While Rich cruises the world in search of more amazing canyons, some of us like myself don’t have quite the amount of resources to leave the state. So virtual canyoneering is the best I have done the past 8 months. Matt Moore pointed me out to this website, an incredible resource if you want to beta/plan out your next canyoneering trip. It’s got digital aerial shots, with corresponding USGS topo map on the left as a reference. Very fun! I think I just made my laser printer pay for itself this past week.
http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/default.asp
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BobShear@twcny.rr.com
— In canyons@y…, Eugene Ahn wrote:
While Rich cruises the world in search of more amazing canyons, some of us like myself don’t have quite the amount of resources to leave the state. So virtual canyoneering is the best I have done the past 8 months. Matt Moore pointed me out to this website, an incredible resource if you want to beta/plan out your next canyoneering trip. It’s got digital aerial shots, with corresponding USGS topo map on the left as a reference. Very fun! I think I just made my laser printer pay for itself this past week.
http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/default.asp
For even more exotic virtual exploration, consider the USGS Digital Elevation Models and Digital Orthophotography quads that my brother Dick turned me on to. With these resources (and enough computing power) it’s possible to create 3D models (tilt or rotate 360 degrees) of terrain with either color photos or topo maps overlayed on them. With a digital mapping program (like Maptech), you can also cover an elevation model with a topo map that’s been annotated with a route or specific waypoints.
I’ve posted two examples in the NY Canyons Files directory, found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canyons/files/CanyonPhotos/New%20York/
One is a DEM overlayed with a color photo of Bear Swamp Creek (the site of NY.jpg), viewed north to south. The other is a topo map of the Ausable River valley in the Adirondacks, viewed east to west, on which the locations of two waterfalls have been marked with blue Xs.
If all this gets you excited, USGS has info on their website of a special DEM project using elevation measurements taken every .5 meters. Get out your virtual rope and harness, eh?
Bob Shear