GPS Navigation Units and the Trail

GPS Navigation Units and the Trail

GPS Navigation Units and the Trail

Like many, I first learned to track coordinates the old fashioned way. We'd first grid the map, then based on a compass along with the azimuth we'd compute our coordinates. It was hard to get right, often prone to error, and routinely put us around fifty meters off course when we were "mislaid." Luckily, those days are the distant past. Now we can easily use global positioning system units to quickly ascertain the lay of the land and our place in it.

Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology has revolutionized how people locate themselves. Based on the triangulation of a signal, inside a few meters we can locate an object pinging the satellites. Since trail hiking is normally done in remote areas, this really exceptionally beneficial while you are "off the grid." The first benefit to a GPS unit is having a digital chart readily accessible at any time. Instead of being forced to unfold and clumsily trace the paper map, the digital one will zoom and pan at your command, which makes it easy to visually scout ahead a pack.

Routing features accommodate a quick trek towards a location when meandering around is just not a possibility. Maybe you are trying to make a specific cliff by sundown to catch a meteor shower, or perhaps just wanting to take the quickest route back to the trail head. Regardless, one of the best benefits of new age GPS units is the capability to decipher maps to work out (with relatively good dependability) which routes are walkable.

Track back features are another useful tool and sometimes safety feature. If you have determined that you have reached your hiking limit, and have lost track of your location, this can be used to make your way home. This can be particularly useful in situations like Grand Canyon rim to rim hiking or forest hiking where in many cases every direction looks identical. The GPS unit will function this way on memory, not just based on the satellites, so if you end up running low on power you are able to switch off the remote function and just use its compass memory to find your path home.

This is all fine and dandy, but lacking an experienced trail leader even with a GPS unit a trip may go awry. I recommend for your first trip into the wilderness you utilize a reliable outdoor adventure company; a guide company is a great asset your first trip out, and will enable you to plan the next trip on your own if you want. Whether you are hiking the Everglades or just going on a Yosemite backpacking trip, an adventure guide company can provide you with valuable insight and provide you with as little as advice or as much as a whole weekend adventure.

If you're an adventure backpacker in Arizona, don't miss out on a Grand Canyon rim to rim hiking trip. If you're in California, take a look at Just Roughin' It's Yosemite backpacking trip, a great way to spend a weekend in the great outdoors. Have fun and happy trails!

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