I Stopped Doing This

[Gambit McCrae]

I have stopped researching trail prior to hiking it and it has tremendously improved my experience on trail. Previously while completing my AT section hike from GA to ME I would gather all possible info and data about the section I was about to set out on and unfortunately it took me about 1800 miles to learn that I was ruining a lot of the fun of the hike. I would saturate my brain with every climb, camp spot, mileages, towns, weather for the wear, what the road crossings looked like...EVERYTHING!! And I was hardly ever surprised upon finding what I had researched to death prior to the trip.

Lets go ahead and disclaim an aspect of "planning". I am in no way saying I do not do the research needed to plan accordingly as far as what gear I will need and possible permits/ closures. The type of planning I am describing is "planning my fears". I have been chipping away at the Sheltowee Trace this year and have set out on the 3 trips so far knowing my start and stop locations and overall mileage for the trip - and that's pretty much it. The payoff has been a new sense of adventure and my brain staying more stimulated during the trek.

I am still a user of guthooks but have stopped downloading the photos
Planning to Prepare vs Planning out of Fear...

[nsherry61]

Wow! Well said. I completely agree. Quit over-planning and just go outside and do it.

Some of my greatest joys have been managing the unexpected, sometimes awkwardly and with a bit of fear, but always with great stories afterwards.

[Dropdeadfred]

I concur, cant believe all these apps and updated guides and yadda yadda,, jeesh people.
Reminds me of video game walk through guides that describe each and every step

[JNI64]

So you've decided to work on your OCD as a new years resolution that's awesome !!

But seriously I agree 100 % . I've done this as well and try not to, it's nice leaving some surprises.

[Seatbelt]

Reminds me of something Nimblewill Nomad said in his book about halfway thru his epic IAT trek. He quit looking at his elevation profile just so it would always be a surprise to him.
I am the same as you--probably overplan my section hikes, but I have not yet been able to shake the habit.

[Odd Man Out]

One clever bit of advice I have seen posted here a few times seems to align with this philosophy:

Write out a detailed day-by-day plan for your hike on notebook paper and then use it as firestarter on your first night.

[Dogwood]

Beats planning out every trail bar, cell ph reception dead zones, and water stop pre 2000 mile hike. Let the good times roll. Won't you let the good times roll.

[cmoulder]

I like this.

Harkens back to many trips in the winter Whites before cellphones and GPS and internet availability of the most minuscule data points. Had topo maps and compass (and the skill to use them) and a weather forecast. Rescue plan was self-extraction, or in a real SHTF situation to send somebody out to summon help.

Definitely learned a lot things that still serve us well to this day. The most important of which is knowing when it's time to turn back.

[One Half]

I like this.

Harkens back to many trips in the winter Whites before cellphones and GPS and internet availability of the most minuscule data points. Had topo maps and compass (and the skill to use them) and a weather forecast. Rescue plan was self-extraction, or in a real SHTF situation to send somebody out to summon help.

Definitely learned a lot things that still serve us well to this day. The most important of which is knowing when it's time to turn back.

While I never hiked in the winter I did do most of my hiking in the Whites until moving south. I always carried a detailed map of the area so in case I needed to bail out I could find a quicker route out than what was maybe the original plan. Like instead of going overmountain, finding a side trail that would get me down and out of the weather, or get to help, quicker. The good ole days when you would get out to the trail and the only noises you would hear were "natural" unless you were too close to a highway when you camped at night and the sound of the vehicles made it up the mountains!

Man, Gambit, I thought I was a planner! I like to start planning well in advance. In 2017/18 I "announced" my intentions to attempt a thru of the AT in 2022 here on WB! But no, I don't plan every step or research the trail to see what it looks like or try to memorize camp spots etc.

