2016 Hema Maps Continental Divide Expedition

shane4x4

Supporting Sponsor
As some of you know I've been helping Hema Maps for the last couple of years with their North American Explorer App (http://hema.li/explorer)


Last year we planned & executed an epic 6,500 mile expedition from the Mexican border to Prudhoe Bay, AK along the Continental Divide. While we had hoped to publish the tracks & waypoints a little sooner, we've finally pulled everything together and all 5 legs of the trip are now published =)

I'm happy to answer any questions about the trip, the gear, planning, etc =)




First, the totals:
6,569 tracked miles
31 Expedition Days over 7 months
24 Land Cruiser + Trailer Washings
2 Tires. 2 Bushings. 1 Trailer Jack Wheel.


The hardware:


The 200 Series Land Cruiser was shipped from Australia to the US for the year as the expedition vehicle. We sourced an A/T Chaser Flatbed trailer thanks in large part to Scott Brady & Chris Cordes from ExPo.
The LC is fully setup and prior to this expedition ha mapped over 100,000km all around Australia - so it's more than proven that it can handle well, anything. Chris did a great write up on the LC:
http://expeditionportal.com/featured-vehicle-the-hema-maps-200-series-land-cruiser/


The main point of the expedition was to show that Hema Maps is more than just maps & apps, after exploring & mapping Australia for over 30 years…the company is ready to take on North America =)


We used two iPad Mini's + one iPhone 4 for the entire expedition, all running Hema Explorer North America (http://hema.li/explorer). Although the app runs on both iOS & Android, we chose the iPads mainly due to better cameras for documentation and easier full-device backups.





We also used various paper maps for planning and as backups. Our main go-to atlas was the Benchmark series for each US state. It provides enough detail to find some gems while not overloading with information that's not useful.


Each day we began a new track on all 3 devices, and took photos with at least two of the three while recording. We generally paused recording during extended stops, and finished & named each track at the end of the day. All the devices were synced to the Hema Explorer Cloud whenever we had good WiFi. We also did full-device backups to the iTunes Cloud whenever possible.


The Expedition:
While we know it's possible to do this expedition in one section, in order to get max exposure for both the AU and US teams, it was broken down into 5 legs. Each team completed at least one leg, so that's how it's published in the cloud (http://hema.li/cloud)


Note: You can read Rob Boegheims discussion of the expedition on The Frenchie Escapes: http://hema.li/cdrsummary


Hema Explorer CDR Expedition | New Mexico South
Rob Boegheim, Hema Maps


We were honored to work with Expedition Overland (http://xoverland.com) to film the beginning of the journey, see the finished video at: http://hema.li/cdrintro


Total days: 3 Total miles: 331


Hema Explorer CDR Expedition | New Mexico + Colorado


Chris Cordes, Expedition Portal
Sam Hayward & Rob Taylor, Hema Maps


Total Days: 7 | Total Miles: 1,196


Read about a portion of this leg on ExPo: (http://hema.li/expo36)


Hema Explorer CDR Expedition | Colorado + Wyoming + Montana South


Shane Williams (and family) TCT Magazine / Hema Maps


We covered this portion of the journey in TCT Magazine: http://tctmag.us/6dayshema


Total Days: 7 | Total Miles: 1,044


Hema Explorer CDR Expedition | Montana + Alberta + British Columbia


Rob Boegheim (and Family), Hema Maps


Total Days: 7 | Total Miles: 2,031


Hema Explorer CDR Expedition | Yukon + Alaska


South of the Arctic Circle:
Rob Boegheim (and Family), Hema Maps


North of the Arctic Circle:
Chris Cordes, Expedition Portal
George Muratidis, Hema Maps


Total Days: 7 | Total Miles: 1,967


16797487_1448766855208423_1613359242929636115_o.jpg
 
Last edited:

green73brc

Observer
So I am thinking of doing some of the New Mexico/Colorado this summer. But I need some help. Where do we see the trail difficulty or obstacles? Also it seems there are some gaps in the route. Is it just not passable in that area?
 

shane4x4

Supporting Sponsor
So I am thinking of doing some of the New Mexico/Colorado this summer. But I need some help. Where do we see the trail difficulty or obstacles? Also it seems there are some gaps in the route. Is it just not passable in that area?

Thanks for your notes. I'll look into gaps, usually that's just a piece that hasn't been published yet. Since we're mapping open, public roads - most of the route is a standard overland route. Generally overland routes are OK for full size vehicles w/o major modifications. If there is anything that's overly difficult we'll note that section in the notes section on the track. AFAIK we didn't have anything that would be rated more than 'moderate' on most scales. For specific trail information there are plenty of resources such as http://traildamage.com

Hope this helps!
 

bigskypylot

Explorer
Might have to put it back on my tablet. Have gotten so frustrated with Hema NA that I canned it. If there'd be so easy customer service and updates to a product, I mighthink take more interest in it. Right now, I'd give it a negative rating from what I've experienced so far.
 

shane4x4

Supporting Sponsor
Might have to put it back on my tablet. Have gotten so frustrated with Hema NA that I canned it. If there'd be so easy customer service and updates to a product, I mighthink take more interest in it. Right now, I'd give it a negative rating from what I've experienced so far.

You can always e-mail me directly at shane@hemamaps.com for support questions. If you open a ticket with our support system sometimes that leads to quicker answers & we can track bugs better: http://hema.li/support

I agree that updates haven't been as regular as anyone would like. Please believe me in knowing that the Hema team is dedicated to this product and nothing is abandoned by any means =)

It's going to be a great summer!
 

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