Re: [Paddlewise] Speaking of GPS

Michael wrote;

>Wow!  I am having a tough time figuring out what I said that implied
>that I wanted to help the bad guys trash our secret grottos,  loot
>ancient tombs and capture or kill exotic threatened birds.

>I just wanted to simplify the research required to plan a trip to a
>remote location.

You just hit a sensitive nerve. Not all that many years ago part of the 
challenge in a wilderness trip included the research as well as finding 
campsites rapids etc. that you did not know about.. I can remember topo maps 
with huge white areas that had not been mapped accurately. Not only did you 
not know where a campsite was you did not know if there was one. Many took 
pride in the ability to make camp where no one had camped before and then 
leaving it to look as if no one had camped there before.

We have changed. Not that many years ago a good navigator was considered a 
valuable person to have on a trip. Today just about any damned fool can use 
a GPS. I can remember when using LORAN (a land based navigational beacon 
system) was illegal in ocean racing. You actually had to use a sextant!!!! 
What we once considered esssential parts of the art have become artifacts.

The end result is that the waterways have become clogged with responsible 
and irresponsible people because getting there does not require much effort 
or as many skills. Every technological change (I refuse to call them 
advances) alters the face of wilderness, the skills of wilderness travelers 
and the attitudes of wilderness travelers. Some do not consider this an 
improvement.

Even if you can't stop change you don't have to like it.

Cheers

John Winters 
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