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It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

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  • #16
    Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

    ...Quite a trip... Adventures begin when things go wrong...
    and one of the major reasons that I don't have a GPS unit; that and I thought that I wouldn't be able to say "I recognize that, I've been lost here before!"... guess not.

    Apparently there is some justification for 4WD (and 6WD) motorhomes ... GPS.

    When unsure of the route, I usually goggle it then sometimes print maps (even satellite views) of the area. I often do a bit of backtracking (I have a tendency to turn too soon) ... & see more of the country that way.

    Enjoy!
    Last edited by Happy Joe; 09-23-2017, 08:03 AM.
    2006 Jeep Rubicon, TJ; 4.11 gears, 31" tires, 4:1 transfer case, lockers in both axles
    For DD & "civilized" camping; 2003 Ford explorer sport, 4wd; ARB & torsen diffs, 4.10 gears, 32" MTs.
    Ground tents work best for me, so far.
    Experience along with properly set up 4WD will get you to & through places (on existing, approved 4WD trails) that 4WD, alone, can't get to.

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    • #17
      Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

      I had no cell service or anything so there was no ability to double check the route with google, mapquest, etc. I didn't have a paper map for that area. - need to get a bunch more now and make the entire area is covered.

      I normally don't trust gps and have written out instructions. Where I messed up was on my first misdirection. I should have stayed on hwy 20 to 89, or backtracked to 49. But the gps route looked good (it appeared to come out the backside of the campground that I knew had service roads). And it was giving me towns and lakes that I recognized. So I didn't see an issue until that last road. At first it was just "rough road, I won't do this again", and then in the last half hour became "what the!!!!! I can't drive that!" .

      And then, I was so far in I had no idea how to get out without backtracking the entire 45+ miles which would be mostly uphill on less than 1\2 tank of gas and no station that I had passed.

      What really amazed me was that even when I got back on pavement and had a direct route to Sierraville, the gps kept telling me to turn off on all the dirt roads. It was like it could not see the paved roads as roads and was looking only at an old service map of the forest.

      But I did find Milton Lake which is very nice and rustic. And, I can get there with only 1.4 miles of dirt road rather than the 45+ I drove.
      “One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.” - James D. Watson

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      • #18
        Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

        I love my TomTom but it has free map updates for life and even reminds me to update if I haven't done it in 6 months or so. But even then I don't trust it when I am going camping. It is more of a suggestion then a hard and fast guide. It has roads that are in the wrong spot or don't exist. There is one that comes to mind where it told me to turn left onto nothing but down the side of a mountain. Not even the hint of a road and still don't know why it thinks there is a road there. However, it is often better than nothing and gets a signal when the phone won't. Plus I can program my destination with latitude and longitude which is handy.

        I get your thinking though. Camping is an adventure so if there is an alternate route that looks interesting why not take it? You just have to know when to turn back before you get into real trouble.

        Adventure is out there.
        “I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”
        – E. B. White

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        • #19
          Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

          Yeah, I have the free updates for life and had just updated this year. The paved road I ended up on was a longtime road into that area and there were multiple longtime campgounds off it. There was just no reason for the gps tp decide that going off road was an option. I would have been happier had it given me a non existant road (which it has done before) because at least then I would have known it was off it's rocker.

          In this case, it was giving me actual roads for over 2 hours worth of driving before it told me to go off road. In the Sierras that could have put me in real trouble with no clue.

          Funny, I went on their website to leave a suggestion that any suggested route that includes unpaved roads and/or off road, state those conditions at the beginning. On their website, they really push the dependable and trusted wording for their devices. What it did was not dependable or trusted in any sense of the word.

          Fortunately, my stress has eased up so much that this didn't push me over the top (like it would have 4 months ago). And other than a lot of rain, the rest of the trip was enjoyable and relaxing.
          “One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.” - James D. Watson

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          • #20
            Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

            When my spouse and I go together, I'm the navigator. I don't get so flustered with either electronics or maps when we either miss a turn or decide to take another route. However when solo, I like to keep both hands driving -- especially on the motorcycle. I LOVE my Garmin, especially the one for the motorcycle. It has multiple settings including things to avoid, like unpaved roads or tolls, and things that I'd like to go to like twisty roads. That thing has lost signal and even rebooted while driving/riding. Not one of its finer moments. Still learning about that machine. I've always got maps in ziplock bags just in case.

