TrekNow Adventure Products eBay Store About My Store

Welcome! Sign in or register.

Site Map

Categories

Home > eBay Stores > TrekNow Adventure Products> About the Seller	Add to My Favorite Stores

			TrekNow Adventure Products


			Maintained by: jimtreknow( 229)
			TrekNow provides Cdroms containing gps routes including waypoints and full track logs for the best backroads and byways in the United States. The user can print out roll charts and/or route sheets for each route. These gps routes are compatible with Garmin, Magellan and Lowrance gps instruments.

About the Seller

Back to previous page

Back to jimtreknow homepage

TrekNow Adventure Products

Hello!

I've always had a great affinity for the outdoors. The more remote, the better for me.

In about 1999 I started using GPS for navigation in the back country. It was about that time that I started leading groups of dualsport motorcycle riders on tours in Colorado and Utah. I guess they figured since I had a GPS, I should be the leader. With the added responsibility of leading the groups, I was forced to figure out how to use the GPS.

I have been an Information Systems Consultant for over thirty years. So I have a technical lean. I like to fool around with technical gadgets. The GPS certainly qualifies.

First I learned about waypoints. I found myself semi-lost a few times using just waypoints. (See the link below for more on track logs). Track logs were great for recording where we had traveled. I then discovered how to establish waypoints and track logs in an electronic mapping program before I went in the field. This was a major advance in navigation preparation. It removed most navigation uncertainty from traveling through some of the most remote parts of North America.

The routes I was able to create with the electronic mapping programs proved to be incredibly accurate. Just knowing that I had a proven route into and out of a remote area created great freedom to explore areas with the knowledge that we could always find our way out.

I began getting requests from other people for the GPS routes I was creating and started selling them in 2001. Bringing them to Ebay is the latest step in sharing the routes.

Almost all of the routes are two-track, meaning they can be traversed by a four wheel vehicle. There are a few single-track routes and they are identified as such.

Each route has been given a technical difficulty rating from 1-10:

1 - Graded dirt road. Dry, or less than 3" water crossing depth. Gentle grades. 2WD under all conditions except snow. No width problems, two vehicles wide.

2 - Dirt road. Dry, or less than 3" water crossing depth. Some ruts. Slight grades, up to 10 degrees. 2WD under most conditions. Rain or snow may make 4WD necessary. Usually one and a half to two vehicles wide.

3 - Dirt road. Rutted, washes, or gulches. Water crossings up to 6" depth. Passable mud. Grades up to 10 degrees. Small rocks or holes. 4WD recommended but 2WD possible under good conditions and with adequate ground clearance and skill. No width problems for any normal vehicle. Vehicle passing spots frequently available if less than two vehicles wide.

4 - Rutted and/or rocky road. No shelves but rocks to 9". Water crossings usually less than hub deep. Passable mud. Grades moderate, up to 15 degrees. Side hill moderate up to 15 degrees. 4WD under most conditions. No width problems, vehicle passing spots frequently available if less than two vehicles wide.

5 - Rutted and/or rocky road. No shelves. Rocks up to 12" and water crossings up to 12" with possible currents. Passable mud. Moderate grades to 15 degrees. 6" holes. Side hill to 20 degrees. 4WD required. No width problems.

6 - Quite rocky or deep ruts. Rocks to 12" and frequent. Water crossings may exceed hub depth with strong currents. Shelves to 6". Mud may require checking before proceeding. Moderate grades to 20 degrees. Sidehill may approach 30 degrees. 4WD necessary and second attempts may be required with stock vehicles. Caution may be required with wider vehicles.

7 - Rocks frequent and large, 12" and may exceed hub height. Holes frequent or deep (12"). Shelves to 9". Mud 8" deep and may be present on uphill sections. Grades to 25 degrees and sidehill to 30 degrees. Water crossings to 18" and may have strong currents. 1-1/2 vehicles wide. 4WD required. Driver experience helpful.

8 - Heavy rock and/or severe ruts. Rocks exceeding hub height frequent. Shelves to 12". Deep mud or uphill mud sections. Steep grades to 25 degrees and can be loose or rocky. Water crossings may exceed 30" in depth. Side hill to 30 degrees. One vehicle wide. Body damage possible. Experience needed. Vehicle Modifications helpful.

