Author Topic: American walking the C2C  (Read 23581 times)

rural roamer

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #75 on: 08:15:23, 08/02/18 »

As the C2C is not actually an official national trail it is not well marked in some places. You should definitely not rely on just a guidebook and should have map and compass skills. We had a guidebook, map & compass and SATMAP to fall back on and used all three. It is quite common to encounter mist and bog all year round.  I don’t want to put you off it’s a lovely walk but you do need to be well prepared so that you don’t become another mountain rescue statistic.

Deolman

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #76 on: 08:40:38, 08/02/18 »
The Garmin OS maps are raster maps, this means they are simply a copy of the paper map.  The further in you zoom they will blur, the 50K ones sooner than the 25K ones.  That's why I prefer to use free OSM mapping which is vector mapping, this stays sharp as you zoom in/out.


Many thanks for the information - it will save me a trip to SpecSavers!

sussamb

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #77 on: 08:57:05, 08/02/18 »
To use Open Street Map (OSM) I know that I can use it on my computer at home but I presume this is something that can be used on other handheld devices.  As my phone doesn't even have an alarm clock on it I presume that "modern" phones with Internet access will, of course, work but are there any other devices that will e.g. can another GPS device be "programmed" to use OSM as well as the pre-programmed maps - I am sure that my SATMAP won't - or will it? :-\ :-\


Afraid satmap can't use OSM mapping as far as I know. Apps like ViewRanger do and all Garmins.
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tonyk

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #78 on: 09:16:15, 08/02/18 »
 People were walking the coast to coast long before GPS was available to the general public.The only places where you might have problems with navigation are the Lakeland mountain passes.Crossing into Honister,Greenup Edge and Kidsty Pike are places that come to mind.The crossing from Grassmere to Patterdale is easy enough,even in mist.Once you get past the Lakes the next difficult place is Nine Standards but in bad weather the road can be followed into Keld.Once past keld the rest is quite easy,at least in terms of navigation.

 Thousands of people do this walk each year and I am quite sure that not all of them are experts in navigation.With the amount of walkers on the trail there is always the opportunity to walk with someone else over the difficult sections.

sussamb

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #79 on: 10:39:24, 08/02/18 »
Fair point, should always be possible to team up with someone.
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KathyDahm

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #80 on: 15:57:28, 08/02/18 »
Thanks for all this. I think I'm going to start by learning to use a compass and map well. My daughter wants me to take an on-line course on navigation with her, offered by Backpacker Magazine. First stop, REI to look for a good compass. I have the Harvey maps for the C2C. One step at a time.
I'll be happy to team up with others if that's possible when the going gets difficult.
On another note, yesterday I got in the mail Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk with photographs by Derry Brabbs. It's breathtakingly beautiful. Books like this one, along with all the blogs written by people who have done the walk, are inspirational and motivating.

Stube

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #81 on: 20:28:25, 09/02/18 »
I would always recommend the Trailblazer guides for the clarity of the mapping and the comprehensiveness of their accommodation information. Not as pretty as a Wainwright's guide though.

The latest (7th) edition is now available.

https://trailblazer-guides.com/book/coast-to-coast-path

KathyDahm

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #82 on: 22:53:24, 09/02/18 »
Yes, that's the guide I'll take with me, the Trailblazer guide, the 7th edition. It's so thorough and I love the maps. I also used his suggestions to help with my bookings. I love the Wainwright book for the photographs and Wainwright's interesting writing. The one I have is large, more like a coffee table book than a guide to take on the walk.

jimbob

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #83 on: 23:11:08, 09/02/18 »
I photograph the trailblazer maps and keep them on my phone now.

I saw a fellow on the Camino Frances planning his next days walk using photographed pages and nicked the idea.

I am having a serious rethink about my use of technology following a serious battery failure recently.  So not sure at the moment that I have confidence in this any more, but when the gear works,  it is lighter than carrying a book.
Too little, too late, too bad......

KathyDahm

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #84 on: 23:31:44, 09/02/18 »
That does lighten the load a bit. I might do that, as well as taking the book. I did not take a paper guide with me on the Camino Frances and relied on e-guides, but I quickly regretted the decision. I think it would work well for maps (as long as one doesn't have a battery problem) but I didn't like it otherwise. I find a real book so much easier to flip back and forth through.

Ridge

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #85 on: 23:48:12, 09/02/18 »
Quote
I find a real book so much easier to flip back and forth through.
There is definitely something comforting in having a proper piece of paper with printing on it, though that may be me being an old fuddy-duddy.

KathyDahm

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #86 on: 04:11:04, 10/02/18 »
I like that, "A proper piece of paper with printing on it". Couldn't agree more.  :)  Very comforting.

rural roamer

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #87 on: 10:37:46, 10/02/18 »
For the C2C we used the Cicerone guide, but for our last two LDWs we have used the Trailblazer guides and think they are better than others we have used. Rather than take the book out each day, we now cut out the relevant pages and just take those in a waterproof holder. (Not applicable if you are not using a baggage transfer compny). Of course it ruins the book but you could always buy another! On the C2C we also had Wainwrights guide in our luggage.


Glad you are going to do a navigation course, I didn’t want to put you off but always better to be prepared!

sussamb

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #88 on: 13:02:05, 10/02/18 »
I am having a serious rethink about my use of technology following a serious battery failure recently.  So not sure at the moment that I have confidence in this any more, but when the gear works,  it is lighter than carrying a book.


It's why I carry a GPS plus spare batteries and a phone as backup.  I'm better prepared now than when I used a paper map.  How many of us carried a back up in case we lost our map, I know I didn't!
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Islandplodder

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Re: American walking the C2C
« Reply #89 on: 13:14:04, 10/02/18 »

I got very lost in Ireland a few years ago when the phone we had photographed the map on went flat.  But we didn't have anything like an OS map, just a photographed page out of a magazine. 
I always find I remember maps wrong when anything like that happens.....

 

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