Colorado Rivers Google Map Collaboration

[tellutwurp]

There have been a couple of threads about mapping the rivers. We have a pretty good community here and figure we could pitch in and create a map detailing the runs and their put in and put outs.

The advantages:
Easy directions to put in and take out.
You can get a street view of these locations.
Distance of the run.
Weather overlays.

I started a google map and opened it up for collaboration. I will not remove valid stuff, but will remove anything that is not centered around kayaking. that would include rivers, rapids, parking, put in or take out, camping, food, etc.

On the rivers, please trace them fairly accurately so distances are more accurate.

Also, we should standardize the push pins for things. Green push pin for put in, red for take out. There are some others for things like food etc.

Anyway, attached are some screen shots. Please join in and get a great resource out there for us all.

Collaboration site: http://lh3.ggpht.com/tellutwurp/SEhGA5EDOrI/AAAAAAAAA1U/rrsgVaapKj8/untitled.JPG?imgmax=800

[goldcamp]

Nice Job, Now all you slackers faking work and spending half the day on the buzz get to work mapping your favorite runs. This will be a pretty sweet tool for planning trips/ getting estimated shuttle times and that sort of thing.

[afox]

tellutwurp,

Nice work, google maps is very cool. Have you already seen the google maps run info on American Whitewater? Here is a link to the AW site for Upper Mish on the Poudre (click on the map tab on the top of the page):
American Whitewater - NWRI - Cache La Poudre 6. Steven's Gulch Access to Mishawaka Inn

They already have the putin and takeout points in google maps and have the option to display the USGS Topo Maps which I think is very helpful when planning runs. They do not show the river line data but that is represented in the USGS Topo layer or the standard google map layer.

I like what you've done but think it would be better to spend the effort improving the AW google maps site than creating something entirely new. I think the following improvements to the AW maps would be nice:
-show the river line data for the run (this is easy to do by converting the GIS data to xml).
-show alternate putins, campgrounds, major river features, etc as points as you do on your google map
-Have a link to display that data the data in google earth

The whitewater community benefits tremendously by having more members join AW and more visits to their site might mean more boaters join AW. Just look at the awesome work they did negotiating over access to Cheeseman over the past few years. Ive been working in the GIS mapping field for a number of years and would be willing to help out, PM me...

[tellutwurp]

I had never seen that before, very similar. I can't seem to edit it and the put in that I saw were half way up the mountain side. I would prefer the exact location as I would have to slide halfway down the mountain at the mish according to AW.

I think with the open collaboration we could get almost everything mapped and no one 'owns' it. People can make revisions and add anything they want including pictures of rapids, notes, weather, alternate put ins, hazards, portages, side hikes, parking, camping, ass hole landowners, etc.

I will also be looking at ways to get the flows on it.

The thing about the river line data is it provides the object that we could eventually attach run description, flows, and by the nature of it we already have better estimates of distance.

You can add the topos and such to this map as well.

[Seadog]

This is great. I was using this Virtual Earth website (IDV Solutions Silverlight & Virtual Earth Demo) to create a KML and then imported it into your map.