Trail Tech
OldChief14
Posts: 23 Member
Anybody have a favorite handheld GPS? I have finally found myself doing trails where I need one, but was hoping for recommendations. For instance do I really need a 3 axis compass and an altimeter? My plan is to load a topo and GPX so I can stay on the right trail when they are unmarked and have many crossovers. Any thoughts appreciated
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How much are you looking to spend? I lost my basic GPS at Zion National Park earlier this year (not in the backcountry, but on the bus... yes, I'm an idiot). I had wanted an excuse to get a topo GPS, and found a used Garmin Oregon 450t. Brand new, good GPS's are very expensive.0
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I am willing to go around $400, but obviously would prefer less than that. Do you find yourself using all the tech? I think I have it narrowed down to the Garmin eTrex 20 or 30, the only difference being the 3-axis compass (I carry an old school linsatic) and the altimeter (I know when I've climbed a hill). Shame about the loss, but if karma works right somebody is putting it to good use I guess?0
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I use the comprehensive maps (I don't use the topography as much here in Iowa - I will probably use it next time I'm in the mountains), but haven't been able to figure out how to download tracks to my computer. Does the eTrex 20 or 30 not tell you elevation?0
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I think the 30 does, but I don't believe the 20 does0
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Personally, I like the altitude feature.0
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I don't find I need anything like this. I guess I am old school, I just look at trail maps and know my area.0
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I use maps as well but a GPS is a good supplement. I'll use a recent example: Yesterday, my brother and I were hunting in a large forest. We walked about 10 miles (alternating walking and sitting/waiting). At one point, we came upon a road that wasn't on the map. It was a dead end road, and we thought it might be a nearby road that was on the map (which was also a dead end), but we should have been further away at that point. Using the GPS, we were able to confirm that it was not the nearby road on the map, but was a road not on the map. Based on where we wanted to go, if it was the road we thought it might be, we should turn around and try to find an intersecting trail (that we must have missed). What we later realized is that it was a service road not open to the public (hence why it was not on the map).
Ultimately, there were 2 possibilities of where we were... the GPS supplemented the map to tell us which location we were actually at. This is the 2nd year we hunted in this forest, but this is the first time we were in that particular area, so it was truly a matter of using maps supplemented by the GPS.
This particular forest has quite a few service roads excluded from maps. We decided that if we decide to go hunting there again next year, we will spend some time hiking with our GPS during the year so we can make our own maps from our tracks.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »I use maps as well but a GPS is a good supplement. I'll use a recent example: Yesterday, my brother and I were hunting in a large forest. We walked about 10 miles (alternating walking and sitting/waiting). At one point, we came upon a road that wasn't on the map. It was a dead end road, and we thought it might be a nearby road that was on the map (which was also a dead end), but we should have been further away at that point. Using the GPS, we were able to confirm that it was not the nearby road on the map, but was a road not on the map. Based on where we wanted to go, if it was the road we thought it might be, we should turn around and try to find an intersecting trail (that we must have missed). What we later realized is that it was a service road not open to the public (hence why it was not on the map).
Ultimately, there were 2 possibilities of where we were... the GPS supplemented the map to tell us which location we were actually at. This is the 2nd year we hunted in this forest, but this is the first time we were in that particular area, so it was truly a matter of using maps supplemented by the GPS.
This particular forest has quite a few service roads excluded from maps. We decided that if we decide to go hunting there again next year, we will spend some time hiking with our GPS during the year so we can make our own maps from our tracks.
I guess I am not that advanced! Where I go there are marked trails, with a few offshoots that may not be. The ones that aren't, I can find my way out of by knowing how I got into them. And recognizing terrain. I don't hunt, so maybe it would be different if I did.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »I use maps as well but a GPS is a good supplement. I'll use a recent example: Yesterday, my brother and I were hunting in a large forest. We walked about 10 miles (alternating walking and sitting/waiting). At one point, we came upon a road that wasn't on the map. It was a dead end road, and we thought it might be a nearby road that was on the map (which was also a dead end), but we should have been further away at that point. Using the GPS, we were able to confirm that it was not the nearby road on the map, but was a road not on the map. Based on where we wanted to go, if it was the road we thought it might be, we should turn around and try to find an intersecting trail (that we must have missed). What we later realized is that it was a service road not open to the public (hence why it was not on the map).
Ultimately, there were 2 possibilities of where we were... the GPS supplemented the map to tell us which location we were actually at. This is the 2nd year we hunted in this forest, but this is the first time we were in that particular area, so it was truly a matter of using maps supplemented by the GPS.
This particular forest has quite a few service roads excluded from maps. We decided that if we decide to go hunting there again next year, we will spend some time hiking with our GPS during the year so we can make our own maps from our tracks.
I guess I am not that advanced! Where I go there are marked trails, with a few offshoots that may not be. The ones that aren't, I can find my way out of by knowing how I got into them. And recognizing terrain. I don't hunt, so maybe it would be different if I did.
