View Full Version : Getting lost
Just pondering a particular point- just how easy or hard is it to get lost while hiking the AT? With the regular placement of the white blazes, is a map and compass, GPS or other device really necessary? I do realize you may want the maps for the location of places in the area. I would deem a guidebook an absolute for locating services in town, shelters, etc., but is it that easy to get lost provided you don't wander off the beaten path a lot? Just food for thought.
Most of the time you would be fine with a good guidebook. The unexpected is where a map can become necessary(snow, injury, lightening).
Some people are very verbal and prefer worded directions for stuff like mountains, crossing trails, water sources, distances, and towns. Some are more visual and like to know what is around them and the topograghy. Profiles used to just be on maps but are now in some guidebooks.
BlazeWalker
11-01-2009, 23:13
I would say no. It may be possible to get turned around on the trail, but lost...probably not. Now up in ME it may be a different story but most of the trail I think would be pretty hard to get lost. Maps and guidebook are always a good thing to carry though. I am one of those guys who wants to know where he is every step of the way!
Jack Tarlin
11-01-2009, 23:53
In Maine, as well as elsewhere, it is indeed a different story.
Nobody ever plans or intends on getting lost.
But it happens every year.
Bring a map and know how to use it. It's batteries won't fade; there won't be places where it won't work; it'll be fine if you drop it in a river.
Trailweaver
11-02-2009, 00:46
The trail is well marked and there is generally someone hiking either toward you or behind you within a short time, so if you feel "lost" you can usually figure it out by asking when someone comes along. The guidebooks do pretty much describe the trail in such a way that you will know where you are by trail crossings, creeks, signs, and the like. I'm not particularly good with a compass or the maps, and have found that I never have a problem following the trail with the guidebooks.
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 00:47
Bring a map and know how to use it. It's batteries won't fade; there won't be places where it won't work; it'll be fine if you drop it in a river.
But a map doesn't have that nice you-are-here function.
FTR, I'd bring a map instead of a GPS for the AT.
garlic08
11-02-2009, 10:11
I'm one of the foolhardy hikers who did not use (or mooch) maps on an AT thru hike. I felt comfortable with it and never got off trail. You're right about a guidebook--that was very good for showing services and for planning, and I carried a free AAA roadmap for each state to show roads and possible bail-out points.
Without an AT map, you do need to pay extra attention to blazes and road crossings and look a little harder for shelter roofs. But no worries about maps in maildrops, save a couple hundred dollars, and less weight. For me, it was worth it. If you don't feel comfortable traveling without a map, it's not for you.
There were a few places I got a little confused and blazes weren't visible; once descending to Pinkham Notch from Mt Washington where the USNF apparently decided to "de-blaze" and use trail junction signs instead, which is about like every other trail in the country, and a couple of times at road crossings where the trail was offset with no indication of which way to go. That took a 100-yard walk in each direction. Easier than digging out a map, especially in the rain.
Wise Old Owl
11-02-2009, 10:18
I have now met several folk that were on the AT without a map and with some discussion they have all at some point missed a blaze and gone down a fire trail or were confused which direction they were headed. One told me she left Port Clinton yesterday and she was less than a couple of miles from town. I have also met a guy who didn't use the maps but lived by the book and distances between shelters to measure his progress.
I carried a free AAA roadmap for each state to show roads and possible bail-out points.
So in reality you did carry maps. Plus you have been off concrete in the past ten years.
But a map doesn't have that nice you-are-here function.Hate to break it to ya, but it does. You just have to be proficient with said map and a compass in order to be able to determine it.
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 10:43
Compared to some other trails I think it's rather difficult to get lost on the AT. I did get off-trail a couple of times, usually while nighthiking, ending up on old forest roads or dry creekbeds. The lack of blazes made me realize I was off-trail, and I just backtracked.
That said, I always carried maps. If you decide not to carry them you need to resign yourself to never using maps. People who constantly ask to see maps carried by others are incredibly annoying.
I think that the A.T was the easiest trail to follow that I've ever hiked (aside from a coastal trail where if you can't see the sea, you've gone wrong). Having said that, a map is great to pore over at camp, or during a break. As has been mentioned, it's also good for looking at emergency bail out points, which i have definitely used during bad weather. Also, some of the blue blazed side trails along the A.T are sometimes more beautiful than the white blazed corridor itself. One of my favorite few miles of the A.T was a blue blaze in NC that followed a creek bed for several mils before rejoining the A.T.
