GPS recomendations

[turtle]

I am starting to look at a GPS. I want to develop my off trail abilities and would use the GPS in conjunction with the map/compass. In the long run-next few years-I would need a GPS for the CDT and possibly PNW trails since these involve routes and trails.

I checked the archives and the Garmin 60 csx(?) was the overwhelming choice. One thing was that you couldn't load your own maps. For the CDT I was planning on getting maps on a CD from Jonathan Ley. How hard would it be to load these onto the Garmin 60 csx?

Any thoughts on which GPS or good sites to gather some information?

[pdxJaxon]

well...the Garmins are great (no doubt about it).

I personally prefer the Rhino due to it's 2 way radio capability and due to the fact that I can give my son one too and keep track of him in case we accidentally seperate.

if you have a good topo map, you may not find it necessary to download the detail maps into your GPS.

Just food for thought...


cheers

Greg Jackson
Tigard, OR
http://www.JaxonsGottaGun.com

[RobFromRedland]

Hey Greg:

I had to take a look at your website, and I saw that you wanted to go to Rock Lakes soon. One of your criteria is no bugs, and Rock Lakes is well known for its bugs early in the season. I was there a couple years ago in July, and the Mosquitoes were pretty thick (had to wear head nets and even then it was tough). It gets better later in the season, but I'd guess that it will be late August or even September before the bugs improve due to the late snow melt this year.

The good news is that the fishing at Serene Lake (not too sure about the others) is pretty good. Not huge fish, but big enough to eat, if you don't mind eating 8-10" trout.

[pdxJaxon]

oh man....what a drag.

I dont mind "some" mosquitoes. but if they're brutal that will suck for the kids.

Gonna check it out this weekend. THanks for the note.



GAJ

[Cattrapper]

Something else to keep in mind is the snow level. I camped in that area the weekend of the 4th and snow was still blocking the roads to all the lakes in that area, with the exception of Shellrock Lake. The MHNF website said the snow level was at 4000' that weekend, and they were right on. It now says 4500', so they may be accessible now, but I'd check first.

BTW, nice gun collection!

[retired jerry]

I am starting to look at a GPS. I want to develop my off trail abilities and would use the GPS in conjunction with the map/compass. In the long run-next few years-I would need a GPS for the CDT and possibly PNW trails since these involve routes and trails.

I checked the archives and the Garmin 60 csx(?) was the overwhelming choice. One thing was that you couldn't load your own maps. For the CDT I was planning on getting maps on a CD from Jonathan Ley. How hard would it be to load these onto the Garmin 60 csx?

Any thoughts on which GPS or good sites to gather some information?

You can only download the Mapsource maps from Garmin to your Garmin GPS.

An exception is making your own maps, but it sounds like a lot of work, see http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm

[pdxJaxon]

Thanks C.T.

our real backpacking trip is Aug 8 so hopefully the snow will be gone by then.

this week is just a quick scouting trip

Gotta Love them Guns.....


Cheers


GAJ

[RobFromRedland]

You can only download the Mapsource maps from Garmin to your Garmin GPS.

An exception is making your own maps, but it sounds like a lot of work, see http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm

I haven't had any luck with that sequence of steps, but I did find this program: http://moagu.com/. I haven't used it yet, but it sounds interesting, and you can try it out before paying the $20 for the program.

[retired jerry]

[quote="RobFromRedlandI haven't had any luck with that sequence of steps, but I did find this program: http://moagu.com/. I haven't used it yet, but it sounds interesting, and you can try it out before paying the $20 for the program.[/quote]

That looks interesting.

$20 is cheaper than the $100 you pay for Mapsource

I think you could get the higher resolution 24K USGS topo maps rather than the 100K you get with Mapsource.

Their website said they have bitmapped maps rather than the vector maps of Mapsource. So the MOAGU maps take more memory so you can only store a few USGS quads, but that should be plenty for any trip you take. But with vector maps you can store maybe 100 quads which is enough for all the areas I would normally go to so I don't have to download the map for each trip.

Also, the bitmap map takes longer to display. The website said it would keep up with walking or even bicycling, but not if you were driving. The display time might be annoying long.

They say they have a free evaluation.

It would be interesting to get anyone's first-hand experience.

[turtle]

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/topo ... kcard.jsp#
I went ahead and ordered the 60CSx. It should be here Tuesday. I found this map card on the Garmin site. Any GPS experts care to throw an opinion out there? This covers 90% of my hiking. I like the 24K scale.