Streetmap the AT

[frisbeefreek]

http://www.gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/t...offline-816307

Soon you'll be able to hike the AT from the comfort of your own home.

How long before someone convinces Google to pay them to carry this on a long trail? Looks heavy and uncomfortable, but for a funded trip, I bet they could round up a group of kids that would shoulder that burden for some free pizza.

[Patrickjd9]

I suspect it will be carried the length of the AT by volunteers in the near future, the same way the trail has been measured with a wheel and by GPS waypoints in the past.

Might need to get shorter first, though. Possibly with a front/back split.

[McBride]

I just posted something similar. It seems pretty damn likely to me as well.

[jos2thehua]

I think it was the company "Nature Valley" but I know I recently saw a street view of a lot of trails within Yellowstone. I'll post the link when I can find it but the frame transition wasn't as streamline as Google.

I'd be willing to volunteer some time to the Georgia section for sure. Sign me up!

[jos2thehua]

Yep, it's called http://naturevalleytrailview.com/. They have the Great Smokies too!

[frisbeefreek]

That's pretty nice - Image quality is very good. The movies load way to slowly to actually play a trip (that's where Google's computing and bandwidth would help), but for couch hiking, not bad (fun to "rehike" the Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon).

[bushcraft]

Yes it may be nice to see pictures of certain sections of the trail that you liked in the past but what is the fun of hiking online?

[frisbeefreek]

Yes it may be nice to see pictures of certain sections of the trail that you liked in the past but what is the fun of hiking online?

Hiking is hard work. Besides, who wants to get all dirty and sweaty. About the only downside of this Nature Valley website is that Pop Tarts no longer play a significant part of my daily caloric intake.

[jos2thehua]

I think it's good for previewing a hike. Nice to see what typical trail conditions are like but of course it's nothing like the real thing. The same could be said about Google street view: sure it's nice to take a still-frame tour of a famous city but to really experience a place you have to take advantage of all the senses.