The last two weekends we've been out for a walk and each time I've recorded the route with my Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx. On average it seems fairly accurate, however it's sometime a bit hard to tell. Now let me segue into today's topic. There are really only two ways I'm aware of for measuring ascent.
The first is counting contour lines on a map, which is certainly the traditional way of doing it, but can either be very time consuming or very inaccurate.
The other is using a GPS to record the height data, but unfortunately that appears to be wildly inaccurate.
On my first trip my ascent is recorded as 128m, which I know is absolutely ridiculous, as I don't think the track could have been much flatter. At one point I see an altitude change of 19 meters in a distance of 12 meters. I can only hope that this might be a bit more accurate in the mountains with nothing to impede the GPS signal, but I'm really doubting the usefulness of this.
Do you have another way of measuring ascent during a trip?
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Trip report: Kennemerduinen I
Date: 2011/01/16
Distance: 7.3 km
Time: 2h
Temperature: 12'C
Weather: Partially overcast with strong gusts of wind.
Vis Kennemerduinen I i et større kart
As I mentioned in my last post we're building up towards the Pieterpad come spring so this week we had a 8km walk planned. Thanks to Dave's excellent suggestion that I try Kennemerduinen I drew up an apparently nice 8km walk around the dunes and to me rather odd terrain. According to my Garmin maps the area was swarming with tracks to it was fairly easy to draw up an interesting route. As I was to learn, what you see on a map is not always the best route.
We managed to get off away from the house earlier this time, though as we're still getting used to get our daughter and ourselves out of the house in a timely manner... So we were in the car, ready to go, at about 11:30. The drive out there took another 30 minutes, which considering the return time, was very good. When we arrived, Ingrid was hungry again so we gave her a quick feed before we bundled her into the pram. I then discovered that while I had uploaded the route to my Garmin, I had forgotten to include the relevant map tile. Bugger! The Garmin was now not able to nicely map our route and the whole area was just one big flat beige area... With some fiddling the track was at least able to show our route so I figured out we'd be ok.
The sun was at our backs as we wandered away from the parking lot which led to some panicked fiddling with the pram's umbrella as Ingrid started wailing every time she got the sun in her eyes. On the good side this meant that I finally had the go-ahead to buy her some sunglasses! (Am I sad that I think baby sunglasses are unbearably cute?) The faffing with the umbrella was shortly followed by a new panic when when we turned off the nicely paved onto a sandy track and and the gusty wind started blowing sand onto the pram. We took down the umbrella and pulled the rain cower over the pram. Crisis over. Or so I thought.
Only a few minutes later the pram started getting bogged down in the loose sand. Temper were fraying and fingers started twitching. I chose to see this more of a challenge while Lande was getting worried that we were too far from the paved track. At this point I noticed the huge drawback with not having the map on the Garmin. I could not see where we would meet up with the paved path again and we were heading right for some stairs. Turn around or press on? I vaguely remembered that the route I had drawn was going on and off the bike path so I figured we would be ok, so we chose to press on. Fortunately it wasn't long before we were back on the paved path and we decided to try to follow this as much as possible. So much for my elegant route...
As our speed picked up again on the bike path as we were no longer bogging down out tempers smoothed out and we started enjoying the walk. Despite the rather sharp wind we were warming up again and I realized that maybe the Silkbody Pilot top (xmas present from parents, and trekmates microflece (xmas present from wife) might have been a bit of an overkill. Luckily my Norrøna jacket has very good venting. Lande took off her Rab Microlight vest, and we discovered that the Quechua jacket that she bought at Decathlon yesterday has no vents...
After a while we were feeling quite good and when my route led off onto a sand track again we chanced it, being mentally prepared for what we might face. As it turned out the first sandy track might have been the worst in all of Kennemerduinen as we had practically no issues this time. We did modify the track when there was a split in the track and we scouted it out to see what we were facing.
A little past half way we discussed whether to stop for a little lunch break, but decided to take it on the go, as we didn't want Ingrid who was snoozing happily to wake up if we stopped (as she tends to do). A little not-quite-sweet-enough tea and some chocolate brownie later we felt much energized and even more upbeat, or maybe it was simply the joy of being outdoors in a new and different environment for both of us?
While we were out there we I kept my eyes open for interesting camping spots, but I think we were a bit too close to the parking spot and it's restaurant and it all felt rather busy. I'd like to do a camp on the dunes like Nibe did in December.
