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The place for bushwalking topics that are not location specific.GPS phone adventure
Thu 15 Oct, 2009 11:04 pm
Just thought I'd share this story.
My brother is working on Flinders Island at the moment, and decided to go for a bushwalk. Having already climbed Mt Strezlecki and hearing from a local that there is a track up this hill called 'Pillingers peak', he and his mate drive up some dirt road and start walking up.
Anyway, I get a call from him while I'm 'studying' at work in Launnie, and he tells me (through much static and poor reception) that he's currently halfway up this hill on Flinders Island and he want's to know if there is actually a track up this mountain, because they cant find it..
Problem is, I've never heard of this mountain, and a quick google search gives me no clues. Wondering what to do next, I remember that his phone has some GPS capability. So I tell him to SMS me his GPS coordinates while I try to find out where to look for a track up this mountain. (Part of the reason my bro bought his new phone was because of it's 3G capability and reception on Flinders. But it also came with the ability to give you GPS coordinates, but it's not so good for maps apparently)
Minutes later I receive a msg containing two large numbers which I tentatively type into google maps and magic! There it is, a red marker telling me exactly where my brother is. In... the middle of nowhere.
But anyhow, just knowing where he is doesn't solve the problem. Thinking back to all the time I'vewasted spent on the bushwalking-tasmania forums, I decide to search theLIST (http://www.thelist.tas.gov.au) maps to determine whether any track exists. And using the website I find out that there is indeed a place called Pillingers peak, and that it's only just a 440 metre hill, hardly worthy of it's name..
But this is where my story falls short, as sadly there were no tracks that I could find to direct him to. I informed him that he was close to a ridge which would take him to the summit, but the scrub was getting too much for my wayward brother and his mate, and they returned back to their van.. And so it ends.
Crisis over, I continued to play around on google maps and street view for a while, and had a good think of how far we've come with technology in the last few years... Now if he had been been able to access high quality maps on his phone, all this fuss wouldn't of happened! Or he could've just had a good map and compass, but that would be no fun.
Nick S
My brother is working on Flinders Island at the moment, and decided to go for a bushwalk. Having already climbed Mt Strezlecki and hearing from a local that there is a track up this hill called 'Pillingers peak', he and his mate drive up some dirt road and start walking up.
Anyway, I get a call from him while I'm 'studying' at work in Launnie, and he tells me (through much static and poor reception) that he's currently halfway up this hill on Flinders Island and he want's to know if there is actually a track up this mountain, because they cant find it..
Problem is, I've never heard of this mountain, and a quick google search gives me no clues. Wondering what to do next, I remember that his phone has some GPS capability. So I tell him to SMS me his GPS coordinates while I try to find out where to look for a track up this mountain. (Part of the reason my bro bought his new phone was because of it's 3G capability and reception on Flinders. But it also came with the ability to give you GPS coordinates, but it's not so good for maps apparently)
Minutes later I receive a msg containing two large numbers which I tentatively type into google maps and magic! There it is, a red marker telling me exactly where my brother is. In... the middle of nowhere.
But anyhow, just knowing where he is doesn't solve the problem. Thinking back to all the time I've
But this is where my story falls short, as sadly there were no tracks that I could find to direct him to. I informed him that he was close to a ridge which would take him to the summit, but the scrub was getting too much for my wayward brother and his mate, and they returned back to their van.. And so it ends.
Crisis over, I continued to play around on google maps and street view for a while, and had a good think of how far we've come with technology in the last few years... Now if he had been been able to access high quality maps on his phone, all this fuss wouldn't of happened! Or he could've just had a good map and compass, but that would be no fun.
Nick S
Re: GPS phone adventure
Fri 16 Oct, 2009 10:51 am
Very handy having a phone with GPS and being able to talk to someone. Hope he took a few photos to make his effort worth while.
@Nick S: you might still need towastespend just a little more time on the BWT forum.
If you open the BWT Wiki and go to the Not-So-High Places you'll find "Pillingers Peak". The co-ordinates are listed as -40.11321, 148.0974 which you can just cut and pasted into Google Earth. I already have the whole list in GE as explained here. It makes it easy to find places.
@Nick S: you might still need to
If you open the BWT Wiki and go to the Not-So-High Places you'll find "Pillingers Peak". The co-ordinates are listed as -40.11321, 148.0974 which you can just cut and pasted into Google Earth. I already have the whole list in GE as explained here.
It makes it easy to find places.
Re: GPS phone adventure
Fri 16 Oct, 2009 4:27 pm
Yeah I didn't think of that list.. I finally got round to putting that kml file together, makes Google Earth much more interesting!
Re: GPS phone adventure
Fri 18 Dec, 2009 6:39 pm
Strzelecki.
The z comes before the e.
Now, behave or I'll tell you how to pronounce it.
The z comes before the e.
Now, behave or I'll tell you how to pronounce it.
Re: GPS phone adventure
Sat 19 Dec, 2009 6:37 pm
ahh it does to.. try and remember that
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