High Sierra Topix

Nope, no back end changes in quite some time. I'll refresh the template files and see if that helps.

Somehow the www got chopped off the URL, browser thinks this is cross-site iframe and by default won't allow it (try it with www and it should work). PM sent

Thanks, Greg!

I stumbled on HST recently when looking for current information about mosquitoes - how bad and where. So I joined up and marveled at the active use of the mosquito conditions reports. But as a map fan I wondered why there wasn't any mapping of the reports on the High Sierra Map. And as a retired geek and CalTopo fan I created a sample kml file that shows a range of recent reports on CalTopo. The sample at CalTopo is at https://caltopo.com/m/GKABH.

The kml file uses links to CalTopo so it would likely require permission from CalTopo for use in the High Sierra Map. I'm game to create and maintain a custom kml file for the High Sierra Map if that would be useful. (Full disclosure, I'm new to kml but willing to learn more.)

geoB wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 3:39 pm I stumbled on HST recently when looking for current information about mosquitoes - how bad and where. So I joined up and marveled at the active use of the mosquito conditions reports. But as a map fan I wondered why there wasn't any mapping of the reports on the High Sierra Map. And as a retired geek and CalTopo fan I created a sample kml file that shows a range of recent reports on CalTopo. The sample at CalTopo is at https://caltopo.com/m/GKABH.

The kml file uses links to CalTopo so it would likely require permission from CalTopo for use in the High Sierra Map. I'm game to create and maintain a custom kml file for the High Sierra Map if that would be useful. (Full disclosure, I'm new to kml but willing to learn more.)

Welcome geoB! There are ways to place those locations onto the HST map, either directly (by inputting them onto the HST map) or indirectly (reading in KML). But this runs up against a problem we had when we first developed the map and started placing markers, paths, and regions within - that of keeping annotations up to date. We found when we tried to keep time sensitive information annotated (such as current conditions), it quickly became very difficult to maintain that information in a way that was understandable and manageable, to the point that it turned into a scenario in which there was a lot of out of date or conflicting information, leading to more questions than answers. Unfortunately no automated way to do this at the moment (always a possibility if one has the time to invest). Love it that you're volunteering to keep things up to date - for now I'd suggest keeping in CalTopo and providing links as you've already done

Hi GeoB,

Welcome to HST.

Your suggestion, GeoB, was considered during the development phase of the HST Map. However, upon careful consideration, we concluded that the prevailing circumstances exhibit significant fluctuations, even hourly, particularly on some days, owing to temperature, wind, and other environmental and topographic variables. A scenario exists where a canyon possesses a numerical value of 2, while the next canyon over possesses a value of 4. Similarly, one side of a lake can have a value of 1, while the other has a value of 4. Several dozen evaluations from various backpackers within a square mile pose a significant challenge in interpretation, diminishing the accuracy of the information for anyone intending to plan a trip based on these ratings, not to mention the challenges Copeg mentioned.

Thank you both for your comments. I thought a color-coded visual representation of text reports might be a useful addition, assuming you tried clicking on a placemark.