There are a few ways to enter waypoints for portages or points of interest ahead of time. I have used the method you came up with of using a metric ruler and then estimating the UTM numbers for the easting and northing position. Since the UTM numbers are actually distance all the way down to meters for the last 3 digits it works OK.

With the advent of the Canada Topo maps on the computer it is now a lot easier. With the park map at your side and the desired lake zoomed in on the computer screen and the waypoint tool enabled it is a simple matter of moving the cursor to the desired spot and clicking. This will record the spot as a waypoint. I advise naming the waypoint to avoid future confusion with the default number that is assigned. Record all these and any other info from other sources into one file for your trip. You can use copy and paste to glean items from others files.

When complete upload the file to your GPS.

A few cautions:
Avoid the default numbers because only one of duplicate numbers will be stored in the GPS.

Garmin only reads the first 9 digits of a name, hence if there is a list that all have the same first 9 digits it will only load one of the list.

Keep separate files for different aspects and trips.

mastertangler wrote on Oct 24^th, 2010 at 5:39pm:

Nearly right.  Topo Canada (and many other products offered by Garmin) is actually DATA.  The program that manipulates the data is MapSource.  Much of the Topo Canada is LINE data ... e.g., contour lines, shore lines, etc.  So, when you add a waypoint, you are simply adding more data (in the form of a POINT rather than a line).  Other features of mapping tools (like MapSource) allow you to draw your own lines (for example), which could be anticipated routes (which I find really helpful to estimate total travel distance over a snake-like paddle through a series of lakes and portages).  The tools often label these forms as ROUTES and TRACKS. 

So ultimately, what you load to your GPS can be a combination of MAPS (from Topo Canada), WAYPOINTS, ROUTES, and TRACKS (which you can create for yourself or find elsewhere).

By lesson 42, we will talk about creating custom waypoint symbols so you can reduce the amount of clutter on your screen (you may find that the built-in waypoint symbols are a bit large for your taste).

dd

Quote:


[MT and I shared a few PM's about this topic last week.]

And by lesson 67 we might event start talking about importing/exporting/converting files between/among MapSource, Memory Maps, ArcGIS and other mapping tools ... or even making map data from data that starts out as an excel spreadsheet or database ... what fun!

Hey, I've been playing with this stuff for a while.  My first successful personal mapping project was 20+ years ago.  Back then, I could find data (DLG format from USGS, for example) for all of the US, but had some difficulty finding software to process it.  Before writing my own, I actually discovered that faculty and students at the U.S. Naval Academy had a version they would share with the public.  It struck me funny at the time that the U.S. Navy would be interested in topographical maps until I realized that the mountains in which they were most interested were under water.  It also came with a wire-frame "fly through" feature ... like driving a submarine through a submerged canyon.  (I guess this also explains why the software didn't differentiate between land and water).  Of course, my interested lay more in navigating canyons and mountain ranges in Colorado.

dd

mastertangler wrote on Oct 24^th, 2010 at 8:36pm:

That's it ... but you might want to shop around a bit.  I seems to remember paying just under $100 for mine ... but that has been several years ago.  [I just checked and Amazon has it for $99.99.]

Also, you need to go back to the Garmin web site periodically.  With some degree of regularity they make upgrades and fixes to MapSource that are free downloads.

dd

Kingfisher wrote on Oct 24^th, 2010 at 9:19pm:


SHHHH! Don't discourage them. Easy is good. My life is complicated enough.

Besides, unlike a few notable others here on QJ I actually LIKE knowing where I'm at.