A buddy postulated that it might be possible to use an iPhone in Quetico (not for making calls/texts, obviously) but as a way to type trip notes (and make voice recordings/take audio) as we go along as well as use the camera and video functionality. He has a solar charger that can recharge the device pretty well he thinks (given that there's sunlight, which on some trips has been dicey!).

What I am wondering is can you use the GPS/mapping function on it? I know it won't be on a cellular network or anything, but I know apps like OnX hunt say that they work even when you don't have cell service. Does anyone know how this works? The device is small and light and if you put it in a LifeProof case, it might be able to be an asset.

Mad_Birdman,

Well, if you pair it with an InReach Mini or a regular InReach, you're in business for sure.  You can do all of the tasks you mention plus send/receive texts.  That will be the system I'll be using this year.  Without a paired device that can effectively communicate with a satellite system?  Well, I know we have some techies on QJ who CAN answer that question... I'm just not one of them.

I've downloaded both Earthmate (software used in conjunction with the InReach) AND Gaia GPS functions to my I-Phone.  Without the InReach, these applications (or something similar) could have some utility beyond the range of cell phone towers, I suppose, but I don't understand how that might work.

Hey Wally13!  If you're out there, did't you use your Gaia function some of the time last year WITHOUT your InReach?  I have a vague memory of me wondering how you were able to do that.  Maybe you didn't and it's just my memory playing tricks on me, again.

Jimbo   8-)

Mad Birdman,

I have installed GAIA, a GPS mapping service on my IPhone last year. Before your trip and while you are ONLINE you download a map of the area you will be canoeing on to your cell. Then when you are up north you put your cell in Airplane mode and turn off any APPS that are unnecessary so you do not use up your battery for unecessary apps.

Your GPS on your IPhone will always be on and when you open GAIA APP you wil get your location on the lake or portage trail you are on. All the lakes in BWCA and Quetico (in fact all roads, mountains, lakes are available in the US and Canada and most of the world I believe).

You will use some of your cells storage capacity to download maps to your phone. Again you have to download Gaia Maps ( there other mapping apps for cell phones) when you are ONLINE. Your iPhone cell has Assisted GPS built into it...but since you will be outside of cell phone tower service, you have to download the maps in the area you will be paddling in on your cell ONLINE so they are available to you when you are in Quetico.

You can go into Settings on your iPhone, Privacy, then Location Services. You can see all the apps where you are using your Phones GPS. I have Compass Set as ALWAYS and GAIA as Always.

You can mark waypoints, see your speed as you paddle, set a paddle plan etc, I really like it. Most hikers use GAIA for Mapping with their cell phones.

Google Maps also provides a mapping service for your cell and its “free” ... but I really like Gaia. I didn’t sign up for the Premium mapping as GAIA’s Regular Mapping Program does everything I need.

I use a Suntastic 5 Solar Charger to keep my cell and my Anker Power Bank charged up.

Google GAIA and look it over. Check out Google Maps too.

I still bring McKenzie or Ficher Maps when I go up to Quetico each year.

I have a lot more to learn on the use of a cell phone for Quetico tripping ...like routing, waypoints etc, I just have to play with it more. I only used the Gaia Map APP for the 1st time last year.

I hooked Jimbo up with an InReach device to replace his SPOT. You can send and receive texts and emails when up north and I like this communication that you cant get with a SPOT. InReach also has a SOS feature. It also offers a basic weather update for your area you are paddling and is part of the Freedom Package you pay to use your InReach( wind, temps, forecast). You pay for 30 day periods.

GARMIN bought InReach. You can install their Earthmate APP on your cell and it allows you to PAIR UP your cell to your InReach device. That means you can use your larger cell screen size and typing features to type in texts etc. Whem you send a message to your wife or others they receive your message and the PIN where you are located.

Getting windy here but let me know if I can help you further with Gaia or InReach.

Mad Birdman,

I see you’re still in Madtown. Come join us for dinner at Copia (info posted in another thread). I bet the techies will give you a tutorial. Just sign up and bring your friends! 8-)

Thanks guys. Am planning on Copia this year (and probably dinner too) so hope to see you guys again. Was out last year but am making my triumphant return to the Q in June. Making my out-of-shape self get in tune for Memory Lane!

Instead of a solar charger, what about using a Li 10000mAh Power Bank?

Zski,

I bring an Anker Powercore 10000 mAh power bank and a Solar Charger. That way my IPhone and InReach are always powered up.

i now see that you already mentioned the anker powercore above. somehow it didn't register the first time reading thru

I don't want a debate I'm just saying for me - too much technology takes me away from having a wilderness experience.  I love the idea of having the inreach for an emergency situation but I doubt I'll ever use a gps or cell phone in Quetico.  I love the map and compass.  It gets me closer to Lewis and Clark.  ;)

I'm with Tom on this one. If possible I try to leave the map (Chrismar) packed away as well.

