Paddling Eastern North Carolina segments
streams into sections. The start (put-in) and end (take-out) points of each
section are shown on the
book’s maps. These points are available online, displayed as Placemarks
on Google Earth aerial maps.
Purpose of Guidebook Placemarks
Driving
Directions – directions
and times can be automatically calculated from any location to/
from any of the put-ins or take-outs.
Map Zoom – zoom
in and out to move almost instantly from a view of the whole state to a close-up
view of a put-in or take-out.
Waypoint Navigation – find the Latitude
and Longitude coordinates of any put-in or take-out to use
in a GPS for navigating while paddling or driving.
Stream Coverage – find which portions
of streams the guidebook covers.
Road Coverage – the
guidebook shows selected roads because of space limitations. The zoomable
Google Earth
maps allow showing all roads.
Distance Measurement – use the Ruler
tool to measure distances of side trips.
Install Google Earth
Google Earth is required to use
the Placemarks. It is a free program and can be downloaded from http://earth.google.com/
Load the Placemark file
The Placemarks are in a file stored on the
guidebook’s Web site. Many computers with Google Earth are set to start
Google Earth when you click on a Placemark file. Click on the following link
to see the Placemarks: http://PocosinPress.com/PaddlingEasternNC.kmz
If the above does not work, here are two alternative ways of loading the
Placemark file. Use whichever one works best:
1. Start Google Earth
Click File then Open
Paste or type the following link into the File name box:
http://PocosinPress.com/PaddlingEasternNC.kmz
Click Open
2. Start Google Earth
Click Add then Network Link.
Paste or type the following into the Name box:
Paddling Eastern NC Placemarks
Paste or type the following into the Link box:
http://PocosinPress.com/PaddlingEasternNC.kmz
Click OK
Viewing Placemarks
Google Earth usually shows a Sidebar frame
down the left side of its window. It contains Search, Places, and Layers windows. A list of Placemarks is in the Places window.
If the Sidebar is not visible, click View then Sidebar.
Using Guidebook Placemarks
Under Places, guidebook Placemarks are organized as a set of folders, one for each river basin. Click on the + sign to the left of a basin to show all streams within the basin.
Click in the checkbox next to a stream to show all of the Placemarks for the stream.
Clicking in a checkbox
alternates between showing and hiding Placemarks.
Double Clicking on a Placemark causes the map’s aerial view
to move to the Placemark and zoom in. For the Placemark to be shown,
the checkbox next to it must be checked.
The numbers listed following stream names
are the same numbers used in the guidebook. For example, Neuse River [2]
is the put-in for Section 2 of the Neuse River. Neuse River [3] is the take-out
for Section 2 and put-in for
Section 3.
Latitude and Longitude of the cursor and date of the aerial
photography is on most photos at the bottom of the image. The date
is only displayed at certain zoom levels.
To see roads on the aerial maps, the Roads checkbox in
the Layers window
must be checked.
Quick Navigation to a Stream Access Point
It is often useful to go quickly to a specific stream put-in or take-out. As an example, to see a close-up view of the put-in for Section 2 of the Roanoke River:
In the Places window,
click on the + sign next to Roanoke Basin to expand
it.
Click the + sign
next to Roanoke River to expand it.
Click in the checkbox next to Roanoke River [2]
Double click on Roanoke River [2]
The aerial map view will zoom to the Section 2 put-in.
Comments or Questions
Email: mail@PaddlingEasternNC.com
Paddling
Eastern North Carolina
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