Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board GPS altimiter compass and barometer

I'm good with a topo map, but I'm looking for a combination GPS, altimiter, compass and barometer; the latter being least important. First time up - permit for June 30 - July 2. I hadn't planned on taking a GPS, but Thelonius' story pointed out a need if conditions changed quickly. Any suggestions or recommendations?

I'm considering a similar purchase. My research seems to be steering me toward the Garmin eTrex Summit, but I'm very interested in the opinions of this board...

I find that a GPS is most valuable when used with maps and compass. Weight and size were also an issue. I decided on garmin geko 201. It has enough available routes and other features, (altimeter, WAAS, Down-load way-points, etc) but the map feature on the small screen seemed too cute to be practical anyway. On the small screen you miss the big picture. I still carry topos and a compass. At ~$150.00 It served me well on doing the JMT last year. REI offers a great class for learning- about $20.00.

I have the eTrex Vista. It has altimeter; WAAS; compass; uploadable memory for map data; other odds and ends; It ain't cheap but it's superb, and assisted me in real life situations.

My own experience (out in the middle of nowhere, at times) is with 7.5' topos, especially those with UTM grids, and the Vista, I was always able to precisely log my whereabouts and heading.

Not needed a barometer ... I've followed weather
behaviour other ways ...

Other Garmin models are much cheaper, and can do nearly what the Vista does.

Hope that helps ...

I use a Garmin eTrex Summit along with National Geographic Topo software. This way I can create my own maps specific to the hike and download the route or way points from the map to the GPS before the hike.

I have gotten to the point now that I will usually leave the GPS at home in the summer and depend on map and compass. The GPS comes out in the winter or if I will be doing sigificant cross country travel. It is highly unlikely you will see conditions Thelonius saw on the dates of your hike, however that is when you need to start playing with a GPS if you do get one. Use it alot in the beginning when you don't need it and you will be better prepared to use it when you do need it.

I have a Magellan Meridian Color GPS unit which was given to us as a Christmas Bonus. My experience has show that this is a limited device. The topo software that Magellan sells does not include many popular trails including Whitney, and Yosemite. The GPS unit itself can only store 30 waypoints per route which is a problem when I downloaded the Whitney trail at 99 waypoints and have to create four routes. The time to a fix seems slow and minimal trees seem to interfere with locating the satellites, these may be traits of all GPS units but I'm not sure.
On the other side, the battery consumption is not too bad for a color device, especially if you keep the back light off except when needed. Also the unit is water proof and supposedly floats, although I have not tested this feature.

I have heard good things about the National Geographic Topo Software.

I have had a Garnmin eTrex Summit for several years. I chose it in part for the compass and barometric altimeter. The compass is nice because it's nice to be able to determine which direction one is facing while standing still. There are disadvantages to both barometric altimeters and using GPS for altitude. I found that the hybrid approach used in the eTrex Summit did better with altitude data than other GPS receivers I had tried at the time. But technology changes rapidly and this may be less of an issue now than it was in 2001.

I love my GPS but never leave home without an old fashioned compass. I generally use map and cmpass for navigation for reasons that have been discussed on this board many times.

Although the GPS has value, I'm with spinefxr in that I almost never take mine except in winter to unfamiliar locations. I have an etrex and only care about it for an occasional UTM bearing. I've loaded routes from software but have never ended up using them. I'm no Luddite and have used GPS's for years for ocean navigation. More valuable to me on land, along with the knowledge of how to use them, are good maps, compass (Suunto MC-2G), and a Suunto Vector watch. The watch has the barometer you are looking for, altimeter, compass, and more. People seem to do a lot of "fun" things with their GPS units and enjoy messing with them much in the way others like to play with photography and that is fine but I think they are even more valuable if you have map and compass skills down pat.

I use an eTrex Summit. Since the current GPS's calibrate altitude pretty accurately from 3D satellite fixes, I don't think the altimeter function is really necessary these days. Most good GPS's recalibrate the altitude automatically so you're really not using the baro altimeter much. Obviously you can use an old fashioned mag compass (and not need to worry about batteries running out) rendering the electronic compass rendundant. I use my GPS three ways:

- to get fixes on my start point and camp(s) in case I can't find my trail back.
- to download routes and waypoints from my topo map as a backup in route-finding.
- to record my climbs and then download them to my computer to see where I've trekked on a topo map (ok, it's a cheap form of entertainment).

