be)
but out west, hiking is different and not nearly as many trees, so GPS is easier as well as compass is easier. (triangulation) anyway, that's my 2 cents