Early Warning System

I've always been good at the BT's maps, it's fixed amenities and generally anticipating where multi-day hikers will be next?  So, I've made a map based on an entry level thru hiker's abilities depicting where they'd most likely be 10 days out from the The Wilderness Loop in both directions.  And since the Road Fork and Whipple Sections are both North Country Trail (NCT) concurrent, 10 days out had to be tracked on the Great Trail Sandy Beaver Chapter span of that trail when it's independent in NE Ohio.

For my North Country mock hike written simulation, one of the next steps is to devise some mile markers based on campsites, campgrounds, lodging, or the intersections to these.  I had to get Great Trail Sandy Beaver's started for what I'm calling my "Early Warning System."

There are ways that I can track a thru hiker.  One is that I can follow them on Facebook.  Two is that if I get their cell numbers, we can text.  Three is that they let me follow their location somehow.  The Maps app (which is Google Maps) lets users do this.  The early warning map is on Google Earth and is more of a quick reference.

If they're more powerful than entry level thru hikers, I can still anticipate their arrival, it's just done on the pattern of their daily progress instead.  That would still give me some idea.  This was done for Adventurer's Project and a chapter that may come of it.

Log 2015012901

Yesterday, I posted two videos on the Whipple Section - Buckeye Trail on-road that took place between the unincorporated areas of Whipple and Warner in Washington County.  I also resumed work on the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource - Continuous Short Hikes.  The American Discovery Trail's east independent arm is short by a camping/ lodging amenity in NW Washington County, Ohio to continue on into Morgan County and possibly be hikable at less than 12.5 mile route or less all the way to Scioto Trail Section (, Pt. 21 in the Waverly area of Pike County.

Right now, I'm waiting on data from the Buckeye Trail Association concerning a possible re-route of the New Straitsville Section.  I think I can route the shorter hikes per day from it's Point 14 in Trimble Township of Athens County.  Given the heavy off-road nature of South Central Ohio, I might be able to route them past the Waverly area and go further south to Peebles, maybe even as deep as Nile Township of Scioto County near Portsmouth.  But I lost my New Straitsville Section map and I don't know how that happened.  I usually keep a good accountability of my Buckeye Trail maps.  It's probably for the better.  I'm overdue on taking an inventory of them anyways and checking them for new map editions and updates.  With a 195 miles left for me to hike, I know that what that what I need to do that is good.

I set up a new service yesterday from VisualPing.  It's set to monitor trail alert and map update web pages on the Buckeye, North Country and American Discovery Trails websites.  When one of the set pages is modified, it's designed to send me an email.  Once I get them, I'll designate their senders or subjects to automatically filter to a special folder and forward a copy to my smartphone's email address, which will convert as much as it can to a SMS text message.  Since the text will only be 160 characters, the full contents will be cut off.  But I'm on counting on the notification alone to prompt me to look up the alerted web page.  Since the SMS text message is the best way to reach me in the most remote areas, when I loose data signal, I can just hike back into range, or stop by a local library and check it on a computer.  But in the unlikely event that I'll incur a trail alert, or a map update on the section that I'm on, or the one after, I'll have the most immediate notification possible.

Prior to social media, an Internet protocol known as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) was popular.  It was code that was written into the website and when it had a feed, the end users Internet browser would have an icon that would light up orange.  By clicking on it, the end user would subscribe to that feed and the icon would become orange again when ever an update was detected.  But the way I see it, not all web masters know how to write in RSS and due to social media, I believe that it's becoming obsolete.  I'm hoping that VisualPing will circumvent that.

Log 2014111401

I'm abandoning an addition idea that I had hoped to put on the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource (OTHR).  It's a fuel to transit cost comparison and the problem is getting fuel economy to match up exactly with the US federally rated MPG's. Since, they are split into city and highway, I would have to measure each starting to each ending point separately and then subtract the city mileage (which I would have to guess what's under 55MPH).  The truth is that I just don't have enough information to produce this document.