Even when not hunting, there are times when one would like to have GPS. Ideally some maps could be loaded into a GPS as well.
Example: I was in Hot Springs National Park last month and came up to a road crossing. The map showed that the trail just went straight across the road. This was a busy highway with very little shoulder and curves about 0.1 mile in either direction... not a very ideal road crossing. Nonetheless, I crossed the road and couldn't find the trail on the other side. It was definitely on the map, but I couldn't find it. So from the intersection, I followed the highway along the shoulder carefully for about 0.25 miles thinking I should be able to find it. I passed other landmarks on the map that told me I should have already seen the trail. Ultimately, I ended up turning around and following the road back to the next intersection, then following the next road... after a couple of turns and a somewhat dangerous walk along busy highways with curves and little to no shoulder, I got to a campground (which was on the map) and continued on the trail from there. Now the other side of the trail existed at the campground, and I did not back-track to see if I could get back to the original highway to try to figure out what I did wrong... it didn't matter at that point. It just wasn't a very good map, and if coordinates were loaded into a GPS, it would improve accuracy of locations. In this case, the trail did not merely cross the road... it met the road at one point and picked back up again on the other side of the road much further down (I think).0 -
OK but my question about that is, I have the exact same situation here. I have YET to find the connecting trail even WITH GPS. SO how does it help me? It is one particular connection...I am fine with most.0
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OK but my question about that is, I have the exact same situation here. I have YET to find the connecting trail even WITH GPS. SO how does it help me? It is one particular connection...I am fine with most.
See my comment above: "...if coordinates were loaded into a GPS, it would improve accuracy of locations..."
The step that is missing is knowing the coordinates of the missing trailhead. The same goes with other things - we can mark locations that we found (or our car or something), but we then must rely on someone else to give us the location of these places we have never been and need to find. It would help if the various parks provide files to load into our GPS or at least coordinates of the various trailheads.0 -
Yeah I can SEE it on the map, but not in reality so I am wondering if maybe its an error. Because it would sure help if it were real but I have yet to find it walking back and forth where it should be!
I HAVE used Runkeeper to find my way before. I was "lost" but not really in a trail system that had offshoots I never saw before. I could have gotten out eventually going the long way because I know exactly where the area is on the map and what direction I am going in (there) without any help. I didn't know where it would go to get me back to my car. Runkeeper map was able to direct me enough to get back. Note-I lived next to this trail for several years, and visited it a lot in my youth. As kids, we NEVER saw half of what was there, even though it was all there all the time!! Its woods so its not like new development of anything. We just never ventured out I guess!
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I've used Runkeeper as well. Back when I had an Etrex 10 with basically no download able maps, I was in the Grand Tetons. As I got higher up, the trail became lost in snow and I couldn't tell where it was. The last footprints were a few days old when the snow was not as soft (late May, so it was melting). I followed the footprints, which turned out to be wrong, and was falling through 6 feet of snow before I knew it. So after digging myself out several times, I ended up using Runkeeper to confirm I had veered right of the trail and crawled on my shins (to emulate snowshoes and not fall through anymore) back to the trail.0
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I use a Garmin etrex Vista HCX when hiking. It is about five years old and has served me well. I have had no complaints about performance and it does a fantastic job of maintaining a connection in heavy canopy. At the time I bought it, the Vista HCX was the next to the best one available.
I like to bushwack and the GPS is really handy to find the way to my car after a day of wandering the woods.
I am curious how you use Runkeeper for woods/trail navigation? Any tips?
When traveling away from home, I use the Alltrails app and the TrailLink app to find hiking trails in the area.0 -
beemerphile1 wrote: »I am curious how you use Runkeeper for woods/trail navigation? Any tips?
Runkeeper uses Google maps and then adds your tracks to it. Some established trails at parks are on Google maps. For the ones that are not, you can still see your tracks to re-trace. The key is to "Start" your hike somewhere that has cell service becaues it downloads the area map at this time. Once you go off into the woods, if you have lost your cell signal, the map is still there. Since Runkeeper goes off of GPS, your tracks are still calculated even if you have no signal (on most phones, anyway). Since the map is already downloaded to your phone and the tracks are added to that map based on GPS, you won't need a cell signal past the trailhead.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »
Runkeeper uses Google maps and then adds your tracks to it. Some established trails at parks are on Google maps. For the ones that are not, you can still see your tracks to re-trace. The key is to "Start" your hike somewhere that has cell service becaues it downloads the area map at this time. Once you go off into the woods, if you have lost your cell signal, the map is still there. Since Runkeeper goes off of GPS, your tracks are still calculated even if you have no signal (on most phones, anyway). Since the map is already downloaded to your phone and the tracks are added to that map based on GPS, you won't need a cell signal past the trailhead.
That is good to know, thanks for the explanation. I have used RunKeeper for workouts but not for navigation. Next time I go hiking I will have to check it out.
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So I have actually gone LOWEST tech for my usage!! lol I got a Fitbit Flex, and could have gotten any number of features including GPS. But seriously why do I need that when I have other resources? I don't.0
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