The main reasons I'm going the "I-Phone paired w/InReach Mini" route are these:
1) I had already "crossed the line" & made the jump to a Garmin 60C a few years back, just prior to a WCPP trip.  Paired with the InReach Mini, the I-Phone gives me a far larger screen to view maps, pre-loaded on my phone.
2) Since I'll have my I-Phone along, I can leave my camera at home with my SPOT Messenger.
3) Wally13 spoiled my wife when he let me send her (& receive back) actual text messages from the park last year... so it's all HIS fault!

In hindsight, I crossed the one line myself, years ago, when I first opted to pick up the GPS (probably for a far north trip).  My wife pushed me across that second line after we exchanged those texts last Fall.  When I got home she looked at me as if to say, "What's the matter with you?  Wally13 keeps HIS family informed & vice versa.  Why can't you?"  Thus, my Christmas present was the InReach Mini!

So, that's my story, anyhow, and I'm sticking to it!

I can appreciate a "retro experience" akin to going back in time to experience things like Lewis & Clark. It certainly has its merits and helps us better appreciate what we do have now.  Lord knows I used to travel without any ultra-light gear and I think my only electronic device was my watch (&, later, a small, portable radio for weather reports)... very heavy & very simple but still not nearly as heavy & simple as Lewis & Clark.  Heck, why should we stop turning the clock back at Lewis & Clark?  Maybe we should shoot for doing it the way the Spanish conquistadors (like DeSoto & his crew) did it while crossing most of North America?  We could put on heavy metal armor and have at it in the north woods.  Why stop there?  Let's go back about 80,000 years and do it the way those boys (& girls) did who came up out of Africa for the first time.  They certainly traveled & communicated in an entirely different manner.  Heck, they might still have been swinging through the trees as far as I know... though trees do get a bit sparse in Egypt & the Middle Eastern deserts.  At least up North we'd have a few more trees to swing on.

Of course there is no "right answer" to the question of what technology is appropriate to bring with us into the woods.  On the other hand, there are certainly some "legal" answers in place.  I appreciate the sentiment behind some of the rules & regulations that have been set (ie. no motors, no drones, no unauthorized airplane flyovers, no cans, no bottles, no building 'wooden furniture', etc. & so on).  These mostly address issues which could either screw up the park OR screw up the experience of those visitors expecting "wilderness."  I think park officials have mostly hit the right balance with respect to these sorts of decisions, so far.  I'm also sure new regs will become necessary downstream as tech advances threaten the status quo.

As long as they're legal, I'm certainly OK with the tech choices of others... as long as they don't intrude into my wilderness experience expectations.  Finally, as far as that symbol of modern technology - the I-Phone goes - well, if anyone ever hears me making a phone call on it in Quetico, they have my permission to bust it up with a rock (and, of course, dutifully haul it with you to be properly disposed of once you leave the park).

Of course, in another 15 or 20 years from now, this discussion may become irrelevant, as chips embedded in our brains will connect us all to the internet via satellite no matter where we are.  Hmmm... this raises yet another question: can there truly be "wilderness" if we are plugged in 24/7 to outside community?  Ugh... guess I've leave that one for my grandchildren to deal with. 

All things considered, the "Lewis & Clark" approach might be such a bad stop, after all....

Jimbo   8-)

If you REALLY want to go " Lewis & Clark", then you make it OUT on your own or you don't make it at all.

I watched that TRUE story about legendary Mt Man Hugh Glass the movie the Revenant is based on just before I went on my FUBAR trip.

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After my injury I thought about asking for help and then I thought about Hugh Glass. I was in nowhere near the pain and danger he was in and had far more resources to work with.

I take personal pride in NOT bailing when things get tough. You don't know what your really capable of until you run into some adversity.

Of course being married puts a added wrinkle into that thought process.  ;) ;D ;D

I think I'd take a mauling by a bear over one by the better half. :'( ;D ;D

solotripper wrote on Feb 19^th, 2019 at 7:07pm:

If you REALLY want to go " Lewis & Clark", then you make it OUT on your own or you don't make it at all.   Of course being married puts a added wrinkle into that thought process.  ;) ;D ;D I think I'd take a mauling by a bear over one by the better half. :'( ;D ;D

ST,

True wisdom, that last sentiment!

Also, I don't disagree with making it out on your own, IF at all possible.