Guys, thanks for the help. The posts have been insightful. I'm pretty new to hiking/backpacking, but I've done a lot of navigation while sailing (mostly in Alaska) without the aid of a GPS. I've always relied on a compass and a chart or map. I appreciate your thoughts and any more that may be coming on this topic.

I used a Garmin eTrex (the basic one) in our ascent last year from Cottonwood Lakes. It was a neat gadget to have but not necessarily useful because the map I had (USGS Whitney Area) was plenty sufficient (with a plain old compass). It is not an altimeter but the GPS does give altitude info that was accurate to better than 25 ft (it put whitney at 14,510ft). The downside was total loss of signal under foliage.

I went with the Garmin Geko 301 GPS. It's the smallest weighing in at 3.5oz that includes an altimiter and compass. You can't download maps which isn't a priority to me and the maps on a small screen are yet to be satisfactory for me.

The 301 packs an unbelievable amount of data and stats; speed, rate of incline, decline, time traveling, time at rest, ETA, an elevation graph, on and on... It has the Track Back feature that leaves a "co**** crumb trail" as you hike that you can then follow back with in a couple of feet of your original trail.

The only down side is it's 11 hour battery life. Most GPS have poor battery life which makes no sense on a devcice someone might want to have on a backcountry trip for days or weeks.

Garmin has a new GPS, the 60CS (much larger than the 301)which is full featured including downloading maps, weighs I think around 9oz (still light) and I heard has a battery life of 30 hours. I think it's priced around 500.00.

Good Luck,

rlfstop

Again, thanks for the input. I think that I've narrowed it down to the eTrex Summit and the Geko 301. I've read the specs sheets on both. The street price is about the same, the 301 is slightly lighter and smaller but appears to have less battery life. It also has 3x the number of logging points.

Has anyone used them both, to be able to compare the functionality of the two units? What am I getting or missing if I choose the 301?

All input greatly appreciated.

I have the Gecko 201 and it seems to be all I need. As for needing it on Whitney? Leave it at home. There will be so many people up there that it would be ALMOST impossible to get lost up there. The trail is wide and well marked. You dont even need a compass. I wonder what Whitney hikers did 10 years ago without GPS?

>>>>>I hadn't planned on taking a GPS, but Thelonius' story pointed out a need if conditions changed quickly

Save your money (unless you just want to buy a GPS anyway). Thelonius had winter conditions. You're going in the summer. GPS will be severe overkill.

Some of you describe your GPS receivers as having a feature called WAAS. What is that? Is this a needed feature? One other question. Do some GPS receivers really have a compass and altimeter?

Thanks

hiiker

Wide Area Augmentation System. Basically, it's a system of satellites and ground stations that provide GPS signal corrections, giving you even better position accuracy. How much better? Try an average of up to five times better. A WAAS-capable receiver can give you a position accuracy of better than three meters 95 percent of the time. And you don't have to purchase additional receiving equipment or pay service fees to utilize WAAS.

Do you need it on Whitney: no, not unless you are trying to come down in a white-out. Also, WAAS uses more battery power, so I turn it off on long climbs/hikes.

SAVE YOUR MONEY! You do not need a GPS on Whitney's main trail during the summer. The trail is very easy to follow. Learning to use map and compass is a skill that will be more valuable than relying on a GPS that might not work. Battery power can fail, trees, bad weather, or mountains can interfere with signals. The maps of the Whitney area are very easy to follow no matter what route you are using. The money you save can be better used for other gear.

A GPS is a fun toy, but after all is said, the only real value (for me at least) is setting it to UTM coordinates and pinpointing your exact location to the 7.5 Topo (aligned with a compass). Even on extensive x-country treks, all the rest is overkill. Even doing geocaching, that's all you really need. Get the Geko 201 on eBay- $100.00. Lightest and cheapest.

If you are going to use the GPS to help you navigate the trail, just glance at your feet every now and then. Especially after the snow thaws the trail resembles a freeway.

If you are going to use it to have some fun knowing where you are in reference to certain points on the trail, have fun. When combined with compass and map, it is a great tool to identify landmarks.