How do you plan your trip?

[giantbrookie]

Never used a GPS, though. In fact, I haven't used a compass since 1992. Give me a topo and a line of sight and I'll figure out the route.

Indeed that is true for me too. As a matter of fact, I have never used a compass in all my years of off trail travel. When my dad and I first started our off trail trips back in the late 60's he carried a compass but it was such a poor one that the only time we ever placed any faith in its readings was when it agreed with our interpretation of position based on topography (the same was true of a pocket altimeter he once carried). Needless to say the compass was soon left behind. I will admit that having a compass would make it easier when I'm at those mid elevations surrounded by dense trees that very much limit the line of sight, but that on recent trips that has only added to the challenge--last year's Tunechuck trip (49 of 51 miles off trail) was a classic in terms of miles of off trail navigating through wooded country w/o a compass (I'm guessing a third of the off trail distance was through wooded country). As for GPS, I don't use it for recreational purposes at all, but I do apply it in the name of research, where it is a bit more critical that I can reproduce rock sample location to exceedingly high accuracy. The same is true for a compass, although the use the compass in field geology is to measure orientation of rock structures (given that any non-GPS located position is by the same line of sight and topographic criteria used for hiking).

[Buck Forester]

I have a top-end Garmin GPS (well, it was top-end a few years ago when I worked at REI, I'm sure it's a paperweight now), but I never did use it for hiking. I got it mostly for sea kayaking in case I got socked in with fog and needed to find my route back.

I backpacked once into a remote area of Yellowstone National Park, called Fairyland Basin, with a group of guys and one of them was techy and carried a GPS. The terrain we hiked through much of the way was flat and thickly forested, off-trail. He couldn't always get a signal due to the forest density, but when he did it was actually very helpful because there were zippo visual geographic points for reference. For miles and miles it was uniform, flat, dead-fall infested forest. There's only one semi-sane way to get into Fairyland, which is a very steep descent down a canyon wall, and we knew finding that point of descent would be tricky. None of us had been there before. My techy friend had downloaded the coordinates and it was pretty cool to see how far we were away at any given point, and which direction we needed to head through the forest. It was pretty handy to have the GPS in this situation.

I type too much.

[rlown]

Indeed,

Before GPS, i did map and compass. My Glen Aulin/cold mountain map was taped several times during numerous trips there (before fish removal.) With my garmin rhino 530, i can double-check rather quickly if i'm on path and refute others with me about where we really are. (i carry the rhino as it has the radio feature. on my trips we all carry radios)

I never have the gps on when hiking, unless off-trail. it's completely unreliable unless i strap it up near my head. I haven't figured out yet to meld it to my shoulder strap, without it bouncing around as i hike.

So, long story short, i use both. I preplan on Garmin Mapsource, project onto google earth as a test, replan and re-project. I bought the software, and others might be more comfortable with the topos (i was 15 years ago). With Google Earth i can actually almost walk my trip, find cliffs and avoid them, or other opportunities for a shorter off-trail, and i absolutely love it.

Russ

[TehipiteTom]

Well, that's the thing about backpacking: there's only one right way to do it, which is the way that's right for any given person. My own preference is to test and develop my routefinding abilities without the aid of newfangled gizmos.

Of course, the Sierra spoil us--the landscape is open enough and distinctive enough that people like me can get away with a no-gizmo policy. In the situation Buck describes, I agree that a GPS really would be extremely useful.

[hikerduane]

I'm glad to hear much wiser folk than I, don't use a compass either. Ya can't get too lost, the trail is thatta way, the highway is over there, so forth. Well, until a low cloud rolled in that one time.

[dave54]

Depends on the trip.

If it is local and I know the area I may not even consult a map. The big 'destination' trips I will use paper topos, on line topos, topo software, NF visitor maps, and research on line. If I can get an older map I will look at that also, as sometimes older maps will show features omitted from current editions.

After all my planning is done and I arrive, as often as not the planned route is discarded and I wing it.

[markskor]

"After all my planning is done and I arrive, as often as not the planned route is discarded and I wing it."
A plan after my own heart. I cannot tell you how many times that this same thing has happened to me too...starting out at the trailhead for a 10 day trip and finding myself two days later on a different trip/route entirely...or just sitting at some high lake for three days and foregoing the rest of the "best laid plans" so thoroughly devised months earlier. Such is backpacking.
Glad to hear that somebody else thinks the same.

[dave54]

Yeah. For the lack of better term: serendipity hiking.

Some of my current favorite 'secret spots' are idyllic treasures I accidently stumbled across on an unplanned cross-country shortcut.

[hikerduane]

Hey Dave, ever hear of a small lake N/NW of you, that is full of neon fish? On one of my weekend rambles, I was xc hiking and came across this small lake full of them.

[dave54]

Haven't heard of anything like that. Do you mean neon tetras, the tropical fish? I would think it's too cold for them.

The Caribou Wilderness has around 600 lakes. But most are too shallow and dry up in drought years.