[pct-l] GPS on the PCT

[Postholer]

> I've gathered so far that there are two kinds of data that I can load into
> my GPS: tracks and waypoints.

Think of a track as a trail of bread crumbs or footsteps. Coordinates in a 
track are very close together, ie, 10, 20, 50 feet, etc.

Waypoints are a collection of landmarks. These coordinates are typcially 
much farther apart than track coordinates, ie, a road crossing, creek 
crossing, ridgetop, trail junction, etc, might be way points, maybe a 
quarter mile or miles (or whatever) apart.

Directionally it doesn't matter what end you start from, they are in 
consecutive order.

If you look at the postholer PCT map (http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php), 
the PCT trail trace (track) is a collection of closely spaced coordinates, 
257,000 of them! Where as waypoints you might have a few thousand for the 
whole trail.

Unless you're going to hiking in extensive snow or just want to collect data 
from your trip, a GPS really is unnecessary for the PCT.

-postholer
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