Marking a GPS Waypoint

By Blake Miller

The solo hiker was ready to return to the car after a long day on the trail.  The weather was slowly degrading; it was getting cooler and overcast.  It was time to march to the car.  He pulled out the GPS, selected the “Find” feature and scanned the waypoint listing.  No waypoint.  Nothing to identify his car was shown.  Now that sinking feeling slowly crept in.  It was going to be a longer afternoon.

Marking a waypoint takes just a few button pushes.  The process ends with the saving of coordinates, elevation, date, time of entry and a name into the memory of a GPS.

My recommendations to mark a waypoint include the following steps.

Start with a quick look at the “satellite view” page.  Ensure the GPS is tracking four or more satellite signals.

Next, select the mark button.  Touch screen models will require you to go to the main menu to touch “mark waypoint.”

Follow the owner’s manuals instructions to view the waypoint and edit the data to be entered.  The Garmin Oregon has the option to “save and edit.”  A Garmin 60 model will present the view screen seen below.

I recommend giving important waypoints names.  Waypoints names such as “car” and “camp” are two examples.  The names should have meaning.  Names provide clarity.  In an emergency situation it’s best to jump right to the obvious choice rather than try to remember if waypoint 455 was the car (or was it 456?) Other waypoints can be saved using the default numbering system; this is an automatic function

 Essentially, using the rocker pad on the 60, move the yellow highlighted bar to the default number.  Now follow the owner’s manual instructions for modifying the default number to give the waypoint a name.

Editing the coordinates (UTM or Latitude/Longitude) is possible while on this page.  Rocker the yellow highlighted bar to the coordinates section.  Edit the coordinates as done naming the waypoints.  Note, on the Garmin Oregon, coordinates are select through ”waypoint attributes.”

When naming the waypoint is complete select OK on the edit dialogue screen.  Then move the yellow highlighted bar to the “OK” button at the bottom right.

The next step is to verify that the waypoint has, in fact, been saved.

There are two options.

The first option is to press the “Find” button on the Garmin 60 and then select “waypoints.” This displays all waypoints saved to memory.  If the waypoint name or number is visible you are set.  In this case, “Elk1” is displayed and in confirmed to be in GPS receiver’s memory.  See the image below.

The second option is to go to the map page, zoom in and look for the saved waypoint.

Verification ensures your data base is accurate and usable.  Had the hiker in the opening paragraph verified the waypoint for “car” before leaving the trail head his day would have been much shorter.