[ster1]

Wanted to share a wee story about my gps experiences. Got a Garmin Etrex Vista, BTW.
I was riding my xr650 off road along powerlines one afternoon on a ridge called Hardscrabble, in Colorado. I got off the main trail and found myself on a runoff, which is like a really narrow creek down the mountain. Anyway, long story short, it got dark, the runoff I was in led to a river, which I could cross but couldn't get up the other bank. I had to leave the bike there, creating a waypoint at it's location, and also used the gps to show me which direction to hike in to get to a road. It was dark by then, and I couldn't see through the trees. I got to the road, about 2 miles away form where I was, hiked a bit more (yes this whole time in MX boots), and hitched a ride to my truck. I got home at about midnight, but by first light, I was able to get back to the bike, extract it, and get back home. The point I was trying to make is I used the Garmin to leave a mark so I could find the bike, and also to get me to the nearest road. In the dark, in the wilderness, that night could have gone much differently. I'm more or less devoted to the concept of gps now. Cheers!