[Cdt-l] GPS and TOPO! ready files (based on Jonathan's Google, Earth file)

[Jonathan Ley]

The Google Earth track is just a set of GPS points. You can overlay them 
onto any map - either a satellite view in Google earth, or 1:24,000 USGS 
quads, or 1:100,000 maps, or whatever... I don't know how Garmin sources 
their topographic maps, but the resolution will depend on that, not the 
track file.

As for the resolution of the track itself... that depends on how many 
points are placed to make up the track. The section in northern MT is a 
lot more "fine", the rest of it is rather rough. Also, just keep in mind 
again, that this hasn't been updated (at least by me) for some time, so 
there will be places where that track doesn't conform to the actual 
route on the ground. I just did the .kmz file for "fun" and have no 
intentions of keeping it updated regularly.

-Jonathan

Eric Whte wrote:
> Let me change my previous rhetorical question to a real one:  Will the 
> uploaded Google Earth map have the same resolution 
> (information) as the Garmin 1:100,000 TOPO US map or its equivalent? Eric
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Jonathan Ley <jonathan at phlumf.com>
> *To:* cdt-l at backcountry.net
> *Sent:* Sun, January 3, 2010 10:40:10 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [Cdt-l] GPS and TOPO! ready files (based on Jonathan's 
> Google, Earth file)
>
> Just a few comments on this...
>
> As Blisterfree mentions below, part of the idea was that anyone could 
> take the .kmz file I created and edit / personalize it. I originally 
> drew the kmz route about 4 years ago, and had only rudimentary tools 
> at the time. It involved a lot of exporting, reformatting and 
> importing data, and a bit of simple .kml coding.
>
> Now, there is a great kml/kmz editor built right into Google Earth. 
> Anyone with a computer & the bandwidth (both personal time & Internet 
> speed) can refine the route, add links to their trailjournal, add 
> alternate routes, etc. etc. etc... The reason the route is more 
> refined in northern MT is because I did more work on that section a 
> couple years ago using the GE editor - drew the route more accurately, 
> added alternates, added a few placemark notes, and links to photos on 
> my website). I've had intentions of doing the rest of the route 
> similarly, but have had too many other priorities.
>
> Thanks for all the kudos... I have to pass on a lot of that to all the 
> hikers who send back info each year. The maps stay fresh because of 
> all the feedback. Right now, I'm searching for the bandwidth to 
> complete the 2010 updates... as a new homeowner who just spent the 
> past 3 days painting a ceiling and going completely stir crazy, I'm 
> wondering how exactly this is going to work... but I'm sure I'll get 
> it figured out :-)
>
> -Jonathan
>
>
> Brett wrote:
>> Yep, the data is all verbatim from Jonathan's KMZ file. I'm not sure, 
>> but it looks like Jonathan may be adding in alternate routes from the 
>> northern terminus southward. Montana shows a lot of these, for 
>> instance, but few if any south of there, and much of the "main track" 
>> in WY, CO, and NM is presumably templated around what Jonathan 
>> actually walked, ie some of it is surely out of date in terms of 
>> defining a "main" or "most popular" route. Based on his website 
>> description it looks like JL may be accepting "donations" of 
>> additional data, which could be added to his file and then filter 
>> downward from there.
>>
>> My main intent with the GPX files was to offer the two (nobo and 
>> sobo) versions of a universally GPS-friendly single-file set of track 
>> segments for the whole trail, that could be uploaded once prior to a 
>> thru-hike and referred to whenever needed, without the need to upload 
>> additional files during the hike due to storage capacity issues. In 
>> the jungle of various GPS data sets available in cyberspace, this 
>> seemed to be a niche that hadn't yet been filled. The compromise with 
>> such a single-file approach will always be the unsatisfactory answer 
>> to the question of which route to offer. My intent is not to answer 
>> this, but if the trail community can settle on something (perhaps the 
>> CDTA route except where unpopular and little-used?) then that might 
>> present the best possible answer for now.
>>
>> - bf
>>
>> Rick Ostheimer wrote:
>>> These posts from Jonathan Ley's maps are great, but note that the 
>>> southern terminus for NM is showing as Antelope Wells.  This was one of 
>>> the two southern terminii when Ley hiked, but now I understand the 
>>> "official" terminus is Crazy Cook.  I also understand that Antelope 
>>> Wells is to be avoided due to drug smuggling and illegal immigration 
>>> activity.
>>>
>>> Handlebar
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