[pct-l] Follow-up to the earlier GPS discussion

[Eric Lee]

I guess you meant to send this to the whole list.

 

Unfortunately I'm not really current on GPS technology right now so I'm not
a good source of recommendations.  I have a several-year-old one that still
works so that's what I use when I anticipate a lot of snow.  Otherwise I
don't bother.

 

Just to reiterate the point I was trying to make: a GPS is really nice to
have when snow covers the trail, but it's not mandatory equipment.  Bring
one if it'll make you feel more comfortable, but ask yourself what you'll do
if you drop it in a creek or forget to turn it off and run out the
batteries, or whatever.  Be sure to be proficient with a map and compass,
too.

 

Eric

 

From: Melanie Clarke [mailto:melaniekclarke at gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 5:53 AM
To: Eric Lee
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Follow-up to the earlier GPS discussion

 

Dear Eric or anyone,

I just join this e-list.  Which GPS do you recommend?  I am heading out on
the JMT June 20th and I'm concerned about all the snow covering the trails
to the high passes and peaks.

Melanie

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 11:03 PM, Eric Lee <saintgimp at hotmail.com> wrote:

Interesting postscript to the GPS discussion we had back in March:  a lot of
the trail journals are describing situations where non-GPS-carrying thrus
chose to latch on to the GPS-carrying thrus in order to navigate through the
San Jacintos.  As Granite and Terrapin Flyer wrote, "Not a single hiker we
met with just a map and compass wasn't thrilled to check our GPS data."

Empirical evidence seems to show that while a GPS isn't *necessary* in
snow-bound conditions (and shouldn't be relied on as the sole form of
navigational aid), it's pretty darn useful and when people are actually out
there they're more than happy to follow the folks who have them.  Just
interesting data . . .

Examples:

http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=d06471f65621deba49961e93977
<http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=d06471f65621deba49961e9397
7%0A35ed3&entry_id=14895> 
35ed3&entry_id=14895
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=310733

Eric

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