Gaia GPS

Gaia GPS

Annual ALDHA Gathering 2015

by Ashli Baldwin
written by Ashli Baldwin

This weekend, Ashli and Ruthie ventured out to the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association’s (ALDHA) 34th annual event “The Gathering” in Shippensburg, PA. Each year, the event hosts interesting workshops, forums, keynote speakers, and ends with an ALDHA sponsored work trip on the AT.

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The Appalachian Trail

 

Preserving the Trail after “A Walk in the Woods”

This past year the Appalachian Trail received more publicity than any other time in the past 25 years. The unexpected attention came as a result of the movies “Wild” and “A Walk in the Woods” as well as the controversy surrounding Scott Jurek’s recent record setting hike.

Amidst the already growing number of hikers on the trail annually, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy stressed the importance of preservation, and are concentrating their efforts on the beginning section of the AT in Georgia and end section in Maine. Changes include new campsites in high traffic areas and a voluntary registration system for thru-hikers.

Featured Speaker Cam “Swami” Honan

Cam Honan, known on the trail as “Swami”, gave the keynote talk Saturday night about his 12 Long Walks—a series of 12 North American long-distance hikes totaling over 14,300 miles—all of which he completed consecutively in less than 18 months. Intensely captivating, Swami’s story featured incredible landscape photos, frightening and dangerous interactions with nature, and moments he described as “serendipitous.”

Cam-Honan-CBT

Cam “Swami” Honan

Giving Back

The Gathering ended with a work trip to the nearby A.T. museum. Feel like helping out? ALDHA and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy are always looking for volunteers all along the trail. Click here to find out how you can help.

 

 

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Gaia GPS

Off the Trail with Gaia GPS

by Aileen
written by Aileen

The trail-less wilderness of Denali sprawls over an area equal to the state of Massachusetts. Its taigas and tundras rise up into North America’s tallest peak. In this most wild of places, only one road wends its way through the park, and trails have no place.

Last week, I noticed a picture of Denali on Instagram from a Gaia GPS user, and I wondered why she hadn’t posted tracks to gaiagps.com too, so I reached out. I learned that she refrained from sharing because “The Denali Backcountry Office” asks people to keep their GPS data offline. The Office issues permits for the park, and also works to preserve its wild beauty and maintain an experience of solitude for visitors.

Though Denali is exceptional in size, it is just one of many National Parks with opportunities to get off-trail; Glacier, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone to name a few.

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Gorgeous photo of the Denali wilderness shared by a Gaia GPS user on Instagram

 

Gaia GPS Off-Trail

Many Gaia GPS users break off-trail, either because the terrain demands it, the snow allows it, or just for fun. It can mean finding an off-trail waterfall, skiing into a powdery bowl, or even quickening a journey when you find yourself short on resources or energy.

Gaia GPS enables off-trail adventures in ways a paper map cannot – giving users a precise view of where they stand on the map. If you want to plan a trip literally off a beaten track, there’s no better software. Keep reading for a few tips based on our experiences, as well as those of other Gaia GPS users, about exploring off-trail with the app.

Tips for exploring off-trail:

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Planning a route on gaiagps.com is as easy as dropping points on a map

 

During and after your trip:

  • Prepare for long days and diminishing battery: Read these tips on how to conserve battery using Gaia GPS.
    • Carrying a backup battery or backpack-able solar unit is also a good idea (GoalZero is my personal favorite).
    • Always bring a paper map and compass too, or at least a secondary GPS-enabled device. And practice using your map and compass – if you haven’t, they will be of little use in the field.
  • Take pictures and plot waypoints.
  • Publish your tracks on gaiagps.com (unless of course you hiked in Denali).

As always, feel free to contact us for any questions you may have while planning your adventures: support@gaiagps.com

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Gaia GPS

Meet Zach Irvin

by Staff Reports
written by Staff Reports

Zach first came to Gaia GPS as the primary Adventure Support staffer in early 2014, but more recently switched over to working with the engineering team, doing QA on app releases.

Zach wanders around Texas testing Gaia GPS, and also creates and executes manual test plans. Zach’s work is a key step in the QA of Gaia GPS, which also includes automated unit tests on the source code, and a thriving beta test community that vets each release of Gaia GPS for iOS and Android.

Zach earned his bachelors degree in English from Sam Houston State University, and joined the PhD program at Texas A&M University. Zach is currently on deferment from A&M, while he raises his new daughter. Zach lives in College Station, Texas with Hazel and wife Ruthie, another Gaia GPS staffer we’ll profile in the weeks to come.

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Company NewsGaia GPS

Gaia Team Profile: Aashima Talwar

by Staff Reports
written by Staff Reports

Aashima Talwar joined Gaia GPS as a software engineering intern this summer.​

Her main project has been to revise, update, and improve the style of the Gaia Vector Topo Map. This has bridged a wide variety of skills, including writing CartoCSS, working with Postgres, working with Git, and more. Aashima has also spent time learning more about writing Javascript, and developing websites.