I would say that carrying a map on the A.T is not necessary due to trail ease and high hiker traffic, but it sure is a nice thing to have. I also definitely used my map and compass on the PCT. I would imagine that the CDT makes the AT look like the strip in Gatlinburg.
This map/no map debate could, and will go on forever no doubt.
Cheers
bulldog49
11-02-2009, 11:32
Anyone getting lost on the AT has no business being there. :rolleyes:
Garlic is correct. Maps are unnecessary on the AT. The most likely places to get confused are road crossings, and I doubt that many maps have the scale to show you where the trail is within 50 ft. Just be observant - watch for blazes, well-worn paths, and pay special attention at road crossings. I really doubt most map folks are going to have their map and compass in hand all the time anyway. I bet they'll walk around, backtrack, search for a blaze, etc. for a good while before they take off the pack, pull out the map, and try to figure it out. Profiles are also a waste of weight. They're notoriously misleading, and so what if it's steep or not? You gotta climb up and down regardless.
The PCT and CDT are a different story, apparently.
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 11:55
Hate to break it to ya, but it does. You just have to be proficient with said map and a compass in order to be able to determine it.
Yeah, tell me that when it's foggy. Tell me that when I'm buried in the woods with no discernable landmarks.
On most trips I carry both. The you-are-hear function solves the problems I mentioned in the first paragraph.
peakbagger
11-02-2009, 12:56
In the whites if you happen to have a cloudy windy day up above treeline, maps can be real important mostly to confirm that you are still on the AT as the blazes are not neccesarily white and with wind and no visibility its real easy to get turned around, usually by under or over estimating the distance you have traveled. Also the map is essential as some of the potential side trails you intersect are not very suitable for bail out routes and the only way you would know that would be to have a map.
Just pondering a particular point- just how easy or hard is it to get lost while hiking the AT? With the regular placement of the white blazes, .....
Therein lies the problem.
You'll get real familiar with the trail clubs that have miserable leadership, don't monitor their sections of the trail regularly, and would rather spend their donation money on BBQ dinners instead of a couple cans of white paint and brushes. (Rant over)
sheepdog
11-02-2009, 13:17
Depends on conditions. I was in Georgia in November, leaves where all over the trail it was raining and I was walking in a cloud. It was hard to stay on the trail for two days strait. Walking after dark was impossible.
leeki pole
11-02-2009, 13:31
On a trail, any trail, anyone who doesn't know how to use a map and a compass and carry them is foolish. Thus endeth thy rant.
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 13:41
On a trail, any trail, anyone who doesn't know how to use a map and a compass and carry them is foolish. Thus endeth thy rant.
I've never learned how to use a map/compass with near zero visibility.
Is there a course one can go to to learn this trick?
Slo-go'en
11-02-2009, 13:44
I've lost the trail a few times. Usually where there is a poorly marked turn and the obvious path goes the wrong way. The worst is when your following an nice woods road and the trail turns off at some point, but you don't see the turn.
If I realise I haven't seen a blaze for a while, I'll turn around and go back until I find one. Then I'll have to look around to find out where I went wrong.
Wrangler88
11-02-2009, 14:13
I wouldn't call it being lost ...
But I kept losing the trail when I was in Maine this summer. Mostly because the trail was a swamp. Once I got to the really big pools of water and there was absolutely no way to tell where it went, it was hard to find some of the blazes. I spent twenty minutes or so at one point trying to figure out where the trail went. I eventually found it and on I went.
I took maps. The only time I used them was when I did a road walk around a flooded river. And even then, the road I needed to follow wasn't on the AT map.
In the instance of me losing the trail in the swamp that was Maine, the small section I got confused on was too small to be decifered on the map. I can see if you get really off trail and really lost. But as far as getting off by just a little, they didn't help me at all.
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 14:27
Yeah, tell me that when it's foggy. Tell me that when I'm buried in the woods with no discernable landmarks.
On most trips I carry both. The you-are-hear function solves the problems I mentioned in the first paragraph.
If someone buries you in the woods you've got bigger problems than not being able to use a map and compass.
If someone buries you in the woods you've got bigger problems than not being able to use a map and compass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRtd9TFfScU
I became lost on the AT..or rather after. After hiking the AT my life lost a lot of direction. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do and where I want to go. But, that is another type of getting lost....