As we got back to the car we agreed that it had been a nice walk. Because of the route changes we were not quite 8km, however it had been more tiring than last weekends walk as pushing the pram through sand was quite exhausting. I think that the only way to make this a bit easier is to switch to a carry frame for Ingrid. I'm not sure she's ready for that yet though as she's only 4 1/2 months old, and with the wind driven sand it might not be very nice for her. I'll definitely get a frame as soon as I get my pay though so we can begin practising.
Anyway, this is where things really started slowing down. We had a second lunch in the car as Ingrid was now fretting and a bit hungry. We probably didn't get away for another hour! Then on the way back the road was packed and 25 minutes in we discovered that Ingrid was actually not a little but a lot hungry! We had to pull off the road and give her a second feed before she would settle down enough to deign to sit back in her chair.
In the end we didn't get home until 17:00...
All in all it was actually a very nice day. We felt very good walking and are planning to add another 4km for next weekend. This will probably mean a feeding on the track, and I'm considering getting a pop up shelter from Dechathlon for this. They're heavy and bulky, but as it's only for day trips I don't think it's going to be an issue.
Distance: 7.3 km
Time: 2h
Temperature: 12'C
Weather: Partially overcast with strong gusts of wind.
Vis Kennemerduinen I i et større kart
As I mentioned in my last post we're building up towards the Pieterpad come spring so this week we had a 8km walk planned. Thanks to Dave's excellent suggestion that I try Kennemerduinen I drew up an apparently nice 8km walk around the dunes and to me rather odd terrain. According to my Garmin maps the area was swarming with tracks to it was fairly easy to draw up an interesting route. As I was to learn, what you see on a map is not always the best route.
We managed to get off away from the house earlier this time, though as we're still getting used to get our daughter and ourselves out of the house in a timely manner... So we were in the car, ready to go, at about 11:30. The drive out there took another 30 minutes, which considering the return time, was very good. When we arrived, Ingrid was hungry again so we gave her a quick feed before we bundled her into the pram. I then discovered that while I had uploaded the route to my Garmin, I had forgotten to include the relevant map tile. Bugger! The Garmin was now not able to nicely map our route and the whole area was just one big flat beige area... With some fiddling the track was at least able to show our route so I figured out we'd be ok.
The sun was at our backs as we wandered away from the parking lot which led to some panicked fiddling with the pram's umbrella as Ingrid started wailing every time she got the sun in her eyes. On the good side this meant that I finally had the go-ahead to buy her some sunglasses! (Am I sad that I think baby sunglasses are unbearably cute?) The faffing with the umbrella was shortly followed by a new panic when when we turned off the nicely paved onto a sandy track and and the gusty wind started blowing sand onto the pram. We took down the umbrella and pulled the rain cower over the pram. Crisis over. Or so I thought.
Only a few minutes later the pram started getting bogged down in the loose sand. Temper were fraying and fingers started twitching. I chose to see this more of a challenge while Lande was getting worried that we were too far from the paved track. At this point I noticed the huge drawback with not having the map on the Garmin. I could not see where we would meet up with the paved path again and we were heading right for some stairs. Turn around or press on? I vaguely remembered that the route I had drawn was going on and off the bike path so I figured we would be ok, so we chose to press on. Fortunately it wasn't long before we were back on the paved path and we decided to try to follow this as much as possible. So much for my elegant route...
As our speed picked up again on the bike path as we were no longer bogging down out tempers smoothed out and we started enjoying the walk. Despite the rather sharp wind we were warming up again and I realized that maybe the Silkbody Pilot top (xmas present from parents, and trekmates microflece (xmas present from wife) might have been a bit of an overkill. Luckily my Norrøna jacket has very good venting. Lande took off her Rab Microlight vest, and we discovered that the Quechua jacket that she bought at Decathlon yesterday has no vents...
After a while we were feeling quite good and when my route led off onto a sand track again we chanced it, being mentally prepared for what we might face. As it turned out the first sandy track might have been the worst in all of Kennemerduinen as we had practically no issues this time. We did modify the track when there was a split in the track and we scouted it out to see what we were facing.
A little past half way we discussed whether to stop for a little lunch break, but decided to take it on the go, as we didn't want Ingrid who was snoozing happily to wake up if we stopped (as she tends to do). A little not-quite-sweet-enough tea and some chocolate brownie later we felt much energized and even more upbeat, or maybe it was simply the joy of being outdoors in a new and different environment for both of us?
While we were out there we I kept my eyes open for interesting camping spots, but I think we were a bit too close to the parking spot and it's restaurant and it all felt rather busy. I'd like to do a camp on the dunes like Nibe did in December.
