The technology is already out there to make it happen but do you think that it would help or hinder things if a system was rolled out?
On one hand, like good fishing spots, paddlers go to the wilderness to get away from our busy world and mainly, people. If we opened up the routes on the internet it would undoubtedly make those wilderness areas more popular and thus more crowded.Also, there is something cool about going out on a canoe trip and not knowing what you will see around the bend. Half the fun is discovering.
But on the other hand, the more people learn how beautiful it is out there, than they are more likely to appreciate it and possibility protect it for future uses.
For example, image being able to go in an paddle along the famous Nahanni River in the Northwest Territories and its spectacular Virginia Falls.I think that it could be an awesome resource for armchair paddlers everywhere. I just wouldn't want to be the guy who gets the job portaging that monster camera from lake to lake!
On a slightly different but at the same time similar note (is that possible), I just got a copy of the latest Adventure Kayak magazine in the mail. Inside I found an interview of me by Conor Mihell. We discussed a bunch of different things but it mainly centered in on the benefits of the latest version of Google Earth for initial trip planning. In the article, Conor touts me as the Google Earth expert which I am clearly not. Here is my hidden secret. I just mash some keys and click the mouse and somehow my apartment building shows up on the computer. I'm no expert, Google gets all the credit for developing a piece of software that's dead simple to use!
Photo Credits:
Google bike: Google
Virginia Falls: Flickr - Nileguide
