King Mountain Routes and Waypoint Info

This page has information on the Routes and Bonus LZs. as well as great information about loading GPS Coordinates into your GPS. Click on your choice to go directly to the section on this page.

 

 

 

You can print or download the list (an Adobe PDF file) by clicking on the PRINTABLE LIST links below. Print them and take them with you on your trip.

 

See the Google Earth Files section for great Google Earth Placemark Files for the 4 previously used routes, plus Many pictures of the routes.

 

If you would like to view more map and visual route information on this site, you can view them on the Sonoma Wings web site. Follow this link to the  Sonoma Wings Web Site, King Mountain Section

 

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ROUTES

Click Here For Printable List.  Of Routes, Bonus LZs and Handicaps (Adobe Reader Required)

 

Route # Distance Route Description
Route 1 166
Miles		  
King LZ to Pahsimeroi Mtns., May Airport, Salmon Airport, Dog-leg to Anaconda Montana Airport. Flight corridor 10 miles either side of route line.
 
Route 2 169
Miles		  
Sunset peak straight line north east through Dell Montana Airport continued past Three Forks Montana. Flight corridor 10 miles either side of route line to Dell Montana then increases to 15 miles either side of route line after Dell.
 
Route 3 114
Miles		  
King Mt. straight line east to Henry's Lake Airport. Flight corridor 10 miles either side of route line. Corridor restricted from Howe to "four corners" (intersection of Hwy. 22 and 28). Pilots must stay north of Hwys. 33 and 22 to avoid restricted airspace over Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.
 
Route 4 116
Miles		  
King launch, straight line SSW to Arco Airport, continue SSE to Quaking Aspen Airstrip, continue East to Atomic City, continue SE to Soda Springs airport. Flight Corridor 10 miles either side of route line to Soda Springs.
 

 

 

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BONUS LZs

Click Here For Printable List.  Of Routes, Bonus LZs and Handicaps (Adobe Reader Required)

 

Route LZ Description GPS Coordinates ° Dist. Rec
Class
 Points		 Open
Class
 Points
1 Mackay Airport N43° 54.545 W113° 36.052 18 5 0
1 Southside of Willow Creek Summit N44° 12.747  W113° 56.537 45 10 5
1 May Airport N44° 36.625  W113° 53.685 65 15 10
1 Salmon Rodeo Grounds N45° 13.812  W113° 53.890 106 15 15
1 Anaconda, Montana N46° 08.961  W112° 51.851 166 20 20
** ** ** ** ** **
2 Pass Cr. Rd. & Little Lost River Hwy N44° 08.141 W113° 14.757 25 5 0
2 Nicholia Ranch Rd T N44° 18.644  W113° 01.242 40 10 5
2 Dell, MT Airport N44° 44.144  W112° 43.199 72 15 10
2 Dillon, MT NE End of Airport N45° 15.310  W112° 33.203 109 15 15
2 Three Forks, MT Airport N45° 52.946  W111° 33.882 169 20 20
** ** ** ** ** **
3 4 Corners
(Intersection Hwys 22 & 28)		 N43° 59.278  W112° 43.879 32 5 0
3 Dubois, ID Airport N44° 09.994  W112° 13.552 60 10 5
3 Kilgore N44° 27.287  W111° 45.443 90 15 10
3 Henrys Lake Airport N44° 38.113  W111° 20.714 114 15 15
** ** ** ** ** **
4 Quaking Aspen Airstrip N43° 25.581  W113° 10.132 25 5 0
4 Atomic City N43° 26.710  W112° 46.940 34 10 5
4 Canal Bridge (Mooreland) N43° 14.100  W112° 26.360 56 15 10
4 Soda Springs N42° 38.500  W111° 34.800 116 15 15

 

 

 

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GPS Waypoints

When you arrive at King, you should have the Bonus LZ waypoints, above, stored in your GPS.

You can manually enter them, if you like, but we suggest that let your computer do the work of loading your GPS with the waypoints contained in a file.

G7toWin.exe

First, you need a program that knows how to work with GPS data. If you don't have a favorite, download and install the program G7toWin.exe.

 

Why G7toWin? Because it's MY favorite! G7toWin.exe is free. It knows about a number of different GPS devices. It can read and write a number of different file formats, including .GPX files for importing to Google Earth.

 

I use G7toWin as my primary interface to my GPS devices. When I'm at King, each night I download my tracklog from my GPS, using G7toWin. I save that tracklog off as a G7toWin file (.G7T) to insure that G7toWin will save off all the info in the tracklog. Later, I can read that file back in, then write it out to other file formats so that I can view the tracklog in Topo USA, Google Earth, SeeYou, etc.

