Old School vs. New School

How to navigate the Great Divide Trail?
Adventure Cycling Association does a great job producing routing maps for all of their routes. I'm lucky in that they just refreshed the GDMBR  last year so the data is current. There are 6 maps chocked full of info, elevation, distance, where to find water, food, local history, camp sites etc. In addition, I'll be using my Garmin Etrex 20x GPS. All the tracks have been loaded for the route, easy peasy just follow the pink line.
While smart phones and car GPS devices are intuitive, the Garmin etrex has a big learning curve. It's like using DOS compared to a modern smart phone. Mona and I have been practicing with the unit on our weekend hikes. Why not just use google maps on your phone? The smart phone is too fragile, the battery life is too short and getting  a satellite signal is not dependable. The phone will be the triple backup! I'll likely pick up state maps as I work my way down.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Great Basin

Image
Met back up with the crew again. Fun time in Atlantic City, last real meal before entering the Great Divide Basin. Her’s the crew primitive camping the night before. Misquotes were out in full force.  Day one we were on the saddle by 6 am. Hot and windy. This morning, up at 3 am and riding by 4:00. Much better, cool and no wind. 60 miles by 9:00 am!  Landscape is surreal.  Only water source for most the Basin. 
Read more

Rest Day

Image
Low production day. Bike maintenance, sealant in tubes. Goat head thorns are a real flat threat from here to the finish. I’ve heard of riders getting 6 or more flats in a mile. New map section. Next to last map tomorrow. Arkansas River runs through the town park. This keep staring at me during supper. Town of Salida
Read more

Entering Customs Through Roosville, MT

Image
One last big climb out of Flathead Forest to enter United States. You are always bear aware but today I saw a cougar on the top of a pass. He gave me a quick look and headed the other direction and into the forest. Also several grouse  sightings. Finally some dry weather.   Eureka, MT has a community camping ground with a shower and grassy space to camp. Stocked up with supplies for several days and stopped into the Front Porch for a cheeseburger topped with huckleberry ice cream, odd but really good. Meeting up with lots of long distance hikers doing the Northwest Pacific Trail.  Plan is to reach Polebridge tomorrow. Sadly Andrew and Diana will continue on the Great Divide Route and I plan on visiting Glacier National Park, Riding to the Sun Road. Hoping we meet up down the road. 
Read more