[Cdt-l] My thoughts re: Postholer's CDT on Google maps

[Frank Gilliland]

Maybe I don't get it, but isn't the purpose of a GPS that of an adjunct to show where you are in relation to Jonathan's and other maps? Granted, the GPX file will show Jonathan's single route, but will it show all the side roads, Forest Service roads, BLM roads, various trails and other locations you've wandered onto? Will the program allow the hiker not to carry Jonathan's strip map and all the other maps necessary to negotiate the CDT? For example, does the Google Earth map show 'street views' of trails (with or without grizzlies) in the Bob Marshall? Do the batteries required to run the GPS weigh less than the maps a hiker would otherwise carry? Maybe the map could be used as a trophy to hang on the wall after completing the CDT.
 Mini Mart

________________________________________
Yep the GPS is just another tool for showing me the spot I am standing on.  Do I need it.....no.  But it is pretty cool!

Most modern GPS units either come preloaded with maps showing roads and topo info.
Or maps along with waypoints and track files can be loaded from computer files.

Now as for weight and batteries, well that becomes an issue of "is it worth it".  I hike solo most of the time.  So my wife has informed me that getting lost is not an option.  So I take my GPS and full set of the Ley CDT maps.  The GPS is my second source of info.  It is also a tool I use to mark points along the trail such as camps, water sources road and trail crossings etc.  The gps used this way along with the maps keeps my brain involved with my location constantly.

Maps are my first and best friend.  My GPS is a really neat aid and toy.  (Heck, if you think about it isn't a compass and maps also forms of "advanced" technology)   

Here is one great help that my gps was this last hiking season.  I was north of Leadore, MT.  I had some problems with my right knee and decided to bail and get to civilization.  As GREAT as the J.Ley maps are, they don't show what is beyond their borders.  With the gps I was able to follow a stream bed along an existing trail to a road that headed to the highway.  This alone was worth the extra 6 oz.



HYOH
CYOG

Frank "StarMan" Gilliland

"Loving maps and having fun with my GPS" and trying not to get REAL lost in the process..........

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