Belize: 26 June 2011

By Connor Hedges

Today was the most successful day in Charley’s and my project. After a several days of struggling with finding a way to fix inaccuracies in the trails that we were mapping, we finally had a breakthrough. By using a drawing tool, we were able to “smooth” out any mistakes made by the GPS while it tried to maintain a satellite connection through the dense rainforest canopy. As we slowly fixed each trail, our map began to look a lot neater and more professional. Our map was finally taking form!!

Working side by side, Charley and I made significant strides in our project. While I was working with GIS software to finalize the La Milpa map, Charley began polishing his write-ups that described each trail and some points of interest along them. Once we were satisfied with the descriptions, they were placed into a PowerPoint slide so that we could begin formatting a trail map poster that would depict and describe the La Milpa trail system. We were eager to wrap up our project because we knew the next few days would be busy with visits to the Hillbank Field Station and the Chan Chich resort. By the end of the day our map was finished including all the trails, roads, and different buildings that make up the La Milpa campus. Along with Charley’s trail descriptions we hope that our work will help to increase the popularity of the trail system to both researchers and tourists.