Topics

1

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Great Divide - 'Best' GPX files to download to Etrex30 for rookie GPS user

« on: May 24, 2016, 11:36:49 am »

Traveling S to N on the Great Divide starting in mid June.  Struggling with best option for downloading  the GDMBR track to my computer and then to my Etrex30. I do have the ACA paper maps.  Options seem to be the following:
1. Adventure cycling Tracks (low resolution)
2. Adventure Cycling Tracks and Service Points Limited
3. Topofusion Tour Divide 2016 v2 10K.gpx
4. Topofusion GDMBR basemapv3.img
I would appreciate any recommendations/ pros and cons etc. about which option or options I should use.

Also do I need to/ should I install Garmin's basecamp on my computer?
Is continuing to be a very steep learning curve for this first time GPS user. Certainly appreciate the ACA forums. Thanks
 

2

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / eTrex20x with or without TOPO for Great Divide

« on: May 02, 2016, 07:06:36 pm »

Hopefully riding the Great Divide solo this June from south to north.  Since I will be traveling from south to north (opposite direction in which the map cues are given) it seems helpful to have the route installed in a GPS unit so I know immediately when I am off route.   I have decided on the eTrex20x; but do I want it with or without the TOPO addition (100K Map) etrex20x or eTrex20xTOPO?  I have read the threads about this and slowly learning but just need to know which unit would be better/ might be better for me so I can purchase it and start the steep learning curve.  Thanks

3

Routes / Dalton Highway & Denali Natl. Park Tour

« on: July 14, 2011, 10:54:34 pm »

My son and I just finished a great 2 week tour in Alaska.  We traveled by air to Dead Horse \Prudhoe Bay and then road our bikes 500 miles to Fairbanks.  We then rented a pickup in Fairbanks and drove to Denali Natinal Park and then rode the park road to Wonder Lake and  then back out to Headquarters (180 miles).   These routes have been written up many times previously, but they combined to make a great 2 week vacation tour.  Bicycling 700 miles on mainly gravel roads.   Many many highlights - incredible scenery in crossing the Brooks Range and throughout Denali Natl. Park; good weather (a lot more sunshine than rain); lots of wildlife viewing (grizzlies, caribou, musk oxen and Dall sheep); relatively few mosquitoes (wore our mosquito headnets for less than 2 hours the whole trip), and the truckers along the haul road were extremely courteous (slowing down and giving us lots of room).  Additional highlights: only 2 ways to travel along the Denali Park Road - on concessionaire buses or by bicycle.  Services are few, you must be self contained and ready to make any needed bicycle repairs, the grades on the haul road are quite steep (I pushed by bike up many of the steepest gradients).  and camping in in mainly undeveloped sites. We only met 4 other cyclists on the Haul Road and 6 touring cyclists in Denali.  This was my first bicycle tour;  I was concerned  that we might be in over our heads but it was a great experience.  Just want to throw it out there for other cyclists to contemplate.  Google Dalton Highway or Denali National Park for more info.

4

Routes / Best time to travel on Dalton Highway - Prudhoe Bay Alaska

« on: March 02, 2011, 12:39:07 am »

I hope to ride from Prudhoe Bay south to Fairbanks, Alaska on the Dalton Highway this summer.  I'm looking for suggestions/recommendations on the best month to ride this stretch.  I thought late July August might find fewer mosquitoes but have read reports of problems in traveling later in the season (August) with gnats and no-see-ums, more rain, and forest fires.  Any comments on best time to travel this stretch. Thanks, Cowdoc