I've been wanting to find and tag my two corner boundries at JPE - I
was able to estimate rough coordinates using Google maps (past logging
boundaries show up on satellite images), then I borrowed a Garmin GPS
last week to try and track one of the corners. There is a trail that
runs down through the middle of my land, and I hoped it would go
somewhere near the SW corner. The corner appears to be just about at
the peak of a mountain/hill based on the topo. I went out to find it
the weekend before last.
Now, on to my wonderful GPS experience - I was able to figure out how
to generate a set of "you are here" coordinates, and I was able to
enter the coordinates of the corner as a way point. So, I know where
I am, and know where I want to be - I wanted the GPS to make an arrow
that I could follow, but I couldn't do it - the arrow didn't change
direction when I passed the desired spot. I don't know what was going
on, but I think the GPS makes an arrow that points from the original
coordinates to the new ones. Totally stupid, I can't imagine why you
would ever want that feature. I wanted an arrow that I could just
follow until you get where you want to be - seems like about the most
basic feature that there is. Unfortunately, Garmin's user interface
is SO poor, that the machine evidently can't be used without a
manual. As such, the GPS proved basically useless in the woods, but I
did have the tracking feature enabled, so once I got home I was able
to see that after going SSW for a while, the trail hooked to the West
and went off my property, then ran a ridge around the hill back toward
the East. I found some conservation group signs on the trail, which I
can assume is where the trail leaves my property. Alright - so all I
have to do is go halfway around the ridge after leaving my property,
then leave the trail heading East and go uphill 'till I can't anymore,
then I should be where I want to be. Theoretically.
I went out again this past Sunday to try again. I had to return the
GPS, but a friend that was with me had a newer, more spiffy GPS
model. My wife bought me the same model GPS for Christmas, but I
wasn't convinced it could do what I wanted, so I returned it. I
turned the GPS on at my house, and compared the reported coordinates
with the Google data and the first GPS data. I found that it was
reporting coordinates that were completely different from both the
other GPS and Google. The original GPS corresponded to Google pretty
well - down to about the 7th digit of the coordinates, which is down
in the mud, but the new one differed in the 5th digit, which is
probably the better part of a mile (or more) of error. I then fired
up the on-board compass, and found it to be pointing in the wrong
direction. I re-calibrated it, but the heading did not correct. So,
this spiffy GPS reports bad data, and points in the wrong direction.
Good thing I had some previous data to test it before we took off into
the woods. That is really scary shit - way worse than having nothing,
IMHO. I guess I now know why Garmin stock is down 75% from their
peak.
So, we shitcanned the GPS, and headed out on my ATV with no navigation
gear. Based on the original GPS track, I guessed at roughly where I
wanted to head into the woods, then bushwacked in. I figured just
head uphill to the top, then downhill to get out...piece of cake. So,
I picked my spot, went 90 degrees off the trail, and kept heading
uphill. It worked pretty good - I found what was the top of the hill,
then wandered around a bit, and actually found what looks like a
corner marker on a rock wall, surrounded by a couple of blazed trees,
and a crap load of trees engraved by deer hunters "Jim G., Deer
Hunter, was here - 11/17/89" and the like - which I find hilarious).
The cool part is that the rear property boundary appears to be that
rock wall, so if the wall runs the entire boundary, finding the other
corner and making a bounding trail across the back should be trivial.
I did wish that I had a working GPS at that time though - be nice to
tag the spot and verify the boundary later, although I'm fairly
confident.
After a short "found it" celebration, we headed back toward the trail,
but took a slighly different path out - I wanted to try to follow the
boundary line so I could get a mark on the trail when we came out for
future reference. Unfortunately, the ATV got quickly mired in heavy
brush and rugged terrain and I got trapped a few times. By the time I
was mobilized again, I realized I had lost all sense of direction and
had dropped into a valley, so the uphill/downhill thing was out the
widow too. Krike'. When guessing the proper heading out at that
point, my friend and I were pointing in almost opposite
directions...uh oh. I generally have really shitty sense of innate
direction, and my friend's is even worse - a typical case of the blind
leading the blind. I had my friend sit in sight of the ATV so we
wouldn't lose it, and scouted around a bit - I didn't think I walked
more than a couple hundred feet, and ultimately found some features
that I recognized, but found myself to the wrong side of where I
thought I left my friend by at least that far when I started yelling
for location. Man, talk about losing your bearings. I was starting
to worry, and the whole time I was bitching at myself for not having a
compass, which would've made the project trivial - I have a nice one
too, just don't know exactly where it is. I ended up making my way
back to the hill top, re-finding the corner and getting my bearings
again. Clouds cleared, so I was also able to get a sun reading - we
were able to find a more open track out, and the combination of that
and the sun got back out to the trail in no time.
Moral of the story - never go into the woods without a compass. I've
also lost all confidence in GPSes - at the very least, calibrate them
to known coordinates before using. You can find a java script that
spits out coordinates using Google maps - use it to get references.
Above all, learn to use a good old-fashioned analog compass and get
one. That's what I'm using to do all of my woods-tracking from now
on.
On a mildly unrelated note - I got a phone message yesterday from a
mountain-biking organization asking permission to ride across my land
during some kind of annual organized ride. I'm tempted to tell them
that my land is bounded by CONSERVATION land, and the trails through
are HIKING trails - if they want to wreck the beautiful environment
with their nasty knobby tires, they can do it somewhere else! Heh.
Eh, I'll give them permission (only because hikers hate MBers too),
but I better get an area trail MB map in return - I predict some
appropriate environmental assault DB poaching around the area.
JayC
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