I've never learned how to use a map/compass with near zero visibility.
Is there a course one can go to to learn this trick?Yup. Same place I learned. The Marines. :D
Kerosene
11-02-2009, 15:33
I've found that it's pretty hard to get lost on the AT, but there are certainly times when I would like to be more confident that I'm walking in the right direction. My biggest gripe is that blazing will be pretty good for awhile, and then suddenly get very spotty for a few miles (very spotty = 1-4 blazes per mile). In most cases, you have a pretty good sense that you're on a well-maintained trail, but there are many places where there are a number of other trails in the area, and it's always nice to know you're on the right one.
I find that I don't really need a map to walk the AT, but it is indispensible in the event of an emergency. I've walked long sections without the guidebook, but there were a couple of times where it would have helped to read where the trail is supposed to go. Rather than bring the guidebook, I copy the pages I need and shrink them down to 8-pages per side of 8.5 x 11" paper.
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 15:37
Yup. Same place I learned. The Marines. :D
First, thank you for your service.
Seriously, how you gonna know where you are with map/compass when you can't see landmarks? Those conditions don't affect my GPS.
I use the combination of a good map and the you-are-here function of the GPS as my standard.
Jack Tarlin
11-02-2009, 15:50
Whenever this conversation comes up, there's always someone, or several someones, who stoutly maintain that the Trail is so well marked, and so well travelled, that maps are unnecessary.
This ignores a simple truth.
100% of thru-hikers use Trail maps during their trips.
They either use their own, or at every available opportunity, they make sure to avail themselves of somebody else's. :D
But to say that plenty of folks go the whole way without ever using or relying on them simply isn't true. They might go the whole way without every PAYING for one, but this doesn't mean they're not delighted to use one when the opportunity presents itself.
The Whiskey Tango Foxtrot factor can be done with a map and compass...if you kept track of where you are. Possible but not always easy. :O
Having said that, it is a lot easier with a GPS. :)
Heck..if the troops use a GPS, it has got be good for something.
How's that for a diplomatic answer? :sun
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 16:02
How's that for a diplomatic answer? :sun
Not your style......:D
bigmac_in
11-02-2009, 16:23
Whenever this conversation comes up, there's always someone, or several someones, who stoutly maintain that the Trail is so well marked, and so well travelled, that maps are unnecessary.
This ignores a simple truth.
100% of thru-hikers use Trail maps during their trips.
They either use their own, or at every available opportunity, they make sure to avail themselves of somebody else's. :D
But to say that plenty of folks go the whole way without ever using or relying on them simply isn't true. They might go the whole way without every PAYING for one, but this doesn't mean they're not delighted to use one when the opportunity presents itself.
Jack, God love ya, how can you say with such certainty that 100% use maps? I agree, that most do - probably close to the 100%. But I feel pretty certain there are a hardy few that do not. Of course I'm not going to say that it's a "simple truth", because it's not. Your posts lose some credibility when they appear so omnipotent.
Jump down off that horse and join the rest of us. :D
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 16:33
Jack, God love ya, how can you say with such certainty that 100% use maps? I agree, that most do - probably close to the 100%. But I feel pretty certain there are a hardy few that do not. Of course I'm not going to say that it's a "simple truth", because it's not. Your posts lose some credibility when they appear so omnipotent.
Jump down off that horse and join the rest of us. :D
I don't know a single hiker who was hiking without maps who didn't, at some point, look at someone else's map (even if only casually).
mister krabs
11-02-2009, 16:40
I don't know a single hiker who was hiking without maps who didn't, at some point, look at someone else's map (even if only casually).
'Cause maps are cool, need it or not, they're cool to look at.
bigmac_in
11-02-2009, 16:40
Just pondering a particular point- just how easy or hard is it to get lost while hiking the AT? With the regular placement of the white blazes, is a map and compass, GPS or other device really necessary? I do realize you may want the maps for the location of places in the area. I would deem a guidebook an absolute for locating services in town, shelters, etc., but is it that easy to get lost provided you don't wander off the beaten path a lot? Just food for thought.
I don't know a single hiker who was hiking without maps who didn't, at some point, look at someone else's map (even if only casually).
