You could get the info that you want if you carry a laptop with resident software and an attached GPS.

That said - GPS units were designed for the military - not for BPers. If you want to navigate a ship or plane in a straight line they're great. They were never designed for trails.

What I do - enter the important way points manually. When you get to the trail head mark that point and leave the GPS on as you hike thus recording your path for trakbak. Printout a google earth photo of the area and write the coordinates of the center of each lake on the map. Be sure to use the same coordinate system on the GPS.

The hardest part is having a GPS and a map and no preset way points. Its way hard to figure out where you are on the map even with a gps, however trying the same thing with a compass and map - the GPS will get you home when lost and the compass will only tell you which way is north.

Let me ask this - can you navigate with a map and compass? GPS is easier.
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />