Website Upgrades 12/26/2018

Campground & lodging mileage from the establishment to the trail was added yesterday.  Adventurer's Project's "Hiker Resources" web page had to be practically rebuilt to handle it.   Today, I added a mileage chart of the Road Fork and Whipple Section - Buckeye (off-road)/ North Country National Scenic Trail.  I won't touch the on-road, but that's much easier to use the "measurement" tool in the BTA's digital mapping on Avenza Maps there.

A link to my Generic Gear Inventory was created on the Hiker Resources web page. 

Michigan DNR, Pennsylvania DCNR and Vermont ANR Plotted

Michigan DNR parcel GIS data is taxing my computer to it's limits.  I have to set my CPU's to "high priority" for Google Earth Pro and it barely runs it.  I can't find any shapes of for DNR's reservations.  Instead, I'm using the parcels, which has a lot more entries.  I'd like to color code them for the camping that's available, but with how I'm throwing everything my computer's go into it and it's running really slow, I don't think that it's worth it.

Google Earth displays the state forest reservation lines, but doesn't have an icon in them telling me what it is.  I started the DIS C I's and O's (dispersed camp, on and off), but it's a shot in the dark if I got them right.  They will probably have to do?

The state polygons (shapes) for Pennsylvania commonwealth reservations are in.  It's state forests are few, but dispersed camping is permitted and they're all colored green.  I just finished up Vermont's state reservations.  That's it.  The ground work is laid for camping.  The next thing I'll be doing is lodging and I should probably be done with that quickly?

And of course all this is a continuation of my North Country Trail mapping project.

Camping on NCT VT & NYS

I got the campsites somewhat done for Vermont and New York State on the North Country Trail.  What really needs to happen is that I start the governmental reservation map image overlays.  That is needed to paint a complete picture.  I used GIS data for Adirondack Park, state parks, forests and wildlife management areas.  They're now color coded green for dispersed camping permitted, yellow for no dispersed camping, but has other fixed campsites and red for no camping at all.  At this point, the folder with mostly New York's commercial camping needs cleaning up because of how I searched for them and copied the results in Google Earth to one of it's folders.  They also need to be coded as "C - (name)" to be read on a small GPS screen.

NCTA Point Data Re-formatting Complete

I installed a new Bluetooth mouse and headset to my laptop. I didn't have Bluetooth until recently.

It's 8°F outside and the hygrometer on my desk is reading below 30%.  That's not good for my computer equipment. Right now, I'm wearing thermal boots with thick soles, hopefully I won't pass a static shock.

I had to unseat and re-seat my four port expansion USB 3.0 card today. I have a 7 port USB 3.0 hub connected to it and The Robot wasn't reading it. It does now. I double sticky taped the hub to the corner of my desk. The Robot isn't always convenient to get to.

While I disgarded points of interest, I completed the re-formatting and organizing of the NCTA's Point Data today.   What I can say about it is that from a logistical stand point for a thru hiker, the NCTA cateloged mostly campsites on governmental reservations. Most dispersed camping and commercial amenities are not present. The data also doesn't have much in the way of lodging.

But if I make up the difference, I think that the NCT will be the hike compliant. Stay tuned to these logs over the next couple months for that determination.

I'm currently working on a new form of storage.  The next step will be to alter the tracks. Mine started off from a copy downloaded years ago. In comparison with a newer download, I just need to make some "tweaks."

Next will probably be downloading and importing National Forest reservation polygons, along with campground, dispersed camp areas, trails and utility roads.

From there, it will be interesting to see what kind of GIS information that I get from the states?

Camping Data Finished for ADT-KS & NE

I skipped ahead and completed the camping/ lodging data for Kansas and Nebraska.  Now, I've heard that the South Mid-West Route (SMR) is the most popular amongst American Discovery Trail thru adventurists (including hikers).  But just using a scale legend and as far as I see, a trip through Kansas would require two 30 mile routes, maybe three.  From from what I'm seeing in Nebraska, it's only one.  In either state, those would constitute camping/ lodging "amenity gaps" because of insufficient logistics by the current standards that I use.  But those standards have never had to route through places like Iowa and Kansas before.  The only way to really make that declaration is to write one of my mock hiker documents.

And there's another factor that might play out in Kansas' favor.  It's another thing I don't know without having done a mock hiker is that the SMR might be shorter?  If that is so, considering the Rockies afterward, it could even Kansas' playing field with Nebraska, or make it a more superior option?

Camping Prohibited - National Wildlife Refuges Along ADT

As of this date, camping is prohibited on every National Wildlife Refuge within 4mi miles of the American Discovery Trail.

Log 2016051502

I did some tweaking to the "Other RV Overnight Opportunities" GPS data.  I created this file for off-line mapping and I see it as kinda like a "playbook" in athletics in the way that it could give me options, or alternatives.  I uploaded the file to Locus Pro (a mapping/ GPS app) on my Android OS tablet.  But I didn't like the way it displayed the placemarks.  So today, I changed the icons in Google Earth so that the points display something that's the same as Walmart's, Pilot's, Flying J's and Travel Centers of America's logos.  Afterwards, I deleted the old tablet file and uploaded the new one.

And for the Walmarts in Ohio where overnighting is forbidden, I changed those placemarks to display a red tinted logo (the rest are the regular blue).  I can toggle my custom data on, or off in Locus.  If I wanted to, I can drive with it on and as the motorhome progresses, it changes the map and shows me everything on the screen contingent to my level of zoom.  Personally, I prefer Google Maps for my turn by turn navigation, but Locus does other things better.

Log 2014012001

A Logitech K400r wireless keyboard and touchpad was purchased yesterday from Micro Center in Mayfield Heights of Cuyahoga County and installed to my laptop today.  It replaces the former wireless keyboard that was believed to have gone missing at Mary Jane Thurston State Park on the previous project. 

Now that I just got my record keeping done, I can tell everyone else that a wireless keyboard is used as a remote control.  Often, my head and the laptop are at opposite ends of The Cramper's 2nd - 4th compartments.

When you look at The Cramper from the side, it has four compartments.  1st is the Drive Compartment with the front seats.  The second is where the back doors are, with the third being at the rear windows.  And the fourth is only used when The Cramper is in "camping mode" and that is where the expansion floor is exposed from the car, as well as the walls and canvas cover.