Aashima earned her Masters degree in IT from India. She previously worked at Microsoft (Redmond) and AtosOrigin (Singapore) doing mainly database development and provided business intelligence solutions.

She lives in Seattle with her husband and daughter.

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Gaia GPS

Welcome Ashli Baldwin

by Staff Reports
written by Staff Reports

We’ve been remiss in introducing everyone over the years, so we’re doing short profiles on the folks at Gaia GPS. We introduced Aileen Gardner last week, and going chronologically backwards in time, we’re featuring Ashli Baldwin today.​

Ashli brings serious outdoor cred to the Gaia team, having recently thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. She spends her weekends outdoors and weekdays with Gaia GPS. Ashli joined the Gaia GPS Adventure Support team about 6 months ago, and her work spans user support, Gaia GPS documentation, marketing, and much more.

Ashli also has her own outdoor blog, Tentside, and she also writes articles for the popular Appalachian Trail blog Appalachian Trials. She has a degree in music from York College of Pennsylvania, and is an avid musician and expert flautist.

Ashli Baldwin - Gaia GPS Adventure Support

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AndroidGaia GPS

Gaia GPS for Android update – v6.0.3

by Ruthie Irvin
written by Ruthie Irvin

You can download the new release of Gaia GPS Android (v6.03) from the Google play store, or update your device.

Most noticeably, we fixed the lagging display of waypoints/POIs when panning the map. Check out the release notes here for full details, and you can also view release notes in the app.

Send us your comments and bug reports to android@gaiagps.com. If you have any feature ideas to improve the app, submit them to the Idea Forum, and get notified about progress and community comments.

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POIs and waypoints will show smoothly on the map again.

 

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Gaia GPS

Expanded coverage for elevation lookups

by Jesse Crocker
written by Jesse Crocker

The Gaia GPS elevation lookup service, which is used when marking waypoints, and when planning routes, now includes worldwide coverage, going from 80°S to 80°N. The elevation data previously included some gaps, which could result in incorrect results in some areas, these gaps have now been corrected.

Map of elevation coverage
These updates were made possible by Nasa’s recent release of 1 Arc second SRTM digital elevation models, and by the addition of ASTER GDEM elevation models to cover the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Test it out now at gaiagps.com.

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Gaia GPS

Use Your GPS Tracks to Update OpenStreetMap

by Kate Dougherty
written by Kate Dougherty

In a recent blog post, we showed you how to join OpenStreetMap and help build an open map of the world, alongside millions of other map editors. That post focused on editing the map by comparing it to aerial imagery.

This new article covers how to use your GPS recordings (such as those you might make in Gaia GPS), to edit roads, landmarks, and other information into the map. Remember, OpenStreetMap doesn’t just mean roads – it includes trails and everything else of interest to hikers.

Record GPS Tracks and Waypoints

First, you need to go take a hike or something similar, and record tracks and waypoints. With Gaia GPS:

    • Download maps (iOS/Android) of the area you plan to explore ahead of time so they’ll be available without a strong internet connection. 
    • Start recording (iOS/Android) your track. 
    • It’s easy to add photos along your route (iOS/Android); the app will automatically geolocate or “attach” them at the proper locations. 
    • After you’ve finished recording your track, you’ll see a waypoint pin at the location where the photo was taken. Simply tap the pin to see your photo.
    • You can use your photos to contribute to OSM too, but we’ll leave that for another post.

        Completing Your GPS Track

        Once you’ve finished recording your track, you’ll have the option to customize its name (iOS/Android) and add it a folder (iOS/Android). If it’s one of several trails you plan to hike in Yosemite, for example, touch the folder icon to add the track to a new “Yosemite” folder.

        Gaia GPS will save your track and edits automatically, so there’s no save button on this screen. When finished, use your Android’s built-in back or undo button or tap done on an iOS device to exit the window and go back to your map.

          • Next, export the GPX file for your track. You can do this from within the app (iOS/Android), or by downloading the file from GaiaGPS.com. By default, your data will sync to gaiagps.com anytime you launch the app when connected to the internet.

        Uploading Your GPS Track to OpenStreetMap

        While OSM won’t automatically convert your track into a trace on the map, contributors can use it as a guide to add it manually. You can either trace over the path yourself, or make it public so other editors can access it.

            • Click GPS Traces at the top of the screen. You’ll see a list of the most recently uploaded traces.
              • Click Upload a trace at the top of the screen.

        Openstreetmap, gaia gpsClick on GPS Traces at the top of the screen to upload your file to OSM.

        openstreetmap, gaia gps

        You’ll see a list of the most recently added traces. Click Upload a trace to add yours.

