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A little about our Projects
Details about our mapping equipment and GPS mapping methodology
Bear Creek Survey Service is a small mapping and consulting company based out of Durango, Colorado. We have worked on projects, and provided technical assistance to surveyors in many remote places around the world, including Mexico, Central America, South America, North America, Europe, Bolivia, Turkmenistan, Central Russia, Siberian Russia, and the Indian Himalayas.
Bear Creek has completed trail mapping projects for three famous western trails. In 2000, we completed the GPS mapping of the 487 miles long Colorado Trail. This project resulted in the most extraordinarily detailed and accurate trail maps ever developed of a long trail. The work was repeated in 2005 in a project that included a complete rewrite of the guidebook and databook. In 2001, we completed a similar project for the Tahoe Rim Trail (165 miles), encircling Lake Tahoe in Nevada and California. More recently, we have completed the mapping of The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail and produced map guides for all of these projects.
In 2004 we helped re-discover and map the old Silver Trail from the bottom of Copper Canyon, Mexico to the site of the original stagecoach stop at Carachic, some 140 miles distant. We returned in 2005 and hiked the trail, gathering additional gps data for the guide book.
In 2005 we hiked The Colorado Trail again and wrote a detailed description of the trail for the new 7th edition guidebook. We re-surveyed the trail at that time with a Thales MobileMapper.
In 2007 we hiked The Colorado Trail again to make a general condition survey of the trail, and to update several new reroutes completed since the last survey in 2005. Once again, a MobileMapper was used to update the maps. The Colorado Trail Map Book was developed in the following months.
Also developed in 2007 was the first ever guidebook for The Lost Silver Trail of Mexico.
In 2009 I began working for The Continental Divide Trail Alliance mapping the CDT. We mapped all of Colorado and some of New Mexico that year. In 2010 we finished mapping New Mexico and mapped 2/3 of Montana. In 2011 we finished the trail.