Dan's Outside

I go, I see, I do, I walk, I think, I like…

2003.09.30

***GPS Users Still Lost in the Woods.
As GPS navigation services and gadgets become more popular, people are discovering they can still lose their way — even when they know their exact coordinates. By James Bernard Frost. [Wired News]

“I’ve heard stories of people being lost in the woods with thousand-dollar GPS devices,” says volunteer Shawn Gillogly. The biggest problem with GPS “is that it assumes you know how to use it. Nothing can replace proper orienteering skills and training.”

So far I have resisted the techno-lust lure of GPS units… but sometimes I catch myself slipping.

Several years ago I was associated with a school group that was backpacking on a little-used Sierra trail. They lost the track in an unmaintained section. The leader had a GPS but was unable to use it to get out of the situation because he could not relate the precise GPS coordinates to the map that he had. As he said, “I knew exactly where we were lost.” They finally extricated themselves using the traditional route-finding skills that are still critical.
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September 30, 2003 - Posted by | Commentary

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