[pct-l] Topo USA question

[matt@mattmaxon.com (Matt Maxon)]

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Jeff...
I am assuming you downloaded the PCT map from the NG TOPO! website.

This is a hand traced route from the maps in the PCT guide book. The RED da=
shed "Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail" or "PCNST" in many cases are "Pr=
ovisional routes " for the trail dating from when the trail was made a Nati=
onal Scenic Trail.

I have been using a GPS on all my travels on the PCT and hope to do the I-1=
0 to Cedar Glen segment when the weather gets warmer. The trail can be dead=
 on or way off either the Guide Book trace or the RED dashed map lines.

  The one resource I have found to be the most accurate is the "PCT DATABOO=
K" by Ben Go, in general it's dead on with the mileage, with only small dis=
crepancies in my actual trail mileage and the stated mileage in the guide, =
the largest error being 1.5 miles. I've checked the GPS again and again aga=
inst road side odometer tests and measuring with a wheel on trail over 9+ m=
iles and they disagree only .01 to .02 miles over 10 miles.

I've found the TOPO! program to be useful in that many people in the PCTA h=
ave it and it's easy to use. I have many many programs for maps and mapping=
 and find them all useful depending on what I'm trying to do.

I am currently using..
  a.. TOPO!, for sharing maps
  b.. Manifold 5.0 Pro, for bringing all kinds of government data together
  c.. GARtrip, for storing, editing, formatting output file, and displaying=
 individual tracks
  d.. Mapsource, for storing track data in a "native" Garmin format
  e.. MemoryMap, a real-time PDA mapping program for saving trackdata in th=
e field, and as a navigational aide
  f.. MapTech, Better quality topos required for MemoryMap
  g.. ExpertGps, marrying track and waypoint data to aerial photographs, st=
oring and editing tracks, the maps for this are retrieved online for free f=
rom the Microsoft TerraServer, as needed. I have the found accuracy of the =
Topographic Maps to be poor, the Aerial Photography is dead on, I sent seve=
ral emails to ExpertGPS about this with no response yet.
I am getting a GPS Datalogger from a company in Australia which will solve =
the problem of not enough trackpoints for a days worth of hiking. This unit=
 will store 288000 trackpoints with date, time, elevation, and "event" data=
. I am getting this because the PDA has crashed several times causing the l=
oss of data