OK, so what? If I thru-hiked without trekking poles, but picked up a stick at some point to steady myself down one hill, does that mean I can't say I thru-hiked without poles? Why does it have to come down to such minutia? I'm out of this one - it's apparently going to turn into more WB nonsense. Oh yeah, and I posted the original question for future reference. Bah-Bye.:p
Not your style......:D
Guilty as charged.. ;)
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 17:03
'Cause maps are cool, need it or not, they're cool to look at.
I agree!
OK, so what? If I thru-hiked without trekking poles, but picked up a stick at some point to steady myself down one hill, does that mean I can't say I thru-hiked without poles? Why does it have to come down to such minutia? I'm out of this one - it's apparently going to turn into more WB nonsense. Oh yeah, and I posted the original question for future reference. Bah-Bye.:p
Bye!
It doesn't have to come down to such minutia, and you're free to say whatever you want regarding poles, I suppose. Jack wrote his opinion, you wrote yours, I wrote mine. If Jack writes, "But to say that plenty of folks go the whole way without ever using or relying on them simply isn't true," it does point out a pretty simple truth -- even if maps aren't absolutely necessary, people like looking at them. It's one of the reasons I wrote this: "If you decide not to carry them you need to resign yourself to never using maps."
But of course, people don't resign themselves to that, and presto! I'm a map sherpa.
As for this thread turning into more WB nonsense, I doubt that will happen as long as the only person to question another poster's credibility follows through on the promise to stay "out of this one."
You guys love an argument don't you :-)
I guess the original question was "are maps necessary?"
Outside of personal opinions, no they are not. Having
running hot water is also not necessary, but most folks
have it anyway. Admittedly the chances of dying due to
a lack of hot water is remote, but still...
(Maps ARE cool, and i agree with Jack about map moochers).
Cheers :-)
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 17:49
(Maps ARE cool, and i agree with Jack about map moochers).
Cheers :-)
Map Moocher: GREAT trail name.....:D
Jack Tarlin
11-02-2009, 18:28
Funny thing.....if everytime you were sitting at a shelter picnic table, if a hiker pulled out a Candy Bar and someone IMMEDIATELY said, "Hey, pal, ya mind if I had a bite offa that? or if you saw a stranger cooking a nice dinner and said "Wow, that looks great, you don't mind if I dig in, right?" Or if you pulled out a flask of a favored beverage and a complete stranger said "No doubt you intend to pass that around to all five of us, right?"
Well, in any of these scenarios, you'd look at the person requesting that you "share" and you'd be tempted them to jump off a cliff.
Fact is, when hikers elect to leave town with candy bars, tasty food, a nice scotch, etc., they are NOT expected to share this largesse with anyone they meet, and it would be considered rude in the extreme for any hiker to pretend this was otherwise, meaning it would be the height of rudeness to take for granted that the person wanted to share his stuff with you.
Yet it happens with maps all the time, i.e. daily: One CANNOT unfold a map at a shelter, campsite, hostel, wherever, without someone else going, "Hey can I borrow that for a minute?" and this is invariably someone too cheap or lazy to procure their own. They'd NEVER do this with food, drink, or anything else for fear of being seen as a cheap moochbeast.
But with maps, it happens all the time and is seen as perfectly acceptable.
Were it any other item, people would tell the moocher to eff off.
Just sayin'. :rolleyes:
Happens with the time, also. I might remember I have a watch, or not. Does get old.
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 18:40
We are now comparing eating someone's candy bar with looking at their map?????
ROFLMAO
Lone Wolf
11-02-2009, 18:44
i don't own a cell phone. never will. i just borrow other's when i need to make a call. they always have free minutes
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 18:57
We are now comparing eating someone's candy bar with looking at their map?????
ROFLMAO
I'll bet any amount of money you weren't actually on the floor.
Fact is, there are a lot of people out there who can easily justify one and not the other by saying, "well, when I use your map, you still have a map. I wouldn't expect to eat your candy bar, because then you wouldn't have one."
But that gets away from what I consider to be the essential point. We all get to choose what to carry based on what's important to us. I carry maps. For me. I choose to accept the weight penalty, because I want maps. I don't carry them so other people around me can go on and on about their 10 pound baseweight packs while still enjoying the use of things I carry. You want to look at maps? Carry maps.
My general rule is that I will loan out items I'm carrying until the borrower reaches a town where they could acquire what I'm loaning (based on my belief that people often don't realize what they might want until they're out there). After that, they're on their own.
