Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Map vs. GPS distance?

I hiked the Atwell - Hockett trail last week. The ranger at Mineral King said it was 6 miles to the first place to camp. The National Geographic map doesn't have a mileage mark at that point but the closest mark, 8.8 miles, makes the 6 mile figure look reasonable. But my GPS shows the distance as 7.9 miles, a significant difference. Which would you believe? My legs said 7.9 but it was my first b.p. of the year so they can't be trusted.

I've found that with GPS, if you keep moving at a steady pace, it gives you reasonably accurate data...

If you stop a lot, or go slower, I find that the mileage increases... this based on measuring the MR on Mt. Whitney at least 20-30 times... measurements varied from high 3's to mid-6's.

BTW, my GPS picks up the Russian satellites too.