GPS Babel

And here's my second favorite GPS utility program: GPSBabel. This is similar to G7toWin in that it knows about a number of GPS models and file formats. It isn't as full-featured as G7toWin. Instead, it's focus is the conversion of files from one format to another.

 

One advantage GPSBabel has is its ability to read a Google Earth Placemark file (KML) and upload it directly to your GPS. You can create a set of waypoints in GE, placing them into a GE placemark folder, then save that folder as a GE .kml file. GPSBabel can then upload that file directly to your GPS. Sweet. You'll want to experiment with both G7toWin and GPSBabel to see which works best in different situations.

 

GPSBabel comes in two versions:

  1. GPSBabel.exe - command line version. Run it to see the syntax it's expecting.
  2. GPSBabelGUI.exe - Graphical User Interface version. You'll want to use this one. It's interactive. You fill in fields, then click "Let's Go".

 

One note on using Google Earth for creating waypoints. The imagery in GE can be skewed, depending on where you're looking. Some places are pretty close to accurate while others can be off by quite a bit. You'll want to experiment. One way to check is to use the USGS Ortho 1 meter overlay from the 3D Solar Network Link collection (on the GE Page ). The Ortho overlays tend to be pretty close to where they should be. You can use them to check the accuracy of the GE images.

 

If you want to open the King Waypoints file with GPSBabel, open the Mapsource format file (.gdb). GPSBabel doesn't know about the G7toWin format (.g7t).

 

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What GPS to use

A word about the GPS you use. The most popular brand of GPS for hang gliding is Garmin. If you don't have a Garmin, that's OK, but if you're thinking of buying one, check out the Garmin units first.

 

Hopefully, your GPS is a newer model that can export altitude along with lat/lon when you download your tracklog to a computer. With the altitude data, your tracklog in Google Earth, for example, will be through the sky, exactly as you flew the course.

 

Warning: Do not save a tracklog in your GPS device. Let me explain. With some GPS devices, after you've recorded a track, you can save it internally, in the GPS device itself, then start a new tracklog for your next flight. DON'T DO THIS!  When the track is saved internally, the GPS will save space by stripping off the altitude and time portions of each track point. Not Nice! Instead, you'll want to download each day's active track to your computer, using a program like G7toWin, GPSBabel, or Garmin's MapSource. Then on your GPS, you can delete the day's track so you'll be ready for the next day's flight. By keeping each day's tracklog as a separate file, your work later on will be less.

 

Waypoints file, G7toWin, GPSbabel

  • King Waypoints  is the ZIP file that contains all the Waypoints formats.

    Note: the waypoint .zip file has 4 versions of the waypoints:

       .g7t: G7toWin format

       .gdb: Mapsource format

       .cup: SeeYou format

       .csv: generic comma separated format.

    If you have G7toWin installed, all you need is that format. G7toWin can write out the other formats.

  •  G7toWin website. Download the latest version.

       If the link above doesn't work, you can get version A.00.200f (11/29/07), from here:

        - G7toWin with help.

  • GPSBabel website. Download the latest version.

       If the link above doesn't work, you can get version 1.3.4 (02/16/08) (GUI ver. 0.2.8.2), from here:

        - GPSBabel.

All download files are .zip files. You'll need to unzip their contents before use. G7toWin and GPSBabel can be run directly after unzipping. No setup needs to be run.

 

 

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Maps

You should make sure that your driver's vehicle has a set of Delorme's Atlas & Gazetteers for Idaho and Montana . Spend some time with high-lighters and colored pens to add notes and other info to the maps that will help your driver.

You may want to copy some of the pages so that you can carry them with you. Once on the ground, they will be helpful when talking to your chase on the radio. It's much easier when you're both looking at the same map. Some folks buy a second gazetteer and cut out pages to carry while flying.

 

Another, more expensive, plan would be to have a mapping GPS in the chase vehicle, or even a laptop running Delorme's Topo USA software, so that the driver can find you. If you do use a laptop, be sure you've loaded up your Google Earth cache with the local terrain. Go to our GE placemarks page and get our King Mt. placemark collection.

 

Of course, you need to have your radio gear in good condition, with a properly tuned antenna (both yours and your driver's). Your radio is your primary/only link to your driver. There will be times, especially on Route 2, when you're up to 80 miles away from your driver, with mountains in between.

 

For other, web-based, maps, Follow this link to the
Sonoma Wings Web Site, King Mountain Section

 

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