Here's another consideration re: adopting certain technology up North & one I forgot to mention.  The "trouble" situation could get flipped around and the REAL issue could happen back home.  I've traveled with at least one person who had a close relative who was in precarious health.  He wanted to make himself available right away should anything happen.  It wasn't a "death bed" sort of thing but it could've gone there pretty quickly.  Fortunately, nothing happened back home and the satellite phone wasn't used for that purpose (or any other I can recall).

I happen to have a personal situation that is morphing into that sort of thing.  I hate to put the burden exclusively on my wife, back home, to have to deal with it.  Believe me, the possibility of two-way communication greatly influenced my decision to go with the I-Phone/Inreach Mini pairing.  I want to get home in a hurry if something happens.

Not sure what I would have done in "the old days" (pre-SPOTS, pre-satellite phones, etc.).  Didn't really have that situation going on then so I didn't really think about it.  The ONE time my wife got worried about something happening at home while I was away, she contacted my outfitter.  That happened to be your buddy, Dave, by the way.  Dave offered to help but, as it turned out, his help wasn't needed because I popped up shortly afterward & got home right away.  That was twenty plus years ago.

With health situations back home looming in the background, it's difficult NOT to adopt certain sensible technical applications.  Heck, it's tech that makes it possible for me to go into the park under those circumstances.  On the other hand, I fully understand how that tech might undermine the "wilderness" most of us are looking for, especially when it is abused &/or over-used. 

I'm not saying my choice is the right answer for everybody.  I guess I'm saying it's the right answer for ME during this particular chapter of my life (& in the lives of certain others who share it).

Jimbo   8-)

Tom T, Solus,

Not at all trying to stir a debate, but I found long ago if I do not put in my 2 cents worth I tend to choke on it.

I love my maps and compass as well, sometimes taking a vintage Fisher map with the old krinkly paper, if I am traveling back over a route from 20 years prior.

Not being at ease with solo travel yet, I do take a GPS as a tie breaker if I am arguing with myself for too long about where I am at the moment.  I do not grab for it at the first thought of "hey this don't look quite right", but it gives me piece of mind to have it along.

Solus, Your comment about leaving the ChrisMar stowed has me wondering if you are navigating solely from memory ?
Sometimes after I trip I can barely remember what lakes I was on, let alone travel by dead reckoning.

Last admission of guilt.  We started taking a Satellite phone several years ago due to us all getting a bit long in the tooth, with some typical age related health issue.   Now we are expected to call home to hear a regular dose of life's drama that we go North to get away from.

Kind Regards,

MossBack

I hold no judgement on other's use of GPS etc. I carry a Spot which gives me the freedom to travel without a set itinerary. No way for others to reach me but  there is also next to nothing that could occur in the real world in which my input would have any significant effect.  I've always had a knack with maps and rarely (if ever) have used a compass to locate myself. Before GPS systems like InReach etc were within reach of anyone outside of the military I noted a tendency in myself to spend too much time absorbed in my map and not enough time in the landscape and the strange ways in which the landscape and the map interacted in my head. I started relying less and less on my map- on water I previously traveled I tried to not look- on new waters I tried to pick a destination point at the greatest distance reasonable and head there before checking the map. I learned over time that my head is good at this geographical memory, that and a fair amount of time in the park means that the map stays in the pack and I work from my the arrangement in my head- which is different than a map and more a 3-d model that only becomes active as I move into it. It's been at least three  years since I've consulted a map in the course of paddling, maybe more. I trip 4-6 times a year, usually for about a week at a time. My mental model is restricted to the area within Hunter's Island and south. Leads to screw ups from time to time but that's interesting as well. Last season I opted for a final day's paddle from Robinson to Fenske and home. Consulting a map might have led me to a rational decision.

Solus, you might want to get fitted for buckskins. Maybe build a birch bark canoe while you’re at it.  8-)

Quote:

I'm not saying my choice is the right answer for everybody.  I guess I'm saying it's the right answer for ME during this particular chapter of my life (& in the lives of certain others who share it).

  I get it Jimbo, you have to do what works for you.
You live close enough now to Q, you could get out and home fairly fast.



Quote:

Now we are expected to call home to hear a regular dose of life's drama that we go North to get away from.

MB,
   You have my sympathy.  ;) ;D ;D
Your wry comment made me think of this country song. ::)

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ST,  The Bob and Tom radio show is an Indiana Legend and Rodney Carrington is a regular.  The show originates on the south side of Indianapolis, about 40 minutes from where I live.

MB    ( I Like Canoes ) Required Content

MossBack wrote on Feb 20^th, 2019 at 5:01pm:

ST,  The Bob and Tom radio show is an Indiana Legend and Rodney Carrington is a regular.  The show originates on the south side of Indianapolis, about 40 minutes from where I live. MB    ( I Like Canoes ) Required Content

I can get it up here in MI sometimes. Love their sense of humor.

