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Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 07 May 10 5:10 pm
by Happy Chappies
Saw this in the paper today:
GPS strands tourists in Queensland
Personally I reckon they were going for
4x4 (03) but were too embarassed to explain
But anyway - more curiously (as we've just rigged up a sat nav system in the car (out of an eeePC and nroute
) - has anyone ever blindly followed their GPS (either car or on foot) to somewhere that they regretted? Or that was a bit daft and you wouldn't have if that little arrow wasn't bludgeoning you into submission??
(I also adore the picture in this story - Where can I get me a rig like that??)
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 07 May 10 5:27 pm
by Damo.
After camping the night near
Teeny weeny cache I tried to drive my 2WD to Mountain lagoon.
It was only a 10 km stretch of what was shown as a road on the map I had, but was a heavily rutted fire trail really. Made it about 5km before throwing in the towel and backtracking before I got stuck!
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 07 May 10 6:43 pm
by Richary
It has taken me on some interesting tracks where I have decided to engage low range and get out to check the line before proceeding. Luckily I have a 4WD!
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 08 May 10 4:14 pm
by MtnLioness
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/st ... %20Seeding
Wondered about this lot too!
I lived on the Sunny Coast and only ever got half way up Mt. Beerwah. Mount Tibrogargan is a Doozy! You NEED climbing equipment for that one!! It's only the Volcano core left!! Silly climbers!
I also believe there IS a cache up there too!
This too -
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/st ... in-police/
Ps. If someone could make these proper links I would be grateful!
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 08 May 10 6:18 pm
by CraigRat
Too often nowadays!
I used to obsess over maps before driving through unfamiliar territory, and now I find I rely too much on the GPS, if it gives me a bum steer I start to feel REAL lost, real quick!
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 08 May 10 8:15 pm
by jgc3
When we first started caching.. we followed the pointer like a god..
However when we first noticed we were going in different directions.. and often walking 20m just to be the same distance from the cache.. we found out that it is often about your caching sense rather than always the GPS..
This was really apparently early on when we had a DNF in a forest location.. but returned after 50 or so more finds under our belt.. and wondered how we
did not find it.. we walked in and said "I think it's under those rocks!"
But it the fun of learning and hunting.. and never say die.. once a DNF not always a DNF..
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 10 May 10 2:10 pm
by Dik:
Oh yes, too often,
like on
Buck Up
Without checking any notes I followed the purple line, and found myself following a HiLux down a no through road. He turned round at the end of the hard pack and I continued on down a sandy track along a fence line for a few Km.
On reaching the park boundary there were 3 options. Left was a tricky looking climb up a dune, right was a well made track, better than I had been on, and straight on looked like no one had been up there in years. So I took the right road up the hill to where that track deteriorated to nothing, but I had the vista to tell me I needed to go down the overgrown centre track.
That's when I read the notes and found this is 4WD only cache. Checked the GPSr and the cache is 2Km away, so I decided to walk the rest of the way.
I headed off over the dunes for an enjoyable walk. The track would disappear and then reappear. There were trees growing in the middle of it. This is a serious 4x4 track. Land Cruiser / Defender country.
After about 45 minutes I crested a hill and before me was an open valley, with established camp ground and a real track much better than the one I had driven down before resorting to foot travel.
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 10 May 10 3:34 pm
by Richary
I headed off over the dunes for an enjoyable walk. The track would disappear and then reappear. There were trees growing in the middle of it. This is a serious 4x4 track. Land Cruiser / Defender country.
It was fine for the Suzuki when I placed it
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 10 May 10 10:08 pm
by roundcircle
I've taken the Geo_Falcon down a few dirt tracks with large watery holes and overgrown trees to get to a cache site, only to have the track pop out on to a wide asphalt road way 100m before GZ.
I've never got stuck though.
I'm carefull when caching on my own. I figure it'd be easier to spend 20 minutes walking than 2 hours trying to get the car out.
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 11 May 10 12:45 am
by La Kedi
jgc3 wrote:When we first started caching.. we followed the pointer like a god..
It's.....it's not a god?
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 11 May 10 12:56 am
by allrounder
We had this adventure using my Nokia Navigator (mobile phone) -
Pinch Me
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 11 May 10 1:41 pm
by Echo
There was one time I was out in the hills up a single car track with only a couple of passing places before the track ended in a Parks Vic gate and two station wagons full of Indians pulled up and asked me if this was the road to the next town.
After I explained to them that this turned into a walking track in about 600m and that they will need to turn around there, go back to the main road and turn right onto the sealed road, they proceeded to tell me I was wrong and to look at their in car navigation which was teling them to proceed and they drove off in a huff.
I sat down and about 10 minutes later they drove back past. Funnily enough they refused to see me when I waved to them.
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 11 May 10 1:59 pm
by homedg
I often set mine to find shortest route while touring. As long as you've got plenty of time to spare you find some interesting alternate routes. Once ended up at a dead end at a Witches Retreat out the back of Murwillumbah/Nimbin area
Re: Ever suffered from blind (GPS) faith?
Posted: 11 May 10 2:10 pm
by Dik:
richary wrote:I headed off over the dunes for an enjoyable walk. The track would disappear and then reappear. There were trees growing in the middle of it. This is a serious 4x4 track. Land Cruiser / Defender country.
It was fine for the Suzuki when I placed it
I think you missed the point, I didn't come in on the track you did. I was a victim of blindly following the GPSr down a non-existant track. You came in BC on the "good" track. I did BA and then headed directly north.
Google Maps