          • On the next page, browse to select the location of the GPX file on your computer. You can also include a description, add tags, and set its visibility to Public. Click what does this mean? next to the visibility drop-down for more information on visibility types.
            • Click upload (the upload button is hidden by the dropdown in the screenshot below).

        openstreetmap, gaiagpsSelect and describe your file, then set its visibility.

        You’ll receive a confirmation of your submission, and a message saying that you’ll be notified by email once it’s been added to the OSM database. This usually happens within a few minutes. When you receive the email, click on the link to see the OSM page for your trace.

        openstreetmap, gaiagpsYour track’s page on OSM. Click edit to start editing the map at that location.

        Using Your Trace to Edit OpenStreetMap

          • Next, click edit to view your track superimposed over aerial imagery within the default editor. The track is so detailed that it may seem difficult to trace. But not to worry – OSM actually has three editors. One of them, Potlatch, will automatically smooth out and simplify the line.
            • To view and edit your trace in Potlatch, click the down arrow next to the Edit button at the top of the screen, then select Edit with Potlatch 2 (in-browser editor). You can also follow these steps to access Potlatch directly from your file’s OSM home page.

        openstreetmap, gaiagpsYour track is superimposed on top of imagery in the default OSM editor.

        While Potlatch looks different from the default editor, it works in much the same way. OSM displays basic instructions at the bottom of the screen.

        openstreetmap, gaiagps

        The trace is simplified in the Potlatch 2 editor.

        Simply click on a blank (unmapped) area of the map to start drawing a new way. Since your trace isn’t officially part of the map yet, OSM considers it a blank space.

          • Click on your track’s starting point to begin tracing over it, and click to add nodes where it begins to turn. The Potlatch editor makes this process much easier. Since Potlatch smoothes out your track, you’ll need fewer nods and less time to trace it.
        openstreetmap, gaiagps

        Follow your track to add it to the map as a new feature.

          • When you’re finished tracing, press enter on your keyboard (or double-click on the last node).
            • Next, you’ll need to add tags on the left. While the left panel may seem a bit crowded and complex when compared to the default editor, the idea is the same, except that Potlatch uses icons to offer a quicker, more visual way to tag features.
              • Set the feature type. Click Unknown, then choose Paths, then Footpath.
        openstreemap, gaiagps

        Tag the new feature.

        There are several tabs in the left pane; the first two are the most relevant to my path through Ringing Rocks Park.

          • After adding basic information on the first tab, click on the second tab and add a tag for the Surface field. In the example below, I’ve tagged the trail as an unpaved surface.
        openstreetmap, gaiagps
              • Feel free to explore the remaining tabs and add more information.
                • Click the Save button at the top of the screen to save your edits.
                  • You’ll be prompted to add a description of your edits for the community. For example, I wrote: “Added the trail/footpath that goes through Ringing Rocks Park.”
                    • Be sure to tweet or Facebook your edits to get your friends mapping too.

        Check back a bit later, and voila, your travels are now on the map for all to see!

        image (6)

        Your track is now mapped and visible to millions of users.

        Learn More about Uploading GPS Traces to OpenStreetMap

        Recording, uploading, and using your GPS tracks to contribute to OpenStreetMap is really quite simple and fun. You may just find yourself wanting to know more. Here are a few resources:

         

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        Gaia GPS

        Welcome Aileen Gardner – Adventure Support

        by Ashli Baldwin
        written by Ashli Baldwin

        We’re delighted to welcome Aileen Gardner to the Gaia GPS team. She’s been training with us the last two weeks as the newest member of our Adventure Support team, and she’s already jumped in with thoughtful editing and other contributions to writing and marketing.​

        Aileen adds another smart and outdoor-focused person to the Gaia GPS roster. She earned her B.S. in business administration from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. She once did a 4-month roadtrip, replete with backpacking and mountain biking, and now spends all her free time exploring the mountains and trails around Portland.​

        Fun fact: Around this time next year, Aileen is likely to be answering your adventure questions from an off-grid tiny house in the mountains of Central Oregon. She is currently hashing out design details for a 150-200 square foot eco home, and construction is due to start next summer. Living a fairly simplified life already, and spending the majority of her time outdoors, it seemed only natural for Aileen to venture further off-grid, into a smaller space.​

        adventure support

        Caption: From Aileen’s weekend hike on Mt. Hood on gaiagps.com.

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        Gaia GPS

        Technical Post: Generate test cases for geojson rendering

        by Jesse Crocker
        written by Jesse Crocker

        We render lines on the map in Gaia GPS, like when you record or import a track. It’s a tricky problem to do this perfectly, where the tracks always look smooth and precise.

        Recently, I wanted to generate tests cases that would clarify bugs in our line rendering, to make it easy to isolate and remove bugs.

        This Python script generate GeoJson spirals and sawtooth waves, which I used to expose bugs in our rendering.

        Spiral

        2 Sawtooth shapes

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