January 6, 2010 E-MAIL PRINT

Don't lose common sense when using a GPS

by Tony Chamberlain/

When given backcountry choices, such as these on the French-Italian border, be sure to know the map. (photo: Tony Chamberlain)

When given backcountry choices, such as these on the French-Italian border, be sure to know the map. (photo: Tony Chamberlain)

My first global positioning system (GPS) was installed on my sailboat. Seafaring navigation systems came along before the technology was extended to dry-land travel, but now, of course, GPS navigation systems are used in more and more cars, and even for personal backcountry use.

The first red flag occurred to me about five years ago when the world’s most expensive ship, Queen Elizabeth II, ran onto a sandbar off Nantucket. A quick check of the chart showed that where she grounded was clearly marked. Someone in that pilot house either had failed to read the navigation information correctly, or not read it at all.

But now that GPS units are in such widespread use on land, there are other red flags to consider. For starters, there were the two Hawaiian hikers who got lost around Christmas in a hut-to-hut trek in the back country near Leadville, Colo. They were lost in snowy conditions along a seven-mile trail.

They were eventually saved by the National Guard. The real problem was, though a GPS signal is always available and strong, this couple had no GPS device. But even a GPS with destination points might not save backcountry trekkers unless they can check out the specified route against a topographical map. GPS does not supplant sound navigation and map skills.

Also missing from this couple’s gear was a personal locator beacon — also satellite technology that beams your location back to civilization. Maybe takes some romance out of the trek, but it could save lives.

But the red flag that applies to many more travelers is the highway GPS — you know, the incessant woman who gets stonily silent for a while when you ignore her? What she’s really doing is refiguring your route from the new coordinates and road options.

Around New Year’s Eve, a couple became stuck in two feet of show while driving on a remote back road in Eastern Oregon. They had a GPS that was blamed for having a “weak” or “faulty” signal from the satellite. This was incorrect reporting. The reason for the amazing accuracy of the GPS signal is that the beam triangulates from several satellites.

The problem comes in what one does with the information. A typical Garmin, TomTom or any familiar market GPS device will read the road options and give you the shortest possible route to your destination.

These machines don’t know what roads are more or less remote, which ones have been plowed or which have been washed out. So, some good rules of thumb, whether you’re in Pittsburg, N.H., or Greenville, Maine, or perhaps trying to make your way to Smugglers' Notch, Vt.:

► Always check the road in question on a GPS against a well-detailed map such as a DeLorme atlas. If it’s winter in the back country, stick to the larger well-marked roads, and don’t try the gravel logging roads such as those between the Maine towns of Greenville and Millinocket.

► Make sure someone else knows your destination and your planned route and estimated arrival time.

► Also make sure you have cell phones (though don’t rely on them in remote country), extra fuel, food and water in the car. Safety items such as road hazard lights, shovel, sand bags, etc, should be staple equipment in this season.

Backcountry travel by foot or car is fun and adventurous. While sound navigational practices always are essential in any season, winter extremes can change the survival odds very quickly toward danger.

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