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Ground Truthing

While we were reporting a destinations article on Breaks Interstate Park for Get Out!, photographer Attila Horvath and I situated ourselves at the Towers Overlook above the Russell Fork, which is the whitewater run that snakes its way through the park.

As we sat at the overlook, the fog lifted like a stage curtain and it revealed a view complete with an oxbow in the river, which cuts the steep gorge. I asked Attila how deep he thought the valley was at that point. “Let’s see,” he replied, “Seneca (Rocks) is about 900 feet above the valley …”

I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. First, what’s a good point of reference? For us, Seneca Rocks, WV is a good reference point for 1,000 feet – Seneca’s South Peak is about 900 feet above the river and we are intimately familiar with the rocks, since we’ve started at the bottom, topped out, and returned to the bottom so many times.

The Russell Fork Gorge was definitely less than 1,000 feet. Here’s why I asked: As I did research on the Russell Fork Gorge before we arrived, repeated reports assessed the depth of the gorge at 1,600 feet, which it was clearly not. So what’s the deal?

Upon our return home, I went back to the web where I got the 1,600 feet number. But this time I went to usgs.gov and pulled up a topo of the Russell Fork right where it flows by Towers Overlook. The elevation of Towers Overlook is 1,600 feet. So if the river were at sea level then yes, the gorge would be 1,600 feet deep. But the river’s closer to 1,000 feet in elevation there – making the gorge closer to 600 feet deep at that spot.

What’s the take-home message here? Two things. First, as a reporter I am troubled by anyone (especially if that anyone is me) taking information from a source – in this case “source” being a random webpage – and repeating the information without fact checking it.

But more important to outdoor adventure, I have to wonder how many people know the difference between 600 feet and 1,600 feet. If you regularly walk, paddle, bike, climb, rappel, swim, etc. then hopefully you’ve learned a thing or two about distance, whether vertical or horizontal.

It’s not just important for all of us to get outside. It’s important for us to pay attention while we’re there. Sometimes it’s a matter of safety (“I didn’t see the wasp nest/cliff/bear”) and sometimes it’s a matter of ground truthing.

Ground truthing is a cartography term for taking remote data – usually something like satellite data – and hitting the ground to compare that data to reality.

But think of all the applications for ground truthing. When you hear about something, see something online, read something in a magazine, you should be able to compare it to the real world and know whether the information you received is correct. But unless you get out and pay attention, you can’t do it.

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