Itinierary

[rickb]

Responsible folks suggest that backpackers always leave an itinerary with people at home, just in case something goes wrong.

[max patch]

Responsible folks suggest that backpackers always leave an itinerary with people at home, just in case something goes wrong.

Thats great advice; some day I may even follow it.

[Lone Wolf]

Someday soon cellphones will work 100% of the time. Then you won't need no stinkin itinerary. :cool:

[gravityman]

We need a third option - I should, but I never do.

Gravity Man

[chris]

The only time I leave an itinerary behind is when I'm going on a dangerous or remote trip. For things like the AT or the PCT, it really is impossible to say where I'll be or when, so an itinerary doesn't make much sense. With shorter trips in the Smokys, I can handle whatever will come up, and there are lots of people around anyhow. With foreign travel, I tend to leave a rough idea of where I'll be going and when, but nothing set in stone. To be completely honest, if something came up in, say, Syria, I would have to deal with it long before any help from home arrived.

[hungryhowie]

My mother usually requests that we leave an itenerary with her. I usually comply, even if it's a phone call from near the trail head saying, "Hey, sorry I forgot, we're starting in a few minutes at _____ and we're hiking to ______. It's about __ miles and we should be finished at some point on ___day."

If it's a long trip, it's basically the same thing, but instead of saying finished, I'd say that our next resupply and chance to call you will be in _ - _ days from now in ______. That's about __ miles from here.


Perhaps not a detailed itenerary, but a general overview.

When I thruhiked, I left a more detailed schedule with her so she'd know when to mail out my maildrops. I kept her up to date on my progress as I reached a town, and we'd revise the schedule so she wouldn't be mailing things out too early or too late. "Ok, you're in Glencliff, NH, but the schedule says that you should be in Gorham. How far off are you?"

-Howie

[TJ aka Teej]

When I take my kids (10,11, and 14) I write out a detailed itinerary including options and pack a cell phone. When it's just me out backpacking alone I'll tell my Mrs about where I'm heading and about when I should be back.

[okpik]

Always.
I leave a generalized time of return so not to freak out those counting minutes.

I leave a copy with the spouse and one on my dashboard for the local constabulary so they hopefull don't tow me.

[bobgessner57]

Always leave some sort of rough plan. If my wife isn't with me she knows it is a rough draft and she knows my thought processl Sometimes I'll leave options because I like to work out loops using side trails. I have found that some may or may not be passable when I get there despite what the USFS office says. Some places like the Smokies the permit acts as an itinerary. Anyway the itinerary is a guideline that I do not feel driven to follow to the letter but it offers some parameters if I need to be found.

The cell phone stays in the car unless there is a family reason for checking in, like when a relative has terminal cancer and I don't want to miss the funeral.

I have never left an itinerary on the dashboard because I figured it might be an invitation to thieves. I had my clunker broken into years ago, stole my battery, all my tools, and ripped a bunch of wires loose just for meanness. Now I am wary about parking or leaving clues as to my return time on the car.

[Kerosene]

I concur with BobGessner57's comments: I figure out a detailed intinerary for my 1-2 week section hikes, but I rarely follow them to the letter and note a number of "bail out" options. I don't bother with a cell phone, especially since they don't work most of the time.

[Mini-Mosey]

I tell one or two people where I'm starting, what direction I'm going, and when I plan to be back. So far, I have only backpacked on the AT.

[Hammock Hanger]

My hubby gets a genralized overview. He knows the trail keeps to no schedule. I check in when I come into resupply. If I went past a resupply and he didn't hear from me for a long period of time he would probably get worried but so far our "loose itinerary" has worked. Sue/HH

[Jaybird]

Responsible folks suggest that backpackers always leave an itinerary with people at home, just in case something goes wrong.




when i grow up....someday....i wanna be responsible! hehehehehe ;)
i always leave an itinerary behind for my wife ("D-bird") & a friend ("TeePee") who likes to keep up with where i am on a particular day!(approximately)

[Photofanatic]

..........

[hikerjohnd]

I leave an itinerary when I go out to keep my wife happy. She knows it is a rough estimate, but if she needs to find me, it is a place to start.

Also - when I'm hiking the AT, she wants to know how to get me if there is an emergency. I told her to contact the ATC with my last known place (he called from Damascus on Saturday and was headed north) and they would be helpful. Is this good advice - anything better?

[Buckingham]

I can't plan a working itinerary for a normal day, it would be pure huberus to assume I could successfully follow one on the trail.

[jackiebolen]

I would think it's almost impossible for a thru-hiker to have an itinerary. Even the anal people that started out with one seemed to ditch it after a week or two. For shorter, weekend type hikes I'll usually tell someone where I'm going and when I plan to be back.

[Moxie00]

:) My wife and I are both long distance hikers and frequently we go solo. She did three months in New Zealand alone and I did the AT alone. A rough itinerary between phone calls is a great comfort when one of us is off on a trek. By the way we have been happily married fo 40 years but I think we would kill each other if we hiked together for more than a month.
:clap

[Seeker]

i always leave something. how detailed depends on where i'm going.

if it's local hiking, i'm at one of three sections of a national forest. i pretty much have my favorite spots to camp, and my wife has the UTM grid coordinates for them all. i just tell her which section i'm going to and that i will stay either here, there, or this other place, whatever's appropriate. if i come up missing, she knows where to send people to look.

if i'm just canoing, the guy who puts me in and pulls me out knows when i'm supposed to be done, and where. there are also camps all along the rivers around here, and help is never far away.

if i'm in the smokies, as mentioned earlier, the permit acts as an itinerary, and there's always someone around on the AT there. i just sort of wander as i need to, within reason and per campsite reservations.

if it's somewhere else i've not been, i leave pretty detailed instructions with options.

on another note, i've never had the misfortune of having a car parked at a trailhead broken into. i pretty much strip everything out of the passenger compartment and lock it in the trunk... then i leave everything inside (ash trays, storage areas, glove compartment, etc) "open", so anyone looking inside through the windows can see it's not worth breaking into, as there is nothing of value inside. don't know if it helps, but it makes me feel better.

[rickb]

I saw a copy of the AMC Journal "Appalachia" today at the bookstore. Being conservation minded (and the fact that it was $12) I read the White Mountain accident reports in the store.

Anyway, they mentioned a web site where you can leave you hiking itinerary and if you don't check back in after a certain period of time the site will automatically send out an e-mail to whomever you selected.

I forgot what the website was, but thought that to be a rather cleaver idea. Doe anyone know the site?

The more I think about it, the more I see value in that service.

[Jester2000]

I always do. Got in the habit when hiking in the desert in Arizona. On the other hand, if you ignore this most basic of safety rules, you might eventually have to cut your own arm off, which would lead to television show appearances and a book & movie deal.

So maybe that's the way to go.

[Luddite]

I always do. Got in the habit when hiking in the desert in Arizona. On the other hand, if you ignore this most basic of safety rules, you might eventually have to cut your own arm off, which would lead to television show appearances and a book & movie deal.

So maybe that's the way to go.

And a cool fake arm.