[pct-l] "The PCT Project"

[Jack "Union" Haskel]

Hey Craig,

        I think I've seen posts about your project. A little logger
sewn in to your pack right? Sounds really cool and way less hassle. A
word of caution on the Solio though. Some friends that carried them
this summer were only somewhat satisfied. They could hardly charge an
ipod nano fully on a sunny day. Probably workable with backup
batteries though.

       I've definitely played with the Forest Service track but I
haven't compared them side by side. Talked with the FS people at KO
this year. Apparently the track was compiled by many different teams
of people, often using different units. They thought it might have
diminished the quality a little. I've always been impressed though.
And it's not like I carried a professional unit or anything.

      One hiker this year, a professional photographer, apparently had
a camera that logged not only the coordinates for every photo, but the
direction the camera was pointed and the time the picture was taken.
Way cool.

     Cheers,
          Jack

On 12/5/06, Craig Stanton <craigstanton at mac.com> wrote:
> Aww beaten to the post, what are the chances they'd fund someone else (me) next year?. I'm doing it next year with a 'custom' built GPS tracker. Built from a kit by Spark Fun Electornis it should have a solid battery life and be powered by a Solio (Solar powered iPod Charger) and 4xAAs when there hasn't been enough sun and there is no visual out put, it just stores it all on an SD card that I'll use at the end to plot my photos on Google Earth.
>
> There was a track compiled by the forestry service  in '05 and I've found it really useful for looking up the rute on GE. I've now idea how they created the track but it would be very interesting to see a genuine thru-hike version. Please let me know when it's available.
>
> ~Craig
>
> On Wednesday, December 06, 2006, at 11:38AM, Jack "Union" Haskel <hikerunion at gmail.com> wrote:
> >Hey Community!
> >
> >I'd just like to too my own horn a little. Toot-Toot!
> >
> >The current issue of Backpacker Magazine, February 2007(!) has a short
> >interview with me in it. It's titled "The PCT Project". They hooked me up
> >with a GPS, some shoes and socks and funding to hike the trial this summer.
> >In exchange, I kept the GPS on all of the time and recorded waypoints and a
> >track log of the whole trail.
> >
> >Every 40 feet or so the unit recorded a bread crumb and every mile or so I
> >recorded a waypoint. Waypoints are points of "interest", so deemed by yours
> >truly. Mostly, waypoints are the water sources, trail junctions and roads
> >along the trail. Some pictures that I took will be attached to the data. The
> >magazine blurb is in print but the data hasn't been posted yet. Hopefully it
> >will be in then next few days. You'll see it at backpacker.com/hikes
> >
> >It's a pay website ($15/year). But there is a 90-free trial, during which
> >you can download the track and the Google Earth file. Funny thing is, the
> >whole PCT is far too big to load in to a GPS unit. There goes your hopes of
> >hiking the trail with a GPS crutch huh? Luckily, as someone that HAS hiked
> >the PCT with GPS, I can confirm that it's truly NOT necessary. What this
> >project does provide, is a new detailed track and more importantly a
> >waypointed track! Trust me, it's super cool when loaded in to Google Earth.
> >And it doesn't have the weirdness of the Forest Service track which thinks
> >that we want to view the hike southbound.
> >
> >To you avid thru-hikers, some of the interview might make be seem like a
> >bozo. Trust me, I am. But understand that a magazine interview such as this
> >is largely "paraphrasing" from a long conversation. Still, I'm really happy
> >with the end result. I spent a week in Boulder with the Map staff. They're
> >top notch and doing some cool GPS mapping of the states. The AT was also
> >(hopefully) mapped this year and they've got an interesting project for the
> >CDT next year. I STRONGLY encourage the long distance hiking community to
> >look in to the CDT project. It's introduced in this same issue and you can
> >sign up for the project (if you so choose) at backpacker.com/cdtmap
> >
> >So,
> >      - I'll write again when the track is actually online.
> >      - First person that finds a spike off the trail (which marks a spot
> >where I hiked off to go to the bathroom), gets a fresh, steaming pile of poo
> >via Priority Mail.
> >      - First person that actually uses this track, better give me feedback!
> >
> >     Kindly,
> >             Jack "Union" Haskel
> >
> >P.S.: Like many hikers in '06, I skipped a burning section in Oregon around
> >Mt. Jefferson. So there's a 50+ mile gap in my life which I hope to hike and
> >GPS next summer.
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>