Sutton's Green Mountains Nature Reserve mapped by Google Trekker
Nature enthusiasts will be able to hike Eastern Townships' trails virtually
The Green Mountains Nature Reserve in Sutton, Que. is one of six properties owned by the Nature Conservancy of Canada soon to appear in Google Street View.
A small team of hikers were involved in mapping the trails on Mont Sutton on Thursday.
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Staff from the Nature Conservancy used a Google Trekker — a 50-lb. backpack-mounted camera — to capture images of the region's landscape.
Making the area searchable on Google Maps is a project the NCC has been working on since last spring.
Luc Thomas, NCC's manager of digital operations, said having images of the trails online could encourage people to come visit them in person.
"It's also a great way for people that are not able to come to the location. They're very interested, but they just can't make it, so this way, they can virtually visit the properties," he said.
A solitary hike
Julien Poisson, the Green Mountains Nature Reserve's project manager, had the job of carrying the camera on a solo hike through the woods.
The camera has 15 lenses and snaps multiple images at 360 degrees, so no one could walk beside him, to avoid having a person show up in the shot.
"They chose me because I have the biggest shoulders," he said.
Thomas said the trails will be trekkable on Google Maps within two or three months.