Need advice about hiking

[Kasandra]

Hello everybody my name is Kasandra Jones and I’m from Baltimore.
- We are going to the Appalachians with my family in 3 weeks. I have two sons Jake and Bradley and I will need to track them somehow during our expedition, what do you recommend?

[rocketsocks]

Hello everybody my name is Kasandra Jones and I’m from Baltimore.
- We are going to the Appalachians with my family in 3 weeks. I have two sons Jake and Bradley and I will need to track them somehow during our expedition, what do you recommend?

eyeballs.....

[Rain Man]

My advice is don't track them. However, let me ask how old they are and will they be hiking alone?

[PGH1NC]

Have the kids wear bright day-glow shirts?

[DownYonder]

Drones?

[Venchka]

Outfit the children with one of these EACH.
Teach them how and when to use them. In an emergency only!
https://www.walmart.com/ip/NRS-Storm...&wl13=&veh=sem
Wayne

[OCDave]

... I have two sons Jake and Bradley and I will need to track them somehow during our expedition, what do you recommend?

How do you normally keep track of them?

Do that.

[Feral Bill]

Outfit the children with one of these EACH.
Teach them how and when to use them. In an emergency only!
https://www.walmart.com/ip/NRS-Storm...&wl13=&veh=sem
Wayne

When I led trips with difficult teens we used whistles. As above, they were only for emergencies. Never needed them, but...

Also, if hiking as a group, have one adult lead and another trail behind.

[lonehiker]

You haven't given enough information for anyone to really give a good answer. Age is vital. Do you plan on intentionally separating?

[shelb]

As others have mentioned, you don't give much information about your sons.

When I took my young sons to Disney, I dressed them alike each day (yellow shirt/blue short). That made it easy for me if one came up missing - I could look at the other one! I realize it isn't so simple on the Trial.... I first took them on the trail when they were 10 and 12. I tried to match up the colors, but it didn't always work. I did demand that they stay within "calling distance" of me...we all had whistles. If they got out of my sight, I sent a whistle out. they then had to whistle back twice and stop and wait. ... maybe I was overprotective... but they were ok with it..

[jefals]

There are phone apps like Family Tracker. Check em out - they might work on the trail, I don't know. As long as the power lasts and no one gets separated from their phone...

[moldy]

When we have a young bird dog that ranges too far out we tie about 2 feet of heavy chain on it's collar to slow them down.

[Venchka]

When we have a young bird dog that ranges too far out we tie about 2 feet of heavy chain on it's collar to slow them down.

"No more phone calls, we have a winner!"
Welcome to WhiteBlaze Humor!
But seriously Kasandra, where exactly are you going? What are you planning to do?
My wife and I visited the Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks in May. We saw a bazillion families with children ranging from infants to teens. On several occasions everyone was in close proximity to ginormous wild creatures, lethal thermal features or massive waterfalls. As far as we know, none of the children harmed any of the critters or thermal features. And vice versa. The Appalachians are relatively tame by comparison.
Common sense usually works just fine.
Have a great trip!
Wayne

[gpburdelljr]

There are phone apps like Family Tracker. Check em out - they might work on the trail, I don't know. As long as the power lasts and no one gets separated from their phone...

They only work if you have a cell signal, and many places on the trail don’t.

[greentick]

I've been known to write my phone number on the inside of their tshirt hem if they weren't old enough to memorize it

Bright shirts

Engine/caboose adults

[Venchka]

They only work if you have a cell signal, and many places on the trail don’t.

Be thankful if/when you have cell service in the mountains.
I’ve lost cell service AND satellite radio in the mountains.
That’s a good thing actually.
Wayne

[jefals]

They only work if you have a cell signal, and many places on the trail don’t.

Are you sure about that? I'm thinking they likely work from satellites. ..

[Venchka]

Are you sure about that? I'm thinking they likely work from satellites. ..

A 30 second investigation turned up a few bits of information:
Everyone in the family needs a phone to participate in the family tracking plan.
The system is cell phone based, not satellite based.
As a Verizon customer I checked their service. $10/month for up to 10 users.
The effectiveness would definitely be user age dependent.
Satellite systems aren’t 100% reliable either as evidenced by our automobile based Serius radio system. We never have a problem on the plains. Steep walled canyons are another story.
SPOT or inReach devices would be better than cell phone systems in the mountains, but require a certain age operator to use the 2-way communication features.
Track your family the mountains the old fashioned analog way. Practice and training work.
Wayne

[jefals]

Wayne! Did you really need to spend 30 seconds to discover that everyone needs to have a phone in order to track them? Also, can you provide info as to what you read that says the technology is cell tower based rather than gps based? My 30 seconds of research says it's gps based. I have not used a family tracking app. however, other tracking apps I have used - Guthook, All-Trails - apps that link to GPS satellites to tell me where I'm at - do not require cell signals.
Lastly, yes - perhaps you could be in a place where the satellite can't find you - yet you still carry that SPOT gizmo of yours, don't ya bud?

[Slo-go'en]

Wayne! Did you really need to spend 30 seconds to discover that everyone needs to have a phone in order to track them? Also, can you provide info as to what you read that says the technology is cell tower based rather than gps based? My 30 seconds of research says it's gps based. I have not used a family tracking app. however, other tracking apps I have used - Guthook, All-Trails - apps that link to GPS satellites to tell me where I'm at - do not require cell signals.
Lastly, yes - perhaps you could be in a place where the satellite can't find you - yet you still carry that SPOT gizmo of yours, don't ya bud?

GPS tells you where YOU are. If you want to know where someone else in the party is, you need to connect to their phone via a cell tower to get their information back to you. The whole idea is to know where the others are relative to where you are, and for that to happen everyone needs to be connected to each other and the only practical way to do that is via cell towers. This system was probably geared for finding your kids in the Mall or playground, not out in the wilderness.