This post was written in Danish in December 2017 and later translated into English. Only the language changed.
Now it becomes possible for you to follow my hike LIVE. On Black Friday I invested in a GPS/SOS device. One of those can send GPS coordinates, so you can see on a map where I am as I go.
The one I chose to buy was a SPOT Gen3.
It also gives me the option of contacting a rescue team if things go wrong and I am lying there with a broken leg somewhere in the middle of nowhere 🙂
It was Spot or Garmin
There was an alternative too, namely Garmin InReach Explorer+ which is really nice.
The “problem” with these GPS/SOS devices is that they need a subscription before they can actually be used for SOS as well – which is rather the whole point of buying one, since there are fantastic apps for the phone with maps of the entire trail, so a dedicated GPS is not a necessity.
That had to be taken into account too. And on that front the Garmin is more expensive as well.
I am a bit of a gear freak though 🙂 so I came very close to buying the Garmin model, but it was IMPOSSIBLE to work out whether it would work in the USA if I bought it here in Denmark (both SOS, SMS and so on)
If you buy it in Denmark you have to buy the USA map on top, since only Europe is included. That means another expense, and Garmin still have not answered my enquiry (which is over 2 months old), which is another reason I cannot be bothered to support them (SPOT replied the next day).
You can follow my hike live
I have set the GPS to send my coordinates every 30 minutes, so if you want to see where I am at any given moment. You can follow my hike LIVE here: denne side
It is not switched on yet, obviously 😉 but as soon as I set off on my trip (the hike starts 5 April 2018) the page will begin showing my ‘tracks’ on the map.
A Spot device like that is rather clever, because it can also send texts and emails to predefined numbers and addresses, so you can quickly send word that you are OK. My mother will certainly be pleased about that 😉
Beyond the map, the plan is of course still that I update my YouTube channel every day (or as often as there is coverage or a WiFi signal)
Gear: the full setup I carried on the PCT is on the PCT 2018 gear list.