If you want to help me gather data, here are some basic things to do.
Georeferenced Pictures
- Make sure your GPS is set to record as many points as possible.
On my Garmin, you can set it to "Most Often".
- Synchronize the clock on your camera to the exact time on your GPS.
If your GPS says it is 4:31 P.M., set your camera to 4:32 and as soon as the time
changes on your GPS, accept the time on your camera. This way both devices
have their time set within a few seconds of each other.
- As you ride, take pictures of features others might want to know
about on the trails.
- Take a picture of the beginning of the trail showing how this
trail intersects with another road\trail. At the end of the trail, do
the same.
- What the trail is like? Take a picture of an
area of the trail that has trees or open areas, areas where the trail might
switch from loose dirt to really rocky areas. Also include dangerous areas of the
trail such as large boulders, off camber hills, obstructions, and narrow parts
of the trail.
- When taking pictures avoid tilting the camera, hold it as level
(don't tilt the camera) as possible to accurately reference the
slope of the land.
- Other features that might help a new rider decide if
it is a trail that is ok for them, or too advanced for them to ride on, or,
is this trail just to desolate to bother going on.
- Take notes. Tell me details about the trail.
- If you come across a "dispersed" camp site, add it to
your gps as a waypoint. Do the same for other things such as
outhouses, water faucets at campgrounds, garbage drop off areas, areas of interest, etc. If you come to a formal campsite,
get a waypoint for each fire ring if possible. This comes in handy if you want to
go camping in this area, but since the Forest Service doesn't tell you about
the many camp sites in areas such as the Baker Creek road in Sun Valley we
can share this info with everyone.
- E-mail the GPS track log (GPX file) along with your
photos. I will georeference them and create the webpage for
the data.
- Please e-mail pictures one or two at a time if they are full
size files. If you know how to, resize them to 900 pixels in
height, zip them up and attach that. I can also provide and
ftp address if you would like to send them that way.
- If will give you credit for the photos if I use them.
Trail or Road
InformationE-Mail me the name of the trail, and whatever
information that is appropriate to add to the webpage.
Information such as how many water crossings there are, how steep it
is, width, etc is helpful.
aaron@atlcomputing.com
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