Just thought I would post a list of useful iPhone apps that I will be taking with me for the Great Divide Route...

GPS Kit - packed with features, intuitive simple to use interface, cache any high resolution topo map at no cost to use when off the grid, easily download waypoints and routes (loaded the entire GDR in a few seconds - via a GPX file attached to an email).  Basically this has everything you would want in a GPS unit.
Map My Tour - I'll be using this to outline my route in real time, a great place to drop messages and pics to friends and family.  Check out the link in the upper right corner of the blog.
High Def Radar - unbelievably accurate way to track storm cells before they hit, this has saved me many time while out riding

Real Wind - an app that I usually use when sailing, displays wind speed and direction anywhere on the globe

Lightning Finder - tracks all lightning ground strikes in the US, lightning is one of those things that I don't mess around with, scary stuff.  Unbelievably accurate.  A few days ago a huge lightning bolt hit out in the middle of the lake next to our house and within a few seconds it was on the map and recorded the distance from me...0.1 miles!
Allstay Tent and Camp - maps out all nearby camping spots

Bike Shops of America - maps out all nearby bike shops
Hostels International - maps out all nearby hostels
Traumapedia - an ortho app that I have used in the ED to review techniques to manage dislocations etc
Uptodate - always useful, the go to source for anything medical, never leave home without it
Pocket universe 4 - an ingenious app to recognize and track just about anything in the night's sky
Photo gene 2 - photo editing app
Highlight cam - video editing app
Blogger - have to be able to post somehow while I'm out there riding

Just inventoried my gear for the Great Divide Route.  Have just about everything I need.  Still need to pick up a Garmin GPS with topo 24k maps to cover at least Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado.  With my track record for getting lost I think this will be indispensable.  Less than 4 weeks until I hit the trail!

Only 14 days of residency and 3 call shifts left and I sever the umbilical of this insanely long road of medical training!!!  My revelate design cockpit bags arrived yesterday and the mighty El Mariachi has already tried them on and simply put, they look tight.  Super quality hand made bags.  My counter assault bear spray and marine horn fit nicely into the mountain feed bags with plenty of room for other gear (see pic).

It's official!  Just booked my flight to Banff Canada.  Less than 6 weeks until I hit the trail and head south on 2745 miles of trail that criss cross the spine of the continental divide from Banff, Canada to the Mexican border. Crossing the divide 30 times with over 200,000 feet of vertical climbing in some of the most beautiful and remote areas in the country.

1. If the bear resumes its approach, stand your ground, keep talking calmly, and prepare to use your deterrent.
2. If the bear cannot be deterred and is intent on attack, fall to the ground as close to contact as possible and play dead.
3. If an attack is prolonged or the bear starts eating you, it is no longer being defensive.

http://www.canadianrockies.net/grizzly/staying_safe.html

Came across this on a Canadian Rockies government site. Seriously good to know when I'm being eaten alive that that the grizzly is no longer being defensive. Really!!!

Still undecided on which PLB to pickup for the GDR.  After probably way too many hours of perusing the net and reading the fine print on the various units out there it's down to either the ResQLink 406 GPS or the Spot 2 Messenger.  I found this really helpful article and thought I'd post it here.  After reading this I'm thinking that the ResQLink is the better option for not only this trip but for upcoming offshore sailing trips.

"Power and Frequency are two key areas to consider when researching a life saving device. Satellites are thousands of miles away from earth, so your beacon’s signal needs to have enough power to travel that far and be able to go through anything between you and the satellite (trees, weather, out of slot canyons, etc.).

POWER: SPOT is powered by 400 milliWatts while ACR 406 MHz PLBs and EPIRBs use 5 Watts. You would need 12.5 SPOT units to equal the POWER of one ACR PLB or EPIRB! When your signal has to travel 22,000 miles to reach a satellite, you want to make sure you have more than enough power to get it there!

FREQUENCY: The basic principles of frequency are that the lower the frequency, the easier it can penetrate buildings, trees and meteorological activity that appear between the transmitting device (PLB, EPIRB or SPOT) and the receiving device (the satellites). FM radios and TV channels work on a lower frequency which is why they can penetrate buildings and the environment pretty easily. Now think about radar which uses a really high frequency. Radar works by hitting an object and bouncing off, that’s how radar knows where to place an airplane on the radar screen. So the higher the frequency, the less likely it can penetrate things in between, the lower the frequency, the easier it can penetrate. 406 MHz PLBs and EPIRBs use a dedicated frequency set up by the search and rescue community that is in the same range as UHF TV stations. SPOT uses the 1.6GHz frequency which is four times higher in the frequency spectrum. This means SPOT’s frequency is four times less likely to go through an object or weather than the lower 406 MHz frequency.

Considering power, combined with frequency, ACR’s 406 MHz beacon stands head and shoulders above satellite messenger systems like SPOT. ACR has 12.5 times more power and is four times more likely to penetrate objects in between the beacon and the satellite than SPOT.

Redundancies: PLBs and EPIRBs have multiple ways to contact SAR in order to get you rescued. SPOT has one single transmission method. PLBs and EPIRBs can contact SAR via 406 MHz, which locates your beacon using Doppler Shift, it can contact SAR using GPS data and it also has a 121.5 MHz homing frequency so when SAR forces get a few miles away from you, they can home in directly on your beacon and find you faster. SPOT uses GPS only to send its location. If you cannot download GPS, SAR will have no idea where you are!

Coverage: EPIRBs and PLBs use the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system which contains 2 different satellite systems (LEOSAR – Low earth orbiting and GEOSAR – Geostationary). These two systems cover every inch of the planet. SPOT tracker is part of Globalstar and uses the Globalstar (Nasdaq: GSAT) satellite system which only covers a certain percentage of the earth, but has quite a few locations that are undetectable."

-  http://desertexplorer.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/the-spot-messenger-and-personal-locator-beacons/

My great divide route setup

The mighty El Mariachi is finally built up and ready to take on the GDR. Gotta send a shout out to guys at Drummond Custom Cycles. 7 weeks and counting!