I just read this sad (and strange) account in the online edition about a mother and son who had set out on a camping trip to Death Valley. "She told rescuers in San Bernardino County that her son Carlos died Wednesday, days after she fixed a flat tire and continued into Death Valley, relying on directions from a GPS device in the vehicle."I'm so sorry this happened.
For what it's worth, I have a GPS. While it's good for things like finding restaurants, or even places to get my car fixed while on the road, it's really lousy for finding the best route from one city you've never been to another one. It also gets lost in downtown Seattle, where there too many signals for various electronic devices being sent out. It also can't be solely relied upon in a place like Death Valley, where you're really not sure what's on the road you're being sent down --or where it is in comparison to others in the large (and dangerous) region.
I was raised during the time when one used maps. So it's still natural for me to chart out the course on one with a highlighting marker. I note towns I'll pass along the way. I check elevations and weather conditions. I go online and double check the route, even trying to figure out how far it is between gasoline stops. Then I'll also punch it into the GPS as well. But usually, I turn it off. Sometimes the GPS wants me to do daffy things ...like turn off into Quartzite in my way to Tucson, or get me lost on highways where there's little signage between Savannah GA and Columbus GA. I have to have that "visual" of the expanse of distance locked into my brain.
It depresses me to think that there are people out there who can't or won't read a map. Who are so removed from nature that they don't understand the danger of the desert in the summer. It upsets me that what was supposed to be a 1 night trip turned into being lost for 5 days and the son slowly died.
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