Comparing GPS tracks from 2010 to today feels like two different hobbies

I pulled up an old GPX file from a Sierra trip in 2011 and the route looked like a 3 year old drew it with a crayon. Modern tracks from my Fenix are spot on compared to that old Garmin eTrex that would randomly lose signal in a forest. Anyone else notice the old gadgets made you a better navigator because you had to actually pay attention?

2 comments

2 Comments

karenlane5d ago

Oh come on, is it really that deep? I used an eTrex back then too and sure the track would wiggle a bit in tight canyons but I never sat there second guessing myself over it. You just looked at the general line and used your eyes to fill in the gaps. If anything the old gear taught me not to panic when the dot jumps around because I had to figure out where I actually was. Now my watch is so accurate I barely glance at it because the map on my phone does all the heavy lifting and I wonder if I'm actually paying less attention to the landscape, not more. But maybe I'm just not obsessive enough to have spent hours fixing track logs.

paul_mason126d agoOG Member

Oh I have to push back on this. I actually think the opposite is true, the old gear made you a worse navigator because it forced you into bad habits. Back in 2010 with my eTrex Vista I'd watch the track wiggle around and start second guessing myself, thinking I took the wrong fork when really the unit was just bouncing off the canyon walls. That uncertainty made me rely more on the gadget than my own eyes and map skills. The modern chips are so solid that I can actually trust what the device says and focus on reading the terrain instead of fighting with a glitchy signal. I remember spending more time in 2011 trying to fix my track logs than actually hiking. The old stuff was a crutch that gave you false confidence, not a tool that made you pay attention.