So I was thinking...

As it seems there are established referenced points, perhaps a file of estimated coordinates for water sources and campsites can be created using equirectangular approximation?

I'm going to experiment with some code.

Hey Tim,

There are two ways to add new things to the trail: one for things that stand on their own and another for things that are sorta like children of another thing on the trail ( they belong to e.g. a shelter or a town). With the first way, you identify its position on the trail by setting its distance from Springer Mtn. With the second way, it inherits its position on the trail and, instead, you indicate its distance from the parent feature (e.g. a hostel that is 0.5 mi from a given town).

Thanks for looking at it, Matt. I admit I only looked at a couple of sections, and didn't find any that had coordinates.

Out of curiosity (and because I don't want to experiment with your live system), when a user enters the water source (or campsite), do they add the mileage from a known landmark, and that is how it shows as a certain distance north or south from a certain point?

Hey Tim,

The KML files can include water sources and campsites - but only if they have GPS coordinates on them. I just took a look at the KMZ file for the whole trail and there were only a handful of water sources that got exported (because people usually don't do through the effort of tagging them). If you have their coordinates, feel free to add them - and they should show-up in the updated KML file.

Thanks!
-Matt

I have a related question. I'm trying to plan a ~90 mile hike along the AT. Because of our location and schedule, I want to build a plan that doesn't rely on major milestones or shelters.

I've noticed the kml files include shelters, but not specific water sources or other campsites. Even if I was able to add coordinates for water sources and campsites for the area we'll hike, would they export as part of the kml?

Hey, thanks for your interest in wikitrail.org! The site has the GPS coordinates for a lot of the spots along the trail. There are a lot missing, though, too. If you find a campsite without coordinates and you know what they are, you can add them by clicking the edit button on the top (the pencil icon) and then hit the 'edit feature' menu item.