The Rush Creek Wilderness Trail

The Rush Creek Wilderness Trail is possibly the world's first
computationally derived, unofficial public wilderness trail. It
traverses the backcountry of far northeastern California, extending to
near the border with Nevada. It was first "discovered" by a computer
algorithm called a "virtual hiker" that pre-explored the landscape by
"hiking" through a virtual landscape consisting of data provided by the
United States Geological Survey. The virtual hiker found a traversable
hiking path between the trailhead and the terminus, both of which were
very much arbitrarily chosen by Brett Stalbaum, the author of many
virtual hiker algorithms for C5 Corporation. The results of the virtual
hiker's exploration produce a tracklog (computer file) that can be
uploaded to a GPS device and then followed by a real hiker through the
actual landscape. There is no "trail" per se, only a rugged overland
backcountry track that can be followed with the assistance of a GPS
device. The trail provides beautiful views of the Great Basin desert
environment, plentiful wildlife viewing opportunities, and the unique
experience of comparing the wayfinding abilities of a virtual hiker to
your own wayfinding skills and intuition.

Phase 1 of the trail (From the Rush Creek Wilderness Trailhead to Rush
Creek Spring) was opened by Stalbaum December 27th and 28th of 2005.
Phase 2 (from Rush Creek Spring to the Nevada Border), will be opened
sometime during 2006.

Documentation of the project, the trail, and directions can be found here:
http://www.paintersflat.net/rush\_creek


–
Brett Stalbaum, Lecturer, PSOE
Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts Major (ICAM)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
Department of Visual Arts
9500 GILMAN DR. # 0084
La Jolla CA 92093-0084
http://www.c5corp.com
http://www.paintersflat.net