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  1. #1
    Registered User fcoulter's Avatar
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    Default Sharing of information with the rest of the world

    I've always thought that the hiker community needs to maintain good relations with the rest of the world, and entice other people into hiking. Much of the land that we hike on is public land. If taxpayers hike, it is more likely that we will be able to continue to hike.

    One way to do this is to make information easier for non-hardcore hikers to access.

    One guy that's doing this is Jim Bensmen, who has created and is maintaining a map overlay that works on most Garmin GPS units. The map overlay has trails in red, which will display about your topographic map. However, he's only one person and can't physically hike all the trails in the United States. I've been sending him updated trail routings as I hike them so that the latest update can include better information than the previous one. If you've been hiking with your GPS turned on, why not send him the GPX routes so that he can update the information. More information and the (free) map download can be found at http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/53. I've found trails near my house that I didn't know existed on his map.

    Another approach is the creation of Point of Interest (POI) files for GPS units. For example, I've created the beginnings of a POI file of Florida Trailheads. I'll be adding a lot more trailheads over the next few months. You can download the latest version at http://www.poi-factory.com/node/38290. If you've got Florida trailheads that are missing, I'd be happy to get the information. But more importantly, I didn't find any other state trailhead POI files. You could easily start files for whatever state you live in. (Or hike in.)

    Both of these make hiking more accessible to non-hardcore hikers, and thus potentially increase public support for the small amount of funding that's needed to maintain access to hiking trails. So as you approach the new year and think about your New Year's Resolution, this might be something to think about.

  2. #2

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    Like we need more people on the AT, it's so crowded now a person can't hardly turn around.

  3. #3
    PCT, Sheltowee, Pinhoti, LT , BMT, AT, SHT, CDT, TRT 10-K's Avatar
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    Jim is reinventing the wheel.

    Download "My Trails" from gpsfiledepot.com. It's an overlay map that also displays trails on topo maps. It has every trail I've ever hiked on it.

  4. #4
    Registered User The Cleaner's Avatar
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    The last time I tried to load a file(map) from gpsfiledepot.com I got one infected with some kind of virus.Hopefully they have updated their files in the last few months....

  5. #5
    Registered User fcoulter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 10-K View Post
    Jim is reinventing the wheel.

    Download "My Trails" from gpsfiledepot.com. It's an overlay map that also displays trails on topo maps. It has every trail I've ever hiked on it.
    Jim is the guy who created and maintains My Trails. (The link was to it.) There are trails he doesn't have, and some of them have moved since he mapped it. He can use all the help we can provide since there is a limit to the number of trails he can hike.

  6. #6
    Registered User fcoulter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RED-DOG View Post
    Like we need more people on the AT, it's so crowded now a person can't hardly turn around.
    Then don't supply information on the AT. There are a lot of other trails out there that are unknown. Unless you only hike the AT, you probably have a lot more information than you realize that you can share.

    Heck, if you provide information about other trails, you may relieve some of the congenstion on the AT.

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