As we got back to the car we agreed that it had been a nice walk. Because of the route changes we were not quite 8km, however it had been more tiring than last weekends walk as pushing the pram through sand was quite exhausting. I think that the only way to make this a bit easier is to switch to a carry frame for Ingrid. I'm not sure she's ready for that yet though as she's only 4 1/2 months old, and with the wind driven sand it might not be very nice for her. I'll definitely get a frame as soon as I get my pay though so we can begin practising.
Anyway, this is where things really started slowing down. We had a second lunch in the car as Ingrid was now fretting and a bit hungry. We probably didn't get away for another hour! Then on the way back the road was packed and 25 minutes in we discovered that Ingrid was actually not a little but a lot hungry! We had to pull off the road and give her a second feed before she would settle down enough to deign to sit back in her chair.
In the end we didn't get home until 17:00...
All in all it was actually a very nice day. We felt very good walking and are planning to add another 4km for next weekend. This will probably mean a feeding on the track, and I'm considering getting a pop up shelter from Dechathlon for this. They're heavy and bulky, but as it's only for day trips I don't think it's going to be an issue.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Trip report: Around the pool
Date: 2011/01/09
Distance: 4.1 km
Time: 1h 2m
Temperature: 4'C
Weather: Some light wind and some light drizzle
Vis Around the pool i et større kart
As part of our preparation for the Pieterpad we have to work out what we can expect to achieve in a day, but also to build up our stamina. While waiting for our daughter to be born and since then, we've more or less turned into couch potatoes.
We've tried to be good at getting out of the house when we've been at home, walking around the local park, Vondelpark, and trying to keep a good pace. Our little jaunt this weekend seems to indicate we're not in as bad a form as we thought, but we need to push ourselves further next weekend.
The satnav (clever as it is) took us the long way around to the south side of Amsterdamse Bos, into Amstelveen to a little, apparently unnamed, pond (or pool as it appears to be called). As you can see from the map it's a fairly round little lake that lets the cold, damp wind get a good run-up before it tries to force it's way through your clothes. It's been raining a lot lately and it showed on the track as we stepped on to the track from the pavement. As we were pushing Ingrid in a pram we risked the wrath of the cyclists by walking on the bike path as it had not turned into a mud bath.
The sky was an uninspiring grey, but fortunately it was not raining and we'd dressed sensibly to keep the cold wind out. Ingrid was happy as Larry, and after a short bout of babbling promptly fell asleep. I'm really wondering how she's going to take to a carry frame as she's not been too keen on being carried in the Baby-Bjorn, though that might have changed now that she can be pointed forward instead of towards my chest.
We tried to keep off the bike path as much as we could, though it was a bit challenging at times with the pram. At one point the path took us onto a road and past some houses that were sitting right on the pond. Quite a few people were out walking and we were seldom out of sight of people.
Though the walk was nice I just don't feel like I'm out in the wilderness here. I guess that's because I'm not, but I always feel that everything is too neat, too prepped. What I'm still longing for the wildness of the Norwegian mountains, but anything that would give me the sense of wildness would do. If you can suggest somewhere I should go please leave a comment.
One important thing that came out of this walk was that we're clearly fast enough and in good enough form to do a longer walk. Next weekend we'll be doing a 9-12km walk.
Distance: 4.1 km
Time: 1h 2m
Temperature: 4'C
Weather: Some light wind and some light drizzle
Vis Around the pool i et større kart
As part of our preparation for the Pieterpad we have to work out what we can expect to achieve in a day, but also to build up our stamina. While waiting for our daughter to be born and since then, we've more or less turned into couch potatoes.
We've tried to be good at getting out of the house when we've been at home, walking around the local park, Vondelpark, and trying to keep a good pace. Our little jaunt this weekend seems to indicate we're not in as bad a form as we thought, but we need to push ourselves further next weekend.
The satnav (clever as it is) took us the long way around to the south side of Amsterdamse Bos, into Amstelveen to a little, apparently unnamed, pond (or pool as it appears to be called). As you can see from the map it's a fairly round little lake that lets the cold, damp wind get a good run-up before it tries to force it's way through your clothes. It's been raining a lot lately and it showed on the track as we stepped on to the track from the pavement. As we were pushing Ingrid in a pram we risked the wrath of the cyclists by walking on the bike path as it had not turned into a mud bath.
The sky was an uninspiring grey, but fortunately it was not raining and we'd dressed sensibly to keep the cold wind out. Ingrid was happy as Larry, and after a short bout of babbling promptly fell asleep. I'm really wondering how she's going to take to a carry frame as she's not been too keen on being carried in the Baby-Bjorn, though that might have changed now that she can be pointed forward instead of towards my chest.
