Isle Royale Forums

I've been traveling the old fashion way the past three years, but I'm going to Sargent Lake this year. I have some X-mas cash saved up and would like to purchase one of those hand help GPS units. Extra weight or good idea? I'm doing my homework on them right now.

I personally bring my GPS as my "luxury" weight item. While I.R. certainly can be hiked without a GPS, for me, I bring it for a couple reasons:
1.) It's a fun gadget.
2.) Because my GPS will route the actual trails, I can determine the "are we there yet" answer. It's nice on a long hiking day, or perhaps bad weather, to know how much further camp really is down the path.
3.) "Bucket Bob" introduced me this spring to a pseudo-form of geocaching. (Since true caches are against NPS policy.) - Finding the various triangulation points that were placed on the Isle in the 30s. It's a great way to hike into the backcountry, with purpose!

Having owned both Magellan & Garmin in the past, I can say I really like the Delorme PN series of GPS. I have both the PN-20 and PN-40 now. Instead of a getting maps from a GPS company, you're getting a GPS from a map company. (Delorme is more famous for it's Gazetteer and other maps.) The GPS includes the Topo software and maps/routes of the US, plus you can get a subscription (~$30/yr, I think) that provides unlimited downloads of scanned USGS quads, Aerial and Sat imagery, etc. It's been nice when walking backcounty to pull up an aerial image and see, "Hey, there is a clearing just over that ridge" or similar. If you haven't already, add it to your homework list..

Since you are planning off trail hiking/camping it might be a good idea. Otherwise, as Tom says, on IR it's a "luxury" item in most cases.

Just got back from Sportsman's Warehouse and tried a few of them out. I liked the Garmin GPSmap 62st, but kind of expensive:( I wonder what GPS units the NPS rangers use.

I'll keep checking into them.

Thank you for the info.

Chris

An entry level GPS (low tech, low cost, no or minimal mapping) and a map with UTM grids (i.e. National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map of Isle Royale) is what I use for backcountry travel. Along with a UTM grid ruler I can plot coordinates from the GPS to the map and from the map to the GPS. I also bring a compass in case my GPS broke, got lost, or ran out of batteries.

My strongest recommendation is that you practice, practice, and practice with a new GPS before you ever have to depend on it in the backcountry wilderness. It is not that difficult and can be a lot of fun, especially if you like maps and orienteering. Get a topographic map of your home town or favorite local park and practice at your convenience.

Inca,

Thanks for sharing some details. My search for a GPS is narrowing!!!

Chris

Back in June I purchased my GPS and decided on the wrist mounted Garmin Foretrex 401 GPS (http://www.rei.com/product/790321 $200). I had a met a hiker on the Manistee Trail who was using one and I was sold. Note, this unit will show your speed/distance/time/compass/elevation/ position and tracks only. It does not display topo maps. By comparing your tracks and other info to the map, determining my position is no problem. For me, it does everything I need it to do. I also like the having that all the info available to me just by glancing at my wrist. AAA battery life is great and it's compact.

I'm savin' up!

Thanks, MichiganDave

Chris

I have always used my ETREX Legend for Hiking. You get good signal except under dense tree canopies. It works great, and carry it as a luxury item. I have never needed it, but like having it around to check locations at rest stops,(for distances).

RDellar wrote:I have always used my ETREX Legend for Hiking. You get good signal except under dense tree canopies. It works great, and carry it as a luxury item. I have never needed it, but like having it around to check locations at rest stops,(for distances).

I too use the Etrex legend. Its not the best out there but it gets it done and the price is pretty good. I do not consider this a luxury item though, this is a must for me but I am also traveling by canoe and those portage markers are not the easiest to find at first. I like the speed, time of day as well as the heading features, I always have these 3 things up going place to place, also when fishing it's great to know your speed when trolling. I also play around with it at camp to pass some down time

I don't currently own a iphone but I was thinking of picking up a refurb, jail-broke, iphone 3 for less then $100 and getting a good trail mapping program for it. Figured that iphone ecosystem is rather robust and so accessories such as cases and extended batteries would be easy to find and cheaper. I can then also use it for other things as well. Not planning on putting it on a cellular network since I have a company owned cell.

Looking into the one that Backpacker's Mag puts out, the pro version.

i have a samsung fascinate android phone. and it is "rooted" so the gps locks in less than 10 seconds. takes 20 indoors. i bought an app called "backcountry navigator" for ten bucks on the android market. it will download free topo maps from the internet that are zoomable up to 15 layers. and the topos are free. it will store tracks, load waypoints etc. my phone now crushes a garmin. and when i put it in "airplane mode" the battery will last for about 3 days. and i have a 2aa usb power supply as a charger. so i am expecting to be able to last six days with 2 charged phone batteries and 4 aa's.