[pct-l] GPS Usage

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning,

I carry, and regularly use, a GPS receiver for what I consider a good,
sufficient, and simple reason: I enjoy using the technology.  It’s one of
my few trail indulgences, in lieu of a phone, a music player, or any other
popular electronic stuff.

However, I know how to use it and I’ve looked at -- and justified to myself
-- it’s less-than-$80 and less-than-4 ounce cost.  If a receiver cost $1K,
weighed 2 pounds, or if I didn’t clearly understand how to use it, I would
revert to what I did in the preceding 50 years:  I’d go without, and I
could still hike the PCT with minimal confusion using maps and a compass.
I use, but don't rely upon, the GPS; I always have with me the maps and a
compass

Without knowledge of its use, or the willingness to quickly learn, a GPS
receiver is mostly dead weight.  Absent practical ability, experience, and
trust, about the best a hiker can hope for is maybe someone else will
happen along to use the GPS instead.

Without a map – either paper or on-screen – a GPS position simply doesn’t
pass the all-important, “So what?” test.  A position accurate to +/-10 feet
is of no use.

If the receiver also has HalfMile’s waypoints installed there is somewhat
more value, but what’s one to do when lost or confused?  The obvious answer
is to use – if you know how -- the “GoTo” feature to find the closest trail
waypoint.  That usually works, but which waypoint?  There’s a whole list of
them, some designated as being mostly south and others being mostly north.  A
NoBo PCT hiker will probably select a point designated as being more north
than the others.

That too usually will work but, in some places like the often-vast expanse
of snowpack approaching Muir Pass, the northbound PCT is actually heading
southwest.  The most-northerly waypoints will send the hiker the wrong
direction.  Similarly, in heavily switch-backed sections there can be 10
close waypoints each towards a different point of the compass.

Even with a solid understanding, with maps and waypoints, and with
appropriate experience there’s still the ever-present possibility the
receiver won’t work for some reason.  Military users sum it up by saying,
“A GPS is most accurate when telling you its batteries are dead.”

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/