Re: Identify some tech in the park

I hate to throw this up on the main thread and have to have to many people see it when I just need a simple answer.

Came across this hiking around in Yosemite one day and I was wondering if someone could give me more detail on what it is. Thanks guys

I'd guess that it is a counting device. Probably you came across it on the Half Dome trail.
They have had them there in the past.
I've also seen them near Crabtree on the west side of Whitney.
There was more than likely another item on the other side of the trail.

EDIT: I guess I should mention that the ones I have seen have been pretty camo'd so
as to avoid peeps vandalizing it and whatnot. So I could be completely wrong.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2011 09:21PM by bill-e-g.

ditto on the counter

The two round holes on the side are the give-a-way.
One is the transmitter, and the other is the receiver.
When someone walks past it they reflect what is being transmitted ( infrared light? ) back to the receiver, which then adds one to it's counter.

I also have seen one on the Half Dome Trail. It was on the John Muir Trail a few hundred yards from the start at the Old Gage Station. As you were heading up hill it was hiding behind a tree just a few yards off trail. It wasn't too obvious, but if you knew what you were looking for you wouldn't have had any trouble finding it as you were walking downhill/trail.
The one I saw didn't really stand out. The one in the picture you have is like a fish-out-of-water. No effort at all to hide it!!

They've put these up to know how many people are going up trail. The ruckus about the Half Dome cables means they need some data/numbers on trail usage.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2011 12:24AM by qumqats.

looks like a counting device to me as well; I've seen them hidden at glacier point along the paved path.

It is a counter. I ran across one on North Fork Lone Pine Creek (Mountaineer's route to Mt. Whitney). That one even had a screen to show the count (which at the time I saw it read 7). They work the same as game cams, might even take your picture

Quote
Vince
They work the same as game cams, might even take your picture

You probably shouldn't have mooned it then...

We saw one of these this summer above Merced Lake HSC on the trail to Washburn Lake. We also ran into two gals who were interns for the NPS camping at the ranger cabin just beyond Merced Lake. Their job was to hike up and down the trail and count human contacts at some specified time interval (I think it was like every two or four hours) . One would head back towards the HSC and the other up towards Washburn.

We saw the box after we chatted with these gals... but I think you are all are right on, its for counting people on the trail. The park service was doing a solitude study of some sort...