There are pundits for and against GPS but I have to admit that my GPS has gone everywhere with me since I purchased it in May 2004. I either scan in maps or download them from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-Map site and use GPS Utility to plot waypoints and work out my routes before I leave home. I upload the routes to the GPS and I am away. Now don't get me wrong I also have a compass, a map of the area I'm walking in and maps on A4 sheets that I print out from the maps I have downloaded or scanned. I use the GPS to:
  1. check I am on track
  2. record the track I actually follow
I find this incredibly useful when out on the mountains particularly in the wind and the rain. When I return home I download the track log as a permanent record of my walk and to enable me to geocode my photos using RoboGeo. 

The track logs below of the Coast to Coast are the actual logs recorded during the walk. Now one of the limitations of my GPS (Garmin GPS72) is that it will only record up to 2000 track points. You can save up to 50 track logs but unfortunately this only retains the positional data and not the time date and altitude. Hence the Coast to Coast log only includes positional data. You can however download these trackpoints and convert them to a route using GPSU. Please remember that there are times where, for various reasons, the track was not recorded and two consecutive points will be joined by a straight line. These are fairly obvious. Slightly less obvious are where I went astray (see 'Errors & Alternatives' ) and these points are also included.

If you would like the track log in another format then please contact me and I will do my best to provide.
Download my track log in GPSU format (right click and select 'save target as..')

Download my track log in GPX format (right click and select 'save target as..')

Open my track in Google Earth (Zoom in to below 20miles for the track to show)

Open my track and trackpoints in Google Earth (2.9MB)

Download GPSU (trial version free - upgrade to full version $40)

Download RoboGeo. (Free demo version - full version $40)