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            • #21
              Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

              Originally posted by toedtoes View Post
              Yeah, I have the free updates for life and had just updated this year. The paved road I ended up on was a longtime road into that area and there were multiple longtime campgounds off it. There was just no reason for the gps tp decide that going off road was an option. I would have been happier had it given me a non existant road (which it has done before) because at least then I would have known it was off it's rocker.

              In this case, it was giving me actual roads for over 2 hours worth of driving before it told me to go off road. In the Sierras that could have put me in real trouble with no clue.

              Funny, I went on their website to leave a suggestion that any suggested route that includes unpaved roads and/or off road, state those conditions at the beginning. On their website, they really push the dependable and trusted wording for their devices. What it did was not dependable or trusted in any sense of the word.

              Fortunately, my stress has eased up so much that this didn't push me over the top (like it would have 4 months ago). And other than a lot of rain, the rest of the trip was enjoyable and relaxing.
              My last GPS would sometimes do something like that when I was traveling across town. It would tell me to get off the freeway, take the surface streets BACK a mile, then get back on the freeway and keep on my way. Effectively making a loop. Always in the same place, in the middle of town. Unfortunately it didn't do it every time and so I wouldn't be thinking about it and would often get off the freeway before I realized what it was doing.

              Stupid technology.
              “I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”
              – E. B. White

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              • #22
                Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

                That's exactly what this did when I first got off track! And yeah, if you're not focused at that moment, you don't realize you hit that spot until you fell for the detour.
                “One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.” - James D. Watson

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                • #23
                  Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

                  It's odd, but I've found my oldest GPS to be the most reliable. That leads me to believe that the newest units are. for lack of a better phrase at the moment, too complicated. I have a Garmin nüvi200 that got to be going on 10 years old. It's a tiny unit that doesn't speak street names, doesn't have animated characters, doesn't have Bluetooth or any of the other special added features found in today's products. But the thing boots up and acquires signals very quickly and very rarely loses it's way. Added a microsd card and it's up to date and doing fine. My nüvi52, on the other hand, seems to take forever to start up, takes forever to find the satellites if I've moved too far since the last time it was on and sometimes goes into freak out mode while driving. It's super fun watching it recalculate 15 times within two blocks while telling you to find X street when you have no idea where X street is. So, for trips into unknown areas, I generally have both units running at the same time. The 52 so my aging eyes can see the damn thing, the 200 in case the 52 is flipping out.

                  I guess I'm technology bound. I refuse to go back to maps. Before GPS was even thought of, I ran a service route that crossed four states and had to rely on a stack of ADC maps that was a real pain in the butt. I remember having to plot routes that crossed well over a dozen pages but still getting caught in a closed road situation that had me pulling over and cussing the whole time while I figured out another way. Before going back to maps, I think I'd do something inexcusable for a guy and actually stop to ask directions! :D

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                  • #24
                    Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

                    Had I seen a person on Monday before I got to the trail, I would have asked for directions. But my last sighting of an actual person was in the first 20 miles of my re-route - before i knew there was a problem.

                    I wish gps would work more like mapquest. Allowing you to soom in and out easily and drag to change a route and to get written step by step directions at the beginning for the entire route so you can review it.

                    Looking at a screen with a pink, blue or yellow squiggly line with nothing around it doesn't really help determine if it's a good plan or not.

                    Looking to get a couple map books of California for back up.

                    But at least I got to go camping.
                    “One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.” - James D. Watson

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                    • #25
                      Re: It's Gonna be Camping Time!!!

                      I wanna say that I love my Tomtom. The only time I have problems is when I am going to a brand new neighborhood....and the forest roads from time to time.
                      “I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”
                      – E. B. White

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