[pct-l] Best gps iPhone app?

[Bill Burge]

Gaia GPS $2.99

This one may be going places.  I sent email to the CTO/lead programmer  
of the group responsible for the app to ask about track/waypoint  
loading and he says it certainly on the radar and will probably be in  
the next release (after the one that Apple is reviewing right now).

He also told me that he and one/some of the co-founders of their group  
just got back from 51 miles of Sections J and K!

I offered the suggestion that after they get that going, it might be  
to select tracks and/or waypoints and say "download the maps for this  
items" and you would have maps for most of the PCT if you have the  
Postholer waypoints and the PCTMAP.net tracks loaded.  :-)  (Be on  
WiFi and plugged into power, this would take a while!  ;-)

So this one is probably a good investment, at less than the cost of a  
pint of (good) beer!

BillB



On Sep 23, 2009, at 9:21 PM, Bill Burge wrote:

>
> OK, I added this one (Topo Maps) to my phone and while looking around,
> found this one as well:  Gaia GPS
>
> Looks promising, so I grabbed it as well.
>
> Topo Maps stores 1:24K topo maps and that's pretty cool.  I recently
> spent a decent chunk of dough to get 1:24K maps for my Garmin.
>
> The Gaia GPS app is real new and has easy export of tracks and
> waypoints and the number is only limited by available memory (so they
> say) but there doesn't seem to be an import function.  I'm also not
> sure what resolution the maps are for download.  The interface is
> pretty slick.  Without an ability to import tracks and points, it will
> not be a good single app solution.
>
> Topo Maps is $6.99
> Gaia GPS is $2.99
>
> Maps for both do not have an additional cost.
>
> BillB
>
>
>
> On Sep 23, 2009, at 1:46 PM, Denis Stanton wrote:
>
>> Hi Laura
>>
>> I'd like to add one more to the detailed and excellent analysis from
>> Bill
>>
>> I used Phil Endecott's 'Topo Maps' app on my last section hike and
>> highly recommend it.
>>
>> I was daunted by it at first and it took me a while to appreciate  
>> what
>> it does.  It is not a substitute for Google Maps as it doesn't have a
>> searchable index of every place name you can think of. In the version
>> I used on the PCT in June it could only search by map name.  This
>> seems to have been expanded a lot and it now seems to have a list of
>> geographical points of interest.
>>
>> It is not a substitute for MotionX GPS as it doesn't have all the
>> average speed, distance to waypoint, estimated time of arrival etc.
>> calculations
>>
>> Don't be put off (as I was at first) by what it doesn't have.  What  
>> it
>> does have is fantastic.  It has the ability to download and store any
>> of the thousands of USGS 1:24,000 and Natural Resources Canada
>> 1:50,000 maps.  The maps take a while to download (5 or 10 minutes
>> each for me) so you do this BEFORE you leave home.  The maps are then
>> securely cached so when you are on the trail all you need is the GPS
>> signal (free from the sky above), not the cell-phone connection (from
>> the cell tower which is probably out of range).
>>
>> On my trip in June I did the Rae Lakes Loop.  I spent an evening at
>> home downloading 20 or so maps covering the whole trip from Road's  
>> End
>> to Vidette Meadows, Rae Lakes, Woods Creek and the PCT as far as VVR
>> just in case.  This was a moderately laborious task because each map
>> takes a while to download and then you have to follow the PCT across
>> the map and figure out which map you want to get next.
>>
>> Having done this the Topo Maps application became my best friend on
>> the trail.  Just click a button to place yourself accurately on these
>> really detailed maps that have the PCT clearly marked.  Some other
>> maps are really made for motorists and don't bother much with serious
>> trails, but the USGS 1:24,000 are the ones you would be carrying all
>> the way if you could afford to buy them all and manage the weight
>>
>> I came over Glen Pass in light snow.  The trail was buried knee-deep
>> and although I could see the Rae Lakes in the distance I have to make
>> my own way down.  I post-holed until I felt it was safe to slide and
>> then sat down and glissaded happily down the hill.  Incidentally this
>> was a much nicer experience than last year when I tried something
>> similar on the north side of Forrester, got out of control and
>> discovered to my cost that you can't self arrest by planting your  
>> only
>> hiking pole in the snow between your knees as you slide.
>>
>> When I got the end of the snow I had no idea where the actual trail
>> was.  I came off the snow into a maze of scrubby bushes and small
>> trees, patches of snow and lots of streams.  I thought the most  
>> likely
>> place for the trail was on the stony ridge away to my right.    
>> Another
>> hiker following a similar trajectory down the snow called out to ask
>> if I knew which way to go and I suggested the ridge looked likely.
>> Then I took out the iPhone, opened Top Maps and touched the "show me
>> where I am button".  A couple of seconds later if dropped a blue dot
>> onto the map and I could see the red line of the PCT was nearby on my
>> left.  I shouted back "I think it's about 20 feet that way", walked
>> around a patch of scrub and that's exactly where it was.  That one
>> moment easily repaid the $6.99.  I could have wasted a lot of energy
>> climbing onto the wrong ridge.
>>
>> I see Phil has added a lot more features since my last hike.  I look
>> forward to trying it out.  There are many other GPS apps that are fun
>> and interesting.  This one could really be a life saver.
>>
>> Denis
>>
>>
>> On 23/09/2009, at 5:11 AM, Laura Newman wrote:
>>
>>> Any recommendations? Thanks, laura
>>>
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