Log 2014110301

The last time I had this system hooked up on my bicycle, I was using a chain driven USB generator.  But the generator's gear started to make noise and cause some resistance.  I was on the road at the time, so I had to cut it free and throw it in the trash.

At the moment, I'm waiting for a new rim contact driven USB bicycle generator.  Today, I picked up a couple cables at Micro Center in Mayfield Heights of Cuyahoga County.  I was getting help finding them from an associate who was informing me that the generator and battery could cause feedback and burn out one of my hubs USB ports.  That's when I came to the solution that I'll just hook them up in series instead of making the battery a branch off of the hub.

Since the USB bicycle rim generator is on order at the moment, in this picture it is represented by the cookie (in the package).  From the generator, it will go into the external cell phone battery's micro USB port (which is what it would use when charging).  The from the battery, the series will connect to the USB hub (that doesn't require additional power (like from a wall plug for instance).  I used a spare USB conversion bit and some all weather electrical tape to plug the empty port on top.  And from here, power from the generator and battery should feed into the GPS and smartphone.

I have the battery stationed at the top rear corner of my bicycle's frame (under the seat).  Either this or one of my other cables that I have lying around should be able to reach the generator.  But the battery to the hub will require an extension, which at the moment, I believe that I have.  Finally, I'll have to plug the bottom port of the hub considering that I'll no longer be using it for the bike battery.

I found out that the chain generator was only producing about 1300mAH of electricity.  My smartphone is a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with a 7" screen.  It's power hungry and the battery runs on about 2700mAh.  For anyone reading this, your battery's power output will be printed on it (except for some of you folks using Apple).

Prior to this, I drove to the Medina Section, TP 17B - Abbeyville & Fenn Rd on the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource's map and guide.  When I was routing this from the computer, knowing the area, I know that the traffic on Fenn can be aggressive and fast.  So, I was driving through at 1830hours and have made the determination to pull the unmarked transit spur and replace its waypoint icon with a warning one.  And rewrite the guide to warn all OTHR transit hikers that they shouldn't use Fenn Rd as a spur.

Log 2014032801

This morning, I finally got the 2014 Edition of the Ohio Transit Hikers Resource (OTHR) done.  I've been working at this refit for just over a month.  And the map needed to be done first because the new guide is based off it.  And because the map has a lot of new editions, the guide will also have more entries.

Within the last year, the Buckeye Trail Association released it's GIS/ GPS Depository.  Because it did, I'm now able to display every amenity spur from transit to the trail that there is available according to my method of discrimination, which are distances no greater than 4 miles from trail.  General Public county dial-a-ride transit this year opened up in Harrison, Perry, an extension of Fairfield, Pike, Miami, Sandusky, Seneca and Ashland Counties.  A city based dial-a-ride opened up and caters to the general public in Logan of Hocking County.  Dial-a-Ride type services open to "residents only" occurred in Monroe, Athens and Tuscarawas Counties, they are also new to the 2014 edition.

I decided that since there were two hotels on the east side of the City of Medina that I also included 3 new fixed routes in that city.  The track for the Brunswick Transit Alternative, which OTHR abbreviates as "BrTA" (because of the Buckeye Trail Association being BTA), needed to be written.  They have two routes that are routed like a "figure 8."  Last year, I only wrote track for one side of it because I thought that was all the hiker needed.  But, to my chagrin, those buses are circulators, which means that each loop runs in only one direction, so I remedied that and wrote the entire system this year.

OTHR lost transit coverage in the City of Delphos on the Delphos Section - Buckeye Trail (North Country Trail concurrent).  The Lima/ Allen County Regional Transit Authority (L/ACRTA) is no longer offering what OTHR refers to as "hybrid fixed route, or HFR" services to there, or Spencerville (also on trail, but was never listed).  HFR's are buses that are generally routed from one place to another, like point "A" to point "b", but certain deviations could be made and it requires a reservation, much like a dial-a-ride service.  The Buckeye Trail is served by a similar route in Waterville of Lucas County. But the information for both of those transit routes is still listed on L/ACRTA's website. But I hope to see them back up and running in the future.  OTHR's largest transit gap is in that part of Northwest Ohio. 

