PCT Offline Maps

Before hiking the PCT, I got hold of a very nice and comfortable file containing all the maps along the PCT. I got it from a friend, and I don't know how he got it, but it was very helpful indeed, especially when I used it along with BackCountry Navigator and the GPX files from Halfmile's site.
The past week, I've been fiddling around with creating a similar file myself, so I can freely post it over here, and distribute it to anyone who might want it. This post might get a bit too technical, so if you are here is just for the file,

It's in here (637Mb)

(Download on your home computer, or via Wi-Fi) Here's how to use the file as a map source in BackCountry Navigator:

1. Copy it into your Android phone, under the bcnav\atlases folder (not sure exactly on how to do it on iPhone, but I assume it can be done).

   

2. Inside BackCountry Navigator, tap on the "Layers" icon at the top

   

3. Tap on "More Map Sources..."

   

4. Tap on "Use Mobile Atlas" and select the file.

   

You will now have good quality topographical maps all along the trail, from Mexico to Canada. All you have to do now, is import the GPX files from Halfmile's site, and see the trail, side trails and waypoints, directly on the map.

---

And now, to the technical bits -
At first, I looked around the internet for the source of the file I originally had. I quickly found OpenStreetMap and OpenCycleMap as available map tile resources (though they do not freely allow bulk download of tiles). The OpenCycleMap project does show elevation lines, and would be appropriate for navigation while hiking.
I needed to go over the whole trail (a collection of lat/long coordinates), and for each such coordinate, download the appropriate map tiles, on different zoom levels (zoom level 0 is the entire world. zoom level 15 is a very well detailed map of about 4.7 meters per pixel, or 5.2 yards per pixel). Since the trail is continuous, many coordinates will appear on the same tile, so I'll only have to download tiles I haven't downloaded before.
Searching some more on the internet, I found the excellent free application Mobile Atlas Creator (MOBAC), which is doing exactly what I was looking for - it can take in data from GPX files (but not Google Earth KML/KMZ), select a map source, and pick all the needed tiles to download from the source. Then, it can create an Atlas, for different navigation applications. It already has a setting for BackCountry Navigator sqlite format, which was just what I was looking for. But if anybody here needs the offline file for a different mapping application, I will gladly help with creating it as well.
I had one major problem with using MOBAC - it did not contain the tile server source I was looking for.
Searching around some more, I ran into CalTopo, another nice site which allows different tiling servers to be displayed inside the browser. I finally found the source I was looking for, while looking around in their different options. It was ArcGIS USA Topo Maps. Success!
That was the bit where I started writing my own code, and putting up a simple application that reads a KML/KMZ file, calculates all the tiles it needs to download, and downloads it all from a selected map source. I had fun writing this app, and I think I will still improve upon it. But two days ago I realized I can just add this map source to use in MOBAC, and it deal with the entire downloading and packaging the result for me.
So yesterday and today I did just that. I let MOBAC do the heavy lifting. Another annoying thing in MOBAC is that it only lets you select tiles along a single track every time, so I downloaded the code, and changed it a bit to allow adding multiple tracks at the same time. It made making the Atlas much easier.
I kept getting a huge Atlas as a result, though. My original file was ~500Mb, and I kept getting files that were more around 4000Mb. That's quite a big difference. I kept fighting with it today, until I finally realized that MOBAC was downloading the tiles as JPG files from the tile server, and then converts them into PNG files, which increases their size (And not their quality). After realizing that, I've finally been able to create this file here, for the enjoyment of every future PCT hiker!
I will make similar files for other trails as well (AT, CDT, JMT, for start. And also the INT and some trails in Europe, but with different map sources). I will also gladly help anyone needing those files to be in different output format, for other mobile navigation apps. Don't hesitate to ask!

Solar Power

I have started looking into solar panels back around 2007, while following Craig Stanton's blog of hiking the PCT. I really liked the fact he was using a GPS to log the trail while he was hiking it, mostly because I am really into mapping. He was using an OHararp LLC GPSlogger (An older version of this) that came along with a solar panel to keep it running during the long hike.

My Geo Logger in its OtterBox case.

Before I set out to hike the Israel trail I ordered the same kind of GPS logger for myself, along with the generic solar panel. This was all in the days before smartphones, don't forget. I carried it with me while walking all the way from kibbutz Dan in the north, to Tel Lachish (Where I quit my INT hike), and photographed every trail crossing along the way, for future geo tagging of points of interest. I never did anything with the data I collected. Although I checked it out once, and the trail had sampling errors all over the place..

I later got my dad (who is an electrical technician) to fix a simple female USB connector to the solar panel, and took it with me to my hike on the GR20 in Corsica. This time I had a smartphone for the geo logging, but it stopped working on the fourth day or so. Only when I got back home I found out I managed to fry its motherboard. Oopsie. Maybe it was the improvised solar panel. Maybe it was the under clocking I'd tried applying on the phone. I don't know. After I got back home I sent the panel back to my father, for another round of checks and fixes. I noticed I couldn't get it to charge my Nexus 4 at all, and I almost gave up on the idea. But then I found a website with schematics on how to make your own smartphone solar charger. I have no idea what those schematics mean, but my father does. Another round at dad's, and I now own a solar charger that might actually work. I only received it about two weeks ago, and I haven't had any serious sunny days to try it on yet, but it does send the phone into charging mode when under sun light, so I'm optimistic. Since I do not plan on geo logging my bike this time. The charger will just have to keep the phone running occasionally to contact home, and maybe check the maps and GPS applications, if I get lost. I hope it can pull this off in between town stops. If it fails, I will probably buy the SunTactics sCharger 5 instead, since I heard a lot about it on trail forums and the Facebook group.

Getting to work by bus today, so I'll try to see if it charges my phone on the way.

Update: My test failed miserably. Even though I turned off all mobile data access during my ride to work, and did not use my phone for music or internet access, I managed to lose ~2% of battery. The panel was in the sun for most of the bus ride. I guess it is not working well...