Jimbo wrote on Feb 19^th, 2019 at 6:03pm:

.  Heck, why should we stop turning the clock back at Lewis & Clark?

Excellent post.  I have always found those that did make judgements on those using things like a GPS as being a bit hypocritical.  We all make judgements as how "retro" we want to be. A GPS is no more out-of-place than a carbon-fiber canoe.  Or for that matter, it is no more out of place than using waterproof maps or even paper maps enclosed in plastic bags. Yes, plastic, that recent modern tech gadget that has no place with the true wilderness tripper. ;)

There is also another aspect of this, where we all have to decide where it is appropriate to draw the line.  No matter how retro one wants the trip to be for themselves, you are tripping in the context of the rest of the world.  If some disaster happens to a tripper while in the backcountry, sooner or later the rest of the world will react to that.  Just as a person defying an evacuation order as a hurricane approaches is creating possible consequences not just for themselves but for the emergency responders, so must trippers factor in risk factors and there possible consequences on the rest of the world.

Not only might people have different attitudes toward what is appropriate, the risks are different depending on the people involved.  Given my experience, temperment, and physical abilities; trips some of you could take with reasonable safety would be a disaster waiting to happen if I took them.

azalea wrote on Feb 20^th, 2019 at 6:25pm:

A GPS is no more out-of-place than a carbon-fiber canoe.  Or for that matter, it is no more out of place than using waterproof maps or even paper maps enclosed in plastic bags. Yes, plastic, that recent modern tech gadget that has no place with the true wilderness tripper. ;) .

Exactly! True and well stated.

It would be cool if an outfitter had a Voyageur package to rent.  All the details from Food, clothes, boots, bedding, tools, canoes - everything legit from the 1700's.  Maps too. 

Does anyone know if wild game was a staple for them?  That obviously wouldn't fly for the non hunting months.  I'm sure they caught fish somehow.

It's not a bad idea and I bet there would be takers.

Quote:

Does anyone know if wild game was a staple for them?  That obviously wouldn't fly for the non hunting months.  I'm sure they caught fish somehow.

They probably wouldn't pass up fresh meat IF it ran across their path, but they didn't have the time to really hunt and fish like maybe a explorer would.

They ate this stuff:

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I wonder what the first aid kit looked like? A bottle of whiskey and.... maybe a bone saw?

TomT wrote on Feb 21^st, 2019 at 6:18pm:

I wonder what the first aid kit looked like? A bottle of whiskey and.... maybe a bone saw?

I read somewhere that IF you couldn't move on your own, they LEFT you there with your weapons and some food and your fur bundles?

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I think it's safe to say there were NO old and bold Voyageurs. You got in, made your money and got the hell out before you either died or were crippled for life.

Awe crap. My wife's old iPhone just notified me that QJ will be 20yrs old tomorrow. Uff da. How do I turn that off?

db wrote on Feb 21^st, 2019 at 9:28pm:

Awe crap. My wife's old iPhone just notified me that QJ will be 20yrs old tomorrow. Uff da. How do I turn that off?

  That's a testimony to YOU db!
You should be proud of your digital "baby".

Congratulations db......if you had not done that, we would not be doing this !

@ db.....a hammer should do the trick.  ;)

pd

db wrote on Feb 21^st, 2019 at 9:28pm:

Awe crap. My wife's old iPhone just notified me that QJ will be 20yrs old tomorrow. Uff da. How do I turn that off?

Interesting.  Likewise, my phone reminded me that I have a "kid" with the same birthday (he's about 10 years older than your's).  Notifications like that make us make us feel a bit ancient & get us to wondering where all the time went to.  On the other hand, when I take a good look at him, I feel pretty darn good about the role I had, guiding his flight forward.  Like Kahlil Gibran says, it's like you're the bow and the kid is the arrow.  You take good aim, then let loose; from that point on, it's really up to the arrow.

I'm thinking you should feel the same way about your kid.  You gave birth to a community which, like a kid, has had its ups & downs.  For what it's worth, I come here to play almost everyday.  That fact, I'm thinking, about says it all for me. 

Thanks db!

Jimbo   8-)

Sometimes I leave the house and forget my phone. Then I remember we use to do it all the time. Feels bold and dangerous.
;D :D ;)

Seriously some good info. Combines some devices into new easier to use modes.

I took my phone in for my last trip. It worked great for the camera and notes. I use Onx Hunt everyday for work and if you plan on keeping the screen open or doing any amount of tracking for your trip it will suck the life right out of your phone. A charger probably won't keep up!