We tried to keep off the bike path as much as we could, though it was a bit challenging at times with the pram. At one point the path took us onto a road and past some houses that were sitting right on the pond. Quite a few people were out walking and we were seldom out of sight of people.
Though the walk was nice I just don't feel like I'm out in the wilderness here. I guess that's because I'm not, but I always feel that everything is too neat, too prepped. What I'm still longing for the wildness of the Norwegian mountains, but anything that would give me the sense of wildness would do. If you can suggest somewhere I should go please leave a comment.
One important thing that came out of this walk was that we're clearly fast enough and in good enough form to do a longer walk. Next weekend we'll be doing a 9-12km walk.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Planning Pieterpad I - early thoughts
Well, it's time to kick off this blog and what better way than to start it with an item that this blog is for, recording the outdoors aspect of my life.
Lande and I got exited by the TGO challenge but realised that it was not possible for us to do it this year as we've just had a baby, and that it would probably be a good idea to get some practice and exercise in before we tried it. Therefore we've decided to section-hike the Pieterpad as it's here in the Netherlands where we currently live, and it's even something we can do with Ingrid, our little girl.
So far we're still in the early stages of planning, just looking at options and starting to think of how to do it practically. Fortunately the public transport links are good along the Pieterpad so we can park at the end of each stage and get transport to the beginning. As we're only thinking of doing weekends (at least mostly) it's going to be quite a few weekends spent on it.
Our plan is to hike it from south to north, hoping that we can get the tiniest of advantage in following the spring up through the country. Another advantage is that we'll have the sun more or less at our backs most of time.
We're also hoping to be able to do some wild camping along the way, but we're going to have to look quite closely at the route and hopefully also get some advice from some locals. This brings me to the "in" for other posts I hope to make about hiking with infants. I'm going to have to think really hard about shelter, packs and sleeping arrangements for Ingrid.
Unfortunately we're not in possessions of any proper sleeping bags at the moment and Lande has very little gear so we're going to have to do some very careful investments in the coming months. We have a pair of pads, and even though they're not to heavy and easy to inflate, neither of us like them and I'd like to replace them both. Our current tent weighs in just below 3kg, which I now think is way too heavy and it's also not of a good size for Ingrid as well. I might see if I can modify it to lighten it and make do for now.
Stay tuned to more thoughts on gear and planning as we move towards the start of the walk which we hope to be early in spring.
Lande and I got exited by the TGO challenge but realised that it was not possible for us to do it this year as we've just had a baby, and that it would probably be a good idea to get some practice and exercise in before we tried it. Therefore we've decided to section-hike the Pieterpad as it's here in the Netherlands where we currently live, and it's even something we can do with Ingrid, our little girl.
So far we're still in the early stages of planning, just looking at options and starting to think of how to do it practically. Fortunately the public transport links are good along the Pieterpad so we can park at the end of each stage and get transport to the beginning. As we're only thinking of doing weekends (at least mostly) it's going to be quite a few weekends spent on it.
Our plan is to hike it from south to north, hoping that we can get the tiniest of advantage in following the spring up through the country. Another advantage is that we'll have the sun more or less at our backs most of time.
We're also hoping to be able to do some wild camping along the way, but we're going to have to look quite closely at the route and hopefully also get some advice from some locals. This brings me to the "in" for other posts I hope to make about hiking with infants. I'm going to have to think really hard about shelter, packs and sleeping arrangements for Ingrid.
- Obviously we want to make sure she's warm enough, but with an infant we're also going to have to make sure she's not too warm. Another issue is that she's going to grow out of things very quickly, so we don't want to get something too expensive.
- Since we have to carry her I want to try to find the lightest possible carry pack which can still take some kit and while the UL community has a lot of information available there seems to be little information about this kind of kit. Again I hope to be able to take advantage of advice from other hikers with children.
- In terms of shelter we're going to want something with quite a lot of space. I'm thinking that maybe the Hogback from Tarptent might be a viable option, however I want to talk to others who have tried that to see what they think.
Unfortunately we're not in possessions of any proper sleeping bags at the moment and Lande has very little gear so we're going to have to do some very careful investments in the coming months. We have a pair of pads, and even though they're not to heavy and easy to inflate, neither of us like them and I'd like to replace them both. Our current tent weighs in just below 3kg, which I now think is way too heavy and it's also not of a good size for Ingrid as well. I might see if I can modify it to lighten it and make do for now.
Stay tuned to more thoughts on gear and planning as we move towards the start of the walk which we hope to be early in spring.
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