[pct-l] pct-l] Follow-up to the earlier GPS discussion

[abiegen at cox.net]

JJ Wrote:

>Dropping in a creek? That doesn't hold water. Smart phones would be  
>affected if they're not protected, but most dedicated GPS devices are  
>water resistant for a long time. Any. Any navigation equipment or  
>device can be lost or damaged. 
 
>Knowing how to use a GPS device and having one is especially smart  
>this year. 
 
>Walk well, 
>Jim Keener ( J J ) 

Piper, a friend and I set out on a four day backpack trip. The three of us took off and at the first creek crossing our friend dropped his GPS in the creek. Four days later when we came out, we went back and looked for the GPS. Piper found it about 30 feet downstream underwater still in full functional condition. Our friend was very pleased and we were all amazed by Piper's sharp eyes and deductive reasoning - dropping a stick in the stream and following its path.

My brief time on the PCT this year tells me that everyone is either using a GPS or HalfMile's excellent maps which are based upon GPS tracks. Looking at HalfMile's maps you can see that on the underlying maps the PCT is often incorrectly placed, sometimes by a considerable degree. I suppose that those using only maps are okay with the trail being some 100 feet or so off from where they are actually walking. So part of the skill of using maps and compass only is the ability to live with an imperfect depiction of a changeable trail.  This is easy to do when the trail is very visible. Less so when it is covered by snow. Lots of snow this year so lots of people looking for more accuracy on the trail.

TrailHacker