We are now comparing eating someone's candy bar with looking at their map?????
ROFLMAO
An edible, chocolate flavored map would be quite useful.
At the end of the section you hiked, you could eat the map.
Then again..google has everything:
http://www.artcoco.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=256
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 19:01
But that gets away from what I consider to be the essential point. We all get to choose what to carry based on what's important to us.
You want to look at maps? Carry maps.
My general rule is that I will loan out items I'm carrying until the borrower reaches a town where they could acquire what I'm loaning (based on my belief that people often don't realize what they might want until they're out there). After that, they're on their own.
This is just amazing to me.
I've never thought of telling someone to "get your own watch" when they ask me "what time is it?".
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 19:05
This is just amazing to me.
I've never thought of telling someone to "get your own watch" when they ask me "what time is it?".
When someone says, "what time is it?" you don't say "get your own watch," you say "time to buy a watch."
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 19:08
When someone says, "what time is it?" you don't say "get your own watch," you say "time to buy a watch."
I don't. I politely tell them the time.
Jack Tarlin
11-02-2009, 19:13
Chin Music:
Obviously, nobody is suggesting that you don't tell a watchless guy the time.
But repeatedly using other people's gear, stuff they took the time to buy, and stuff they take the trouble to pack and carry every day.......well this is wrong.
Hikers need to be self-sufficient and be responsible for themselves. If there's a piece of gear you like to have around, to depend on, and to use frequently, well you should take the initiative to buy and carry your own.
If you see people carrying stuff every day, and it's stuff that you've discovered is beneficial and useful to the point that every time you see it being used by someone else you feel compelled to borrow it....well this is something you should probably purchase and carry on your own, rather than be dependent on other people.
To do otherwise is to be a cheap moocher and this applies to maps as it would apply to any other piece of gear.
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 19:15
I don't. I politely tell them the time.
That's cool. But if that same person asked, day after day, if they could look at your maps, use your headlamp, knife, first aid kit, guide book, duct tape, pen, spice wheel, maybe could they bum some smokes, and oh, by the way, they'd like to borrow your stove because although they've decided to go stoveless a cup of tea sure would be nice, well, I bet you'd start to come around to my point of view.
Whenever this conversation comes up, there's always someone, or several someones, who stoutly maintain that the Trail is so well marked, and so well travelled, that maps are unnecessary.
This ignores a simple truth.
100% of thru-hikers use Trail maps during their trips.
They either use their own, or at every available opportunity, they make sure to avail themselves of somebody else's. :D
But to say that plenty of folks go the whole way without ever using or relying on them simply isn't true. They might go the whole way without every PAYING for one, but this doesn't mean they're not delighted to use one when the opportunity presents itself.
I haven't carried a map on the AT yet, but since I'm not a thru hiker, I don't need too.
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 19:20
That's cool. But if that same person asked, day after day, if they could look at your maps, use your headlamp, knife, first aid kit, guide book, duct tape, pen, spice wheel, maybe could they bum some smokes, and oh, by the way, they'd like to borrow your stove because although they've decided to go stoveless a cup of tea sure would be nice, well, I bet you'd start to come around to my point of view.
And all this has WHAT to do with someone wanting to look at your map? Or asking you the time?
I'm actually shocked that some think like this.
I've looked at other folk's maps when I have one in my own pack. I never knew I was breaking some "unwritten rule"..........:rolleyes:
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 19:26
And all this has WHAT to do with someone wanting to look at your map? Or asking you the time?
I'm actually shocked that some think like this.
I've looked at other folk's maps when I have one in my own pack. I never knew I was breaking some "unwritten rule"..........:rolleyes:
I'm actually kind of shocked that other people expect me to sherpa for them.
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 19:31
I'm actually kind of shocked that other people expect me to sherpa for them.
I wish there was a way to spot the folks that took umbrage at telling someone the time or allowing them to look at their map.
Jack Tarlin
11-02-2009, 19:34
You're being deliberately argumentative.
No one has ever suggested or implied that they wouldn't tell another hiker the time if they were asked.
But people that like to rely on maps should carry their own, period, same as relying on any other gear.
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 19:46
When someone says, "what time is it?" you don't say "get your own watch," you say "time to buy a watch."