This year, with the edition of the extended transit services out of Fairfield County, that put the parts of the New Straitsville, Scioto Trail and all of the Old Man's Cave Section - BT [NCT and American Discovery Trail (ADT) concurrent] in range of it and the Greyhound affiliate "GoBus'" Lancaster (Carroll) stop.  Between this location, their stop in the City of Logan and local transit on both sides, one could embark on a 4 day, 65 mile route that would include Hocking Hills and some of the best hiking that the Buckeye has to offer.

So the regional transit in the south area now works like Marietta/ Parkersburg - Logan - Lancaster - Piketon - Peebles - Batavia - Cincinnati.

Last year, I noted that the Huron County Transit offers services extending up the US-250 corridor to Sandusky.  I never wrote a track for it because I considered it to be a part of a dial-a-ride program.  But this year, I changed it's OTHR status to a HFR.  Sandusky's Greyhound stop was out of range and it's Amtrak train arrived in the middle of the night, which would give the transit hiker 3+ hour layover until Huron County Transit was operating.  Well, now I wrote the tracks for the Sandusky-Perkins Area Ride Connection (SPARC).  So, hikers are in transit range of that Greyhound stop now and it should have better hours for transferring there.

Log 2014031501

I had a Dental appointment yesterday, but the remaining entries for local transit agencies from OTHR's directory were input to Microsoft Outlook, which I hope to create a downloadable CSV file from.  In addition to that, there were some computer systems issues that I took care of today.  My machines are running fine now.  But there's data being transferred between computers on this project and I need my network and cloud storage to "fire on all cylinders."

Log 2014031401

My back sprain continues to feel signs of improvement. After I had a cavity filled at the dentist's office today, I stopped by Fitworks in Mentor of Lake County on my way home and used the back machine. This is my second session with that machine. The only problem is that I'm powerful enough to max out the weight stack at 3 sets of 12 repetitions. At the moment, there isn't a free weight equivalent. If there was, I could probably increase that weight.

At the moment, I'm about a working day or two from editing the guide for the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource. I'm creating a new CSV file that allow my end users to upload the directory onto their smartphones without having to carry the seperate directory file.  It will should also make searching for information easier down trail.

Log 2014030901

I've been so impressed with the free version of the Ulysse Speedometer that I purchased the Pro version today on Google Play. I use the speedometer on my mountain bike and have had it on multiple smartphones for about 3 years now.

Between it, navigation, music and my Bluetooth headset, they really consume a lot of power. But when I'm on the road for more than 5 hours,  I usually carry 2 other batteries anyways. And the odometer keeps the screen awake, but I might be able to manually black it out and recall it as needed.

Otherwise, I finished revising the map for the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource. I have some work to do to the directory on Monday. After that, it's editing the guide. The last time I did that, I printed it out and went through it with an ink pen at a coffee shop one line at a time. I believe it's about 16 pages.

Since the Buckeye Trail Association published it's GIS/GPS Data Depository to the General Public, the cats out of the bag now and I don't have to worry about about someone being able to reverse engineer the route when it's there for them to have free of charge anyway.    

Log 2014022201

Today, I've been working today adding content to the OTHR transit points. I got them done, but I realized that there were a few things missing in the transit map. Their replacements were noted in my OTHR re-fit task list.

Last night, I slept in a weird position. When I woke up, my back was in pain.  It's taken me all the way until now to finally get over it.

Log 2014011601

I was supposed to get some brining supplies and meat today for canning tomorrow. But, I'll have to reschedule that for Sunday.
I'm performing maintenance on my laptop, so I don't think I'll be doing any mapping today.  Yesterday, I procured maps for the Ohio to Erie Trail for the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource, but I'm not sure when I'll ever get to cover that in person?
A new AAA app was installed on my smartphone. I've been a AAA member for about the last 4 years now. Recently, they sent me a member services guide on paper.  I attempted to look for on offline PDF copy, but I couldn't find one... So, I settled for the app even though it won't work in remote areas.