One of the reason I wanted to go hiking was because I finally replaced my GPS.

I’ve had the Oregon 550t since 2013, and it remains a workhorse. However, it’s accuracy was getting problematic. If we’re hiking a loop, our starting and ending elevations should be approximately the same.

The last loop we hiked our starting elevation was 1592 and the ending elevation was 1637. And our peak elevation was 1774 feet going out, and 1850 feet coming back. Those elevations should have been the same, not 45-76 feet different.

So after a lot of back and forth and a month of thinking about it I got a Garmin Oregon 700.

There have been a lot of improvements in the past six years, and although I liked the Orgeon 550t, I LOVE the 700.

The point of all this is what I wanted to use the new GPS.

So our first use was one of my favorite trails.

Location: Canaan Valley SP
Trail: Blackwater River Trail
Distance: 0.8 miles
Elevation: 3202-3261 (78 feet gain)

GPS was perfect, and the hike was lovely; Win win!