Topo Maps

[+bones10]

Hi,

 

I had an interesting experience. I was in NV on vacation a few weeks ago, and we wanted to take our jeep as far as it would go over Wheeler Pass by LV. We ended up on a wrong road, and we didn't find wheeler pass.

 

So later on I got a hold of Magellan Topo3D maps for my gps unit, and I decide to see if that would have helped me on that trip. As it turns out it would not have helped much, as it doesn't show that road going all the way through, like it should.

 

So now I'm wondering if the Garmin topo maps would have worked better. I looked on the garmin site and used the web thingy to look at the maps. I shows, what I think, is the road we tried to take. The web thingy doesn't show the road names. Do the garmin topo maps show the smaller road names on the unit? Are the garmin topo maps better for showing small road, trails, or is it hit and miss where in cases the magellan might be better sometimes and the garmin better in others.

 

I'm just curious.

 

- bones

[+embra]

I can't say about the Garmin topos, lacking any experience with them. However, I can note that the older MapSend Topo USA (the predecessor of Topo3D) actually is better for old logging roads and such. There were a lot of complaints about it for various inaccuracies due to the age of the database, but I know some 4-wheelers decided to keep both Topo and Topo3D on their Meridian SD cards.

 

(If you've got an explorist, the old Mapsend Topo maps won't work on them.)

 

Edit: if you post the coords for where the pass should be, I'll see if there's anything on Mapsend Topo.

 

Another program that might be of use would be ExpertGPS, which downloads older topo data over the net.

Edited February 27, 2006 by embra

[Grasscatcher]

Did you have your GPS on so that it would log your tracK? If so , download it to your PC into what ever mapping software you have.

 

I learned a lesson a long time ago (you know, been there, done that ) to leave it on logging any time I'm not on a clearly marked road back in the boonies. Also what I've found is that no matter what mapping software you use, whether new or old, you will still find roads that are not shown. Even if you use the latest and greatest USGS quads.

[Hertzog]

Mapsource US Topo-West shows an "unpaved road" leading up from a "road" along Cottonwood Creek to Wheeler Pass and then descending along an "intermittant stream" (no road names). A point for Wheeler Pass is shown at N38.61411 W118.84649, 277 feet SW of the unpaved road (if you have the USGS 100K topo for the area it probably matches that).

[+Renegade Knight]

Using Mapsource and Mapsend Topo on our GPSs side by side neither had any true advantage over the other. They both had errors, and they both had right information. The strange thing was that the errors were different. One would show a bridge that wasn't there and the other would have it, then the next would show a road connection that didn't connect and the other would show it correctly.

 

In your case that means that while the Garmin map may show your peak, the Magellan map would likely get it right the next time around. My experience is in Idaho, YMMV.

Edited February 27, 2006 by Renegade Knight

[+embra]

I obviously need a life...

 

Here are two screenshots of Mapsend Topo USA v4.20. The first shows Wheeler Pass leaving Cold Creek in the upper right corner.

 

 

The second (they don't quite overlap, I think) shows Wheeler Pass on the south side of the mountain. It continues to the southwest until it reaches whatever that P town was...Prudholm? (I closed my program).

 

 

The red road is labled Wheeler Pass; there appear to be some connecting trails that don't garner names.

[+bones10]

Hey Embra,

 

Yeah, I've got an eXplorist. Thanks for the sample maps.

 

And thanks to others for the info. I'll check out Expert GPS.

 

Can ExpertGPS load maps into an eXplorist?

 

- bones

[+embra]

No, ExpertGPS is great for track and waypoint editing/management, but only MapSend maps will work on the Explorist (most--all?--GPS units take proprietary detail map data). So you would have to plan ahead by laying out waypoints and a route on the pc and then downloading to the unit. Printing out the maps would be a help, too.

 

Just for yucks, I fired up my ExpertGPS to take a look at the area. It does show the trail pretty well.

 

Here's another interesting angle: Delorme Topo USA. It shows Wheeler Pass as SR52, the orange line leaving Pahrump to the northeast.

 

 

The interesting thing here is that you can see it zoomed so far out. As you zoom in, of course, it stays visible. The Delorme product has a nice feature: you can create a route on roads and trails (trails are sparse, but there are some marked) by clicking a start and end, and it will allocate 30 waypoints or so to a route of best fit to the curve of the trail/road. The soon to be released v.6 will communicate with the explorist.

[+bones10]

So, I can create a route in Expert GPS, label it 'wheeler pass rd' and then load it to my gps, and then be able to follow it later on?

 

Thanks for being patient,

 

- bones

[+embra]

Yep. You would have to click out the route by hand, but that's about how you do it. ExpertGPS is trialware, so you can see if it is of use or not without necessarily investing more than your time. More info here.