It's entirely possible that ChinMusic has never heard this joke. Either that or he's a big fan of straw men.
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 19:50
It's entirely possible that ChinMusic has never heard this joke.
That's a joke???
This whole thing about fretting over someone looking at your map has all been a joke?
I get it now. That is hilarious........
Jester2000
11-02-2009, 19:55
That's a joke???
This whole thing about fretting over someone looking at your map has all been a joke?
I get it now. That is hilarious........
You're missing the big picture. There is no Appalachian Trail. The maps are the joke. Everyone on whiteblaze is in on it -- a friend of yours from high school set the whole thing up.
ChinMusic
11-02-2009, 19:57
You're missing the big picture. There is no Appalachian Trail. The maps are the joke. Everyone on whiteblaze is in on it -- a friend of yours from high school set the whole thing up.
It's just like the Truman Show.........
garlic08
11-02-2009, 21:43
100% of thru-hikers use Trail maps during their trips.
That is incorrect, at least as of the 2008 hiking season. You may now change your statistic to 99.99%, please. I swear I never once looked at an AT map on my thru hike. I don't think I ever even saw one. I didn't hang around at shelters or hostels, and never hiked with anyone who had a map.
I think I heard somewhere that over 10,000 hikers have now claimed an AT thru hike, so I think the revised percentage is close enough.
Wise Old Owl
11-02-2009, 21:50
Jack, God love ya, how can you say with such certainty that 100% use maps? I agree, that most do - probably close to the 100%. But I feel pretty certain there are a hardy few that do not. Of course I'm not going to say that it's a "simple truth", because it's not. Your posts lose some credibility when they appear so omnipotent.
Jump down off that horse and join the rest of us. :D
If you knew him I would say it's a pony... not a horse. Somebody has to stand for something and wake folks up.
Does anyone know where I can pick up a Clydesdale?:D
When it comes to selecting a campsite, thru hikers seldom walk into the woods far enough that they loose actual site of the Trail. It makes them nervous.
As important as maps are for thru hikers, they are probably even more so for weekenders and section hikers whose leashes are a bit longer.
BTW, the annual map sale is now going on at the ATC through December 21st. Well, its not exactly a map sale (the map bundle price is the same as always). But as usual this time of year, you do get the guidebooks for practically nothing when you buy a full set of maps.
https://www.atctrailstore.org/catalog/iteminfo.cfm?itemid=69&compid=1
The Old Fhart
11-02-2009, 22:23
Jack-"No one has ever suggested or implied that they wouldn't tell another hiker the time if they were asked."I have heard some hikers on the A.T. go on and on about how they don't carry maps or watches because they want to go to the woods and live deliberately. When they invariably ask me: "Do you know the time?"; I simply answer: "Yes", and leave. ;)
GeneralLee10
11-02-2009, 22:36
I have heard some hikers on the A.T. go on and on about how they don't carry maps or watches because they want to go to the woods and live deliberately. When they invariably ask me: "Do you know the time?"; I simply answer: "Yes", and leave. ;)
Now what if .... just what if that person had a watch on and you seen it... but it did not work, you not knowing this are you going to do the same? Then a few days later your watch is broken and the same guy( has new watch) passes you will you dare to ask him the time?:-? What is funny that this post was about getting lost nothing to do with people borrowing things. WB at it's best gotta love it.:D
The Old Fhart
11-02-2009, 23:00
Sorefoot-"Now what if .... just what if that person had a watch on and you seen it... but it did not work...."Try re-reading what I actually said:
"I have heard some hikers on the A.T. go on and on about how they don't carry maps or watches...I was very specific. If you want to make up your own scenario, have at it, but answer it yourself.:)
GeneralLee10
11-02-2009, 23:32
Oopps I miss read my bad. You will be okay:) :D
LimpsAlong
11-03-2009, 15:41
I always carry a watch AND a map w/compass. But I keep them hid. Pull 'em out at night, by myself, fondling them and giggling softly swearing to never share.
Blissful
11-03-2009, 15:53
We got lost several times on the AT. My son was lost for five miles in ME, following supposed white markings on a tree down a dirt road. Its easier then you think.
Astrolabe.
No one ever uses an astrolabe anymore.
ChinMusic
11-03-2009, 16:18
Astrolabe.
No one ever uses an astrolabe anymore.
I don't think Rastro was a lab.