[pct-l] altimeters, necessary?

[Phil Newhouse]

Mtnned,

NICE picture...

phil

On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 9:22 AM, <ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com> wrote:

> I'm going to agree with Postholer and elaborate.
>
> During the craze, I bought a Suunto unit. I am always interested in how
> much
> I've climbed-it's encouragement, really. But I can get that from my map or
> guide book. I find I have to mess with it often if I want it to be
> accurate.
> I develop a relationship with my watch as I walk through pristine
> Wilderness. If that's what you want to do in the mountains, then enjoy.
> It's
> just not for me.
>
> On days where the weather is changing, when the storm is either coming or
> going, the pressure is changing so often that I might as well forget what
> it
> says the altitude is or I'll be standing beside the trail every hour
> adjusting the thing. What for? To know what the altitude is? For all
> practical purposes, what does this $200 dollar investment do for my trail
> day besides give me another electronic toy that I have to fuss with, get
> pissed off at, or watch grow dark as the batteries fail in the cold?
>
> Counterpoint-when I am climbing in the backcountry, the relationship I want
> is with the environment I've gone there to learn from. I want to enjoy how
> the view changes as I climb, not the decreasing numbers on my watch. I want
> to be thinking about natural rhythms rather than technological ones (when
> and how often I'm going to have to recalibrate the thing).
>
> Sure, when you first get out there, the info and novelty is fun. After a
> while it is irrelevant. I'd rather let my mind run with the sounds of the
> forest, the smell of the dew or frost, or watch that bear over there in the
> meadow (175m away) paralleling me and he doesn't even know I'm here (2 or 3
> days out of KM)!
>
> At the end of my day, I crawl into my bag and start my stove beside me for
> another great mountain dinner. I open my journal, dig for my pen and hope
> it
> will work this time, pull out the topos for the day, and relish/remember
> all
> the things I saw and experienced that day. I like to know my elevation
> gains
> and losses; like I said, it's encouraging. I put them in my head and in so
> doing get to know the challenges of the route I'm following. The stove
> wakes
> me up with its boiling, I add my dinner and begin simmering and smelling
> the
> sweet smell of cooking, and begin looking forward to tomorrow's adventures
> along the trail, the creek crossings, the muddy path, the elusive climbs
> and
> long switchback descents, the prominent peaks, and bends in the streams.
> These all go in my head in detail. I can almost see tomorrow's route. I eat
> dinner as the sun sets, me warm in my bag, my food warm in my stomach,
> another day full of challenge and adventure ahead. Sure, I did 'x' number
> of
> feet of elevation change, but that isn't as important to me as the life I
> get to live and learn from while walking in this Garden we call Wildness.
>
> Mtnned
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Postholer" <public at postholer.com>
> To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 8:15 AM
> Subject: [pct-l] altimeters
>
>
> > The main use I got out of an altimeter was the accumulated change that
> > showed in the log feature.
> >
> > At the end of every day I could see how much climbing and descending I
> did
> > and kept track of it in my journal. For instance, my biggest altitude
> > change
> > day on the PCT was between Fire Creek Pass and South of High Bridge where
> > I
> > did 6,410 feet of climbing and 8,410 feet of descending over 30.1 miles.
> >
> > Years later I find that an exciting footnote in my journal.
> >
> > -postholer
> > ------------------------------------
> > Trails : http://Postholer.Com
> > Journals : http://Postholer.Com/journal
> > Mobile : http://Postholer.Com/mobi
> >
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