9 - Severe rock over 15". Frequent deep holes over 15". Shelves over 15". Mud bog conditions (long, deep, no form bottom). Over 30" water crossings with strong currents. Steep grades over 30 degrees. Sidehill over 30 degrees. May not be passable by stock vehicles. Experience essential. Body damage, mechanical breakdown, rollover probable. Extreme caution required.

10 - Severe conditions. Extreme caution recommended. Impassable by stock vehicles. Winching required. Trail building necessary. May be impassable. Impassable under anything but ideal conditions. Vehicle damage probable. Personal injury possible. Extreme caution necessary.

Thank you for your interest!

Route Creation Methodology:

I thought I would give you an idea of what it takes to create these routes. Some people think this stuff should be free and I feel that if you understand what it takes to create the routes you might see what a bargain these routes are. My goal has always been to be able to provide each route for less than one dollar ($1.00) per route and I have so far achieved that goal.

Route research is the first step. Some of the routes are just routes we have discovered on our own, just out exploring. In most cases, though, the routes are documented in a trail guide or book.

The next step is to take the documented route and lay it out in an electronic mapping program. Actually I use two different programs because no one program has all the functionality that I want.

After the route is in the system, I download the routes and waypoints into a database that I created. Then the symbols and distances are entered into the database to support the printing of roll charts and route sheets.

Next the track logs are created for each route. Then the routes and track logs are exported to two separate files, one containing the route and waypoints and the other file containing the track log points.

From these two files I create the route and active track log in the GPS eXchange format (.gpx). I then transfer the data to a Garmin GPSMAP 176C. I used MapSource to pull the route off the 176C and create the route and active track log in MapSource format (.gdb).

Next I use the 176C to save (reduce) the active track log to a saved track log containing 500 track points or less. Then I pull the 500 point route and saved track log to the appropriate programs and store them as GPS eXchange and MapSource files.

I repeat this process with a Garmin III+ to create 250 point saved track logs and with a Garmin GPSMAP 276c to create the 700 point saved track logs.

So now I have the route in two file formats for each of the track point sizes, active, 700 point, 500 point and 250 point saved track logs.

Next I create the menu driven programmatic interface which allows the user to easily open the files in either the MapSource or G7ToWin programs. I also create the images for the maps that are used in the programmatic interface. I also create the help files for each route.

After all this, I test every option of the programmatic interface. Actually, everything gets tested twice, once before I create the cd image and once after the cd image is created.

So you see, these routes truly are a bargain at one buck each.

Active Track Log - This is the track log that is currently being created. There is an area of memory on GPS instruments allocated for this type of track log. On Garmin to transfer a track log to the Active area the track log must be named 'ACTIVE LOG'. This is the area of memory that can contain the largest size track log and it varies by instrument and it's allocated memory.

Route - A group of waypoints entered into the GPS receiver in the sequence you desire to navigate them.

Saved Track Log - This is a track log that has been saved (reduced) from the GPS active track log or it's a track log that was created elsewhere and moved to the GPS as a saved track log. It cannot be named 'ACTIVE LOG' or it will be placed in the active log memory area. Track logs can typically contain up to 250, 500, 700 & 750 track points per log file, depending on the model of the GPS. If you transfer a track log greater than the maximum size, it will be truncated by the transfer file.

Track Log - A collection of waypoints along the course of a route. It's essentially a bread crumb trail of the path of the route to be navigated.

Waypoint - A destination. The coordinates of locations along the desired path as measured in geographic coordinates of longitude and latitude. Waypoints are locations or landmarks worth recording and storing in your GPS. These are locations you may later want to return to. They may be check points on a route or significant ground features. (e.g., camp, the truck, a fork in a trail, or a favorite fishing spot). Waypoints may be defined and stored in the unit manually, by taking coordinates for the waypoint from a map or other reference. This can be done before ever leaving home. Or more usually, waypoints may be entered directly by taking a reading with the unit at the location itself, giving it a name, and then saving the point. Waypoints may also be put into the unit by referencing another waypoint already stored, giving the reference waypoint, and entering the distance and compass bearing to the new waypoint.

View this member's Reviews & Guides.

View this member's My World page.

To create your own About Me page, click here.

Copyright © 1995-2009 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

eBay official time