# GPS in the Grand Canyon?



## trevko (Jul 7, 2008)

It has been quite awhile since I was down there but in those areas where the river ran E-W and the walls were close (inner gorge, down in the mauv) it was hit or miss. Not sure if you need the southern horizon any more.


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## zonedar (Jul 17, 2015)

We had a couple Garmin RINOs last year and no issues. Didn't try tracking but with topos and waypoints it helped with figuring out where campsites are. 

Going again next month and will be bringing them again.

waypoints: GPS Waypoints

free topos: GPSFileDepot - Free Custom Garmin Maps, Ximage hosting, tutorials, articles and more for your GPSr


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## Sembob (Feb 27, 2014)

I went down this spring and took a Garmin E-trex30. I put in the waypoints from Tom Martins guide book and it worked great. 


Jim


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## cupido76 (May 22, 2009)

Awesome... thanks for the info!


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## cupido76 (May 22, 2009)

zonedar said:


> We had a couple Garmin RINOs last year and no issues. Didn't try tracking but with topos and waypoints it helped with figuring out where campsites are.
> 
> Going again next month and will be bringing them again.
> 
> ...


I clearly have technological issues, but I can't figure out how to download the waypoints in a format that I can put on my GPS... can you lend a hand?


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## zonedar (Jul 17, 2015)

I use basecamp to get them on my garmin Rino. Not sure about other brands or programs. Basecamp is free from Garmin.

Click the button on the coords you want to save. Agree to the terms. It should open a new window with a bunch of XML code. Save that to a file with the extension .gpx. 

Open Basecamp. In the library window, right click and create a new list, say "Grand Canyon". Highlight the new list and select File->Import into Grand Canyon. Select the GPX file you saved. Should now be imported.

Connect your GPs. Select Device->send to device. 

I don't have my rino hooked up right now, but from there you should be able to sort out the rest. 

Just make sure that after your done that you check your GPS to make sure that they are all there. Don't ask me how I know to recommend that step.

Good Luck!



cupido76 said:


> I clearly have technological issues, but I can't figure out how to download the waypoints in a format that I can put on my GPS... can you lend a hand?


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## cupido76 (May 22, 2009)

zonedar said:


> I use basecamp to get them on my garmin Rino. Not sure about other brands or programs. Basecamp is free from Garmin.
> 
> Click the button on the coords you want to save. Agree to the terms. It should open a new window with a bunch of XML code. Save that to a file with the extension .gpx.
> 
> ...



That worked... thanks for the detailed instructions!


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## zonedar (Jul 17, 2015)

cupido76 said:


> That worked... thanks for the detailed instructions!


No Problem.

I expect a full report including details on rapids and camps so I can prep for our trip at the end of august!


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## cupido76 (May 22, 2009)

So I'm back... and I found that while there were times where my gps lost its mind and put me somewhere up the canyon walls on the topo, it got the trend right and with the way points I downloaded, it was a great help in knowing where we were at any given time.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Mountain Buzz mobile app


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## cupido76 (May 22, 2009)

zonedar said:


> No Problem.
> 
> I expect a full report including details on rapids and camps so I can prep for our trip at the end of august!


Not a full report, but a couple of tidbits of advice...

1) Don't stress over what makes a "good" camp and don't read too much into camp descriptions in guide books. I found there were a few quite bad camps but most were quite good... and searching for perfection is a waste of time and stress. 

2) Don't let your guard down on the small rapids... we had two flips on our trip, and both happened on class 4 (out of 10) rapids.

Have fun!!! 

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## zonedar (Jul 17, 2015)

Awesome. Testing mine out in the canyon in 11 days! How was the trip? You must have had some big storms blow over.

[Edit for not seeing the reply]

Yeah. My buddy flipped in 209 last year. 18ft raft complete end-o.


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## cupido76 (May 22, 2009)

Trip was epic!! Some good rain storms including one massive one that lasted for hours... got to see canyons flash flooding and waterfalls everywhere.... unreal!!! 

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## cupido76 (May 22, 2009)

First flip was in 23 mile, I think... the lateral messed with 3 out of 4 boats... first two boats pitched the oarsman, third boat flipped... I ran it clean. 

Don't remember where the second flip was but it was also class 4 with a moderate hole / huge standing wave that caught 1 boat off guard. 

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