The "Vista" is my new hiking buddy

I had been researching and wishing for a GPS receiver for a couple of years. I just could not seem to justify spending that much money for something that is not essential. This Christmas my wife surprised me with a GPS, a Garmin etrex Vista!
The Vista comes with a nice instruction manual booklet and a data cable to connect to your computer. I popped in two fresh AA batteries and set the unit to "Demo mode" and tried out as much as I could in the house. I was amazed at it's small size, yet loaded with features.
The next day I re-read the manual and got ready to go on a hike. The Vista able to locked on my location in just a few minutes. Then I set a waypoint for home, enabled the "tracklog" and hiked a two mile plus trail out back. Hiking along and watching the trail form on the screen was awesome. I set some additional waypoints at turns and at a radio tower.
On returning home I hooked up the Vista data cable to my computer to download the waypoints and "tracklog" into my mapping program, National Geographic TOPO!. I had to try it a couple of times before it started transferring data. I then brought the points up on the TOPO! screen, played with the program settings and printed out an accurate map of the trails out back! It even had a profile view of the trails elevation. I was hooked!
I entered in some waypoints for a hike by using the "click stick", entering in the lat/long creating a route. To help carry the Vista I fastened it to the top of a trekking pole. With the Vista mounted that way, I could watch the screen very easily. Following a route the Vista shows you which direction to go and even tells you how close you are to the next waypoint.
The Vista may not be a necessity, but I know I am taking it on all my hike/bike/ski/snowshoe/canoe and kayak trips from now on.
I have also tried the Vista in a car and it worked perfectly, but the screen is a little too small to watch while driving.
So far in all kinds of weather and 10 degree temperatures I have not had any screen trouble or fogging. The Vista is small, light-weight and waterproof. Garmin has included a base map of North America with the Vista that has surprising detail. The control buttons are positive and I really like the "click stick" control. The two AA batteries seem to last about 10-12 hours and are easy to change. Operation of the Vista is easy enough to learn and a blast to use.
I do plan on adding a soft case and some handlebar mounts (a Garmin and a RAM mount). I love to plan, study and map out trips and using the Vista is a step above everything I had tried before. I will also be ordering Garmin's "MapSource USA Topo" software, so I can load topographic maps into the Vista unit.
UPDATE 1/24/02 With almost a month of use, I would like to add some additional comments:
I updated the Vista firmware from ver. 2.21 to 2.24. Downloaded from Garmin web site, no problems, went quick and without any trouble.
The alkaline battery life on some zero degree hikes has been as little as 2.5 hours. (This is with the Vista exposed on my trekking pole.) When the batteries do start to die-out you can replace them and continue on, not losing any data.
The mount to my trekking pole is with the Garmin handlebar mount, which uses and comes with a different battery cover. This cover is not snug anymore and I wonder if it still seals the Vista from moisture? I plan on emailing Garmin for some answers.
Get outside and enjoy!
UPDATE 5/26/02: STILL GREAT! I purchased Garmin MapSource US Topo, and loaded almost all of N.Y. state into the Vista. It was about 23meg and took around an hour. The Map has better detail in roads, ponds, trails and such. The Topographic elevation contour was not as detailed as I had expected, but still it's good enough. I have added "RAM mount" bicycle mounts to all my bikes and take the Vista on almost every ride. The neatest non-essential piece of equipment in my gear bag!