Couple Lost in the Texas Desert Found

A Texas couple are found in the backcountry days after becoming lost
 
From CBS news:
 
"When Cathy Frye and her husband Rick McFaralnd arrived at Big Bend Ranch state park last Wednesday, they set out for what was supposed to be an afternoon hike, but by nightfall they were lost and in trouble.

"We discovered that there had been quite a bit of rain and what looked to be flash flooding that had knocked a lot of the trail markers out of the way," said Frye.

Tired and out of water the couple had no choice but to spend the night outside."

And they spent several days outside.

I have to wonder what kind of gear they had with them?  The ten essentials, don't leave home with out them.

To read the rest of the CBS post go here. 

Marking a GPS Waypoint

Learn the key techniques to mark and save a GPS waypoint.  The idea is to keep your navigation simple and you waypoints meaningful.

The solo hiker was ready to return to the car after a long day on the trail. The weather was slowly degrading; it was getting cooler and overcast. It was time to march to the car. He pulled out the GPS, selected the “Find” feature and scanned the waypoint listing. No waypoint. Nothing to identify his car was shown. Now that sinking feeling slowly crept in. It was going to be a longer afternoon.

Marking a waypoint takes just a few button pushes. The process ends with the saving of coordinates, elevation, date, time of entry and a name into the memory of a GPS.

My recommendations to mark a waypoint include the following steps.

Start with a quick look at the “satellite view” page (below). Ensure the GPS is tracking four or more satellite signals.

To read the rest of the post go here.

To read another post on GPS Navigation go here.

GPS Accuracy

Rich Owings at www.GPStracklog.com has a great post on GPS accuracy.  The bad news: accuracy changes from day to day.  The good news: accuracy will be roughly between 10-50 feet most of the time.

From Owings' post:

"You may not realize it, but GPS accuracy varies from day to day. Satellites occasionally go on the fritz, but the biggest issue is the arrangement of the constellation relative to your position."

To read Owing's post go here.

My post on Orienting a Map has received a lot of hits since first published three years ago.  The fundamentals are still essentials of back country navigation.

A quality topographic map is key to your backcountry travels.
Many quality outdoor stores have good maps.  Do check out www.MyTopo.com  Map Pass and the free site at www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.html

Orienting a map is a starting point to identify where I am, where I want to go and where I have been. I orient my topographic map (topo) before I leave the trail head and at regular intervals during a hike.

To read the rest of this post go here.

Robin is one happy GPS user. He has owned his Garmin GPS 60 for two years. The Waypoint file is full of entries. He had recorded hunting trips, camping expeditions with the kids, a few geocaches, and of course the favorite fishing spot. His GPS receiver will hold 500 Waypoints and he has over 350 saved. What a collection of data. But is Robin really managing his Waypoints effectively?

Nope.

Lots of things can happen to a Waypoint or data file. You can put data in. You can take data out. You can lose it (the GPS breaks or the wrong button entry is selected.) But be careful, far worse, too much data can make your navigation difficult.

In my land navigation class I stress keeping your navigation simple. Frequent and simple Waypoint management is essential to GPS use. When it’s time to return to the truck, it should be obvious what Waypoint to select.

Dump the junk before the start of a trip. As you leave the trail head your GPS should have only necessary data saved on your GPS. That Waypoint for the fishing hole is important but needs to be saved elsewhere.

Start by deleting Waypoints that really are not needed. Free those data bites to the atmosphere.

To save your “got to have, must save Waypoints:”

1. Use Garmin’s “Trip and Waypoint Manager.” It probably came with your GPS. It can also be purchased from Garmin for about $30.00; www.garmin.com. Down load those Waypoints to your PC.
2. If you don’t have the Garmin program, consider “Easy GPS.” It is free and available at www.easygps.com.
3. Log the important data in a notebook.

To read the rest of the post go here.

Do you have a favorite navigation web site or blog?

Share your information with us. 

Please forward a link to your favorite web site or blog that provides information on land navigation, GPS in general and backcountry survival.

Send it to: mapcompassandgps@gmail.com

Taking Good Care of Your Compass

Check out my latest post on Seattlebackpackersmagazine.com about taking care of your magnetic compass. 

 

If a hiker is willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of boots why not spend a bit more for a decent magnetic compass; it can make a huge difference.

 

The hiker arrived at the trailhead and was getting ready to start out on his journey. He powered up the GPS to mark his location.  He also brought out the magnetic compass to double check his heading and first bearing. Strangely, he knew he was heading in an easterly direction, he was after all, pointing straight down the trail and the trail tracked 090°, due east. But after aligning the magnetic compass, the compass heading was 13° off.  The hiker correctly held up his movement until he could resolve the issue.

 

To read the rest of the post go here.

For more information about measuring a magnetic compass bearing check out this post.