Stob Coire Raineach 26th November 2006.

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Not been out on the hills for nearly a year and a half. Always wanted a GPS unit so bought one a few weeks ago, a Garmin GPS 60. Thought this might also tempt me into being a bit more active again. Some thoughts on GPS navigation further down.

Weather a bit overcast so not many pics today. From the carpark on the A82, here's the bottom of the path looking onto the lower slopes of Beinn Fhada.

Beinn Fhada from the carpark



Not much to say about the early approaches to the bealach. It was pretty wet underfoot. Things well misted in though it cleared enough to get this look West toward Etive Beag.

Lower slopes of Buachaille Etive Beag




Rock and snow on the way up. Wouldn't think it to look at the cairn.
(still misty).

Stob Coire Raineach cairn



Now that Summer's past and the danger of sheep ticks has gone. Sam's here too. Heard a sad story about a rescue dog which died of hypothermia, so thought an extra coat worth trying.





At this time of year the weather seems to lift when it's too late and today was no different. Got this nice view of Etive Beag looking back.

Looking back at Buachaille Etive Beag


Mentioned earlier about GPS.

Got the GPS 60 about a month ago and have spent the last few weeks learning how to use it. Before buying I had some questions about GPS units generally to which I now know the answer.

    1. Most reviews of these units are based on a US model.
    2 Bearing this in mind how easy is it to set the unit to read in OSGB.
    3 Can I edit routes and download to the unit in advance.


Answers - It is very easy to set the GPS 60 to OSGB. Pick British National grid in the setups and that's it. The unit works very nicely dealing up 10 figure grid references from then on. The software looks somewhat simplistic but once you've got the idea it allows very accurate route setting which can then be downloaded onto the unit and used for real.

Checked map accuracy locally by taking waypoints while I was walking the dog at home these were checked against the local 1:25000 map.

Took a walk up Ben Lomond a couple of weeks ago as a trial run working against a downloaded route.

Todays trip was the real thing and being relatively short allowed plenty of time for taking waypoints and generally getting used to GPS operation.

Conclusions

The Garmin GPS 60 is a robust entry level unit. I guess it is of most use to walkers who are already confident in hill navigation and used to dealing with OSGB. That said it gives a level of navigation accuracy that can only be dreamt of with map and compass alone. After walking a leg the unit needs a minute or so to settle but then a 10 figure GR is available fixing position within a few metres.

Downside. Very little. Could nitpick a little perhaps but the big drawback (this applies to GPS navigation generally) is the timewasting. Taking waypoints and waiting for the arithmetic to settle down loses a lot of time. Todays route with map and compass would have involved one, perhaps two compass bearings to complete taking a few minutes.

The gps unit eats up a lot more hours and it could not be justified as a primary navigation tool. So, having spent a few weeks learning how to use it I can happily put it in the rucksack until that dark or misty day when it would be very, very useful to know my exact location in a tight situation!



Saturday, 2nd December, 2006 at 1225