The Phil-list Aug_2006: [Philmont] The "Routes" Projec

From: Steve Mountainspring <steve@roseburglaw.com>
Date: Mon Aug 21 2006 - 11:18:08 CDT

I think route numbering would be more effective if you used a system like
the US Forest Service uses (at least here in the West). The advantage is
showing the importance of the routes and creating a hierarchy.

You start by identifying arterial or cardinal routes. These get 2-digit
numbers. Since there are few arterials, you could organize these by using
1x (i.e., 11, 12, etc.) for routes that begin or are primarily in the north
section, 2x for central, 3x for south. Typically route numbers are assigned
in some systematic order, such as north to south (and as in the interstate
system, odd #s for N/S routes and even #s for E/W).

Secondary routes are those branching from cardinal routes and which are
regularly used. They get 4-digit numbers. The first 2 digits are the same
as the cardinal route they begin at or are most closely associated with.
Numbering for the secondary route system associated with a cardinal route
begins at the beginning of the cardinal route. So route 1101 would be the
first branch route that comes off the beginning of route 11. [In a sense,
the cardinal routes are "00" secondary routes, so main route 11 is also
route 1100.] You could use odd numbers for secondary routes branching left
from the cardinal route (from the view of a hiker starting at the beginning
of the cardinal route) and even #s for those to the right; you would want to
skip numbers if 2 secondary routes in a row go left with no route going
right, so that the secondary routes are generally branch off in their number
order (e.g., 1101, 1103, 1104)(no 1102 if two routes go left with no right
in between).

Tertiary routes would be seldom used, historical, or spur routes of limited
use (e.g., ancillary water site). I think they would be mostly useful for
database management. Anyway, tertiary routes in USFS system are numbered
with three digits like 001, starting from the secondary route's beginning.
The three digits follow the secondary route number, usually with a dash to
keep the numbers readable. 1101-001 is the first spur off the first branch
route off the first cardinal route. 1100-001 would be the first spur off a
cardinal route. [I think 2 digits would be sufficient for a Philmont system
unless your database is rich in historical and spur routes.]

The systematic approach outlined here may generate responses from those that
prefer not to drop a grid system down on the wilderness. I have found the
USFS road numbers useful for navigation and organization.

Also, whatever system you use, it may be a good idea to reserve (or skip)
numbers on a regular basis to allow for new routes created or old routes you
missed. Once you or somebody puts a lot of time in to organize and
e-publish this info, it will tend to get used as reference data, so some
ability to expand would be useful.

Steve Mountainspring
SM, T-111 Winston, OR
07 PSR
03, 04, 05 PTC

-----Original Message-----
From: Philmont@troop47.com [mailto:Philmont@troop47.com] On Behalf Of Troop
6 Webmaster
Sent: Monday, August 21, 2006 8:30 AM
To: Philmont List Member
Subject: [Philmont] The "Routes" Project

A second phase of the PhilSearch project involves identifying the various
routes at the ranch between camps as well as points of interest. While
there are many trails on the ranch, there are actually a small number of
actual routes used by crews independent of itinerary number.

The routes project seeks to identify each route, which is made up of
segments, which are defined to be either a camp to camp, camp to
intersection, or intersection to intersection segment. Once these segments
are identified, I will profile each (yielding distance and elevation
changes) with the end goal being the ability to choose routes within a trek
and see the impact on distance and elevation change.

The first phase of this work is actually automated and drives off the
database and logic built for PhilSearch. This phase will identify all the
segments utilized within a trek. Once all treks are processed all active
routes will be known. This I will do myself and I'll make the results
available to anyone how is interested, hopefully within the next week.

The second phase is to name or number each of the routes. This I need some
help with as most of the trails at the ranch have no names. Thus far my
creativity has been limited to adopting the interstate highway scheme - odd
numbers for north south, numbered from east to west generally by 5's and
even numbers for east west numbered south to north generally by 10s. This
I'd like some thought and feedback on. Of course, number routes can be
named just as they are in real life.

The third phase will be to marry routes with PhilSearch so that each trek
will have segments pre-assigned (just like the ranch does in the Treks book)
but also provides the capability to examine alternate routes.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments in advance.

YIS
Jim
HA ASM T6
www.troop6bsa.org?cmd=philmont
PSR '74(16) '04(4) '06(26)
IWTGBTP
www.troop6bsa.org?cmd=philsearch

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Received on Mon Aug 21 11:22:00 2006

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