I do like/need to plan how and where I am getting to the trail and get off the trail. And I usually have a "goal" distance but I also have a backup plan for getting off the trail. So I might plan a 200 mile section for the time I have to hike but then figure out if I'm not "making the miles needed" I know I can slow down and knock off 20/30 miles from that goal and know approximately how I will get off trail in the same amount of time. For most hikes my limitation has been how long I can be out there, not necessarily how far I can get. I do plan meal drops ahead. I won't have to in the future as my husband will be mobile, working remotely, while I hike and he "follows" me up the trail. I generally like to look at the next days hiking the night before using a map and/or data/guide book to decide if I should get an early start or just take my time leaving camp. I also like to plan how much water I need to leave camp with. If I can get to the next water with 1L instead of 2L, I will usually do that. Likewise if water is scarce I might camel up in the morning and carry an extra Liter or 2 or whatever is necessary. (I can actually carry 6L)

I do like to know if there are things to see slightly off trail and may spend my winter months "highlighting" them in my data book or making notes somewhere so I don't miss them.

[Slo-go'en]

Reminds me of my first LASH hikes on the AT back in AT8 and AT9, (1988 and 1989) all I had for info was the ATC Data Book. It simply listed the mileage between shelters and roads. The town information was sparse. For example,

VA28 PEARSIBURG, VA P.O. 24134....R,G,L,M
(P.O., G,M 1m E. R,L 2m E)

Then when you got there, you wandered around looking for the R, G, L and M. I didn't carry any maps as the maps at the time were pretty much useless. I did carry a state road map for VA, mostly to mark my progress through the state. It definitely added to the adventure of discovery.

[foodbag]

Technology is a great enabler, and also a thief when it comes to stealing the mystery from things. In 1999 I went out with just a Wingfoot guidebook and somehow everything worked out. Come to think of it, everything seemed to work out in "the old days". However, I am posting this message with ease from my very first smartphone. I think I'll keep it....

[peakbagger]

I remember the debates regarding Wingfoots guides as they were far more detailed then the data book or the Philosphers Guide. He actually cut back some of his descriptions of trail magic spots as the people who were doing it were being overwhelmed.

There have been debates when the first thru hiker will die walking off a cliff while reading their cell phones detailed route instructions

Then again Avery who was editor of the first several editions of the AT guide to Maine was accused of given to much information but given that the trail mostly existed on private land subject to logging there was not a lot of choice to give a lot of detail.

[lonehiker]

A couple of the people who responded to this thread are the very same people that enable those that over plan. A bit ironic...

[Deadeye]

A couple of the people who responded to this thread are the very same people that enable those that over plan. A bit ironic...

That could apply to this entire site!

I try to keep my "planning" to using a map and being confident I have enough time and food to make it from point a to point b. Unfortunately, if somebody is going to pick you up at point b at a certain time, there is some planning necessary to be sure you're there on time.

[Dan Roper]

When it comes to backpacking the AT, I've done just about everything wrong. I don't have a cellphone/smartphone. No GPS or Guthooks. No ear buds or electronic entertainment. I use an external frame pack and a single, worn hiking stick (durable dogwood). To this point, all my trips have been in summer or autumn and in the South, where the only trail magic I've encountered was a plastic bag full of fresh garden vegetables hanging on a tree near Iron Mountain Gap in Tennessee (for trail magic, a big cucumber and a pepper are...not as exciting as a burger and cold drink). I carry a book to read (I somehow lost my copy of Alistair MacLean's Ice Station Zebra at the end of my last trip, somewhere near Bland, VA). I carry the ATC trail book and elevation profile for the section I'm hiking and love reading it prior to every trip...but, as the military says, "No plan survives contact with the enemy" (IE, a hiking plan generally goes out the window on day 1). I sure do enjoy backpacking this way and don't plan to change anything, though there are times when a phone (to arrange shuttles) and Guthooks (where's a good tent site?) would certainly be convenient. I concur with Gambit's thinking.

[soilman]

I mentioned this several years ago that it seems like some of the adventure has been been eliminated by all the detailed information available today. Forty-five years ago all we had was the Mileage Facts publication. The trail was being relocated all the time in the quest for protection you often didn't know what to expect.

[BlackCloud]

I like surprises, but I also get upset when I miss a historical point of interest or a side trail overlook b/c I didn't read the ATC guidebook for that section....

[rmitchell]

i like surprises, but i also get upset when i miss a historical point of interest or a side trail overlook b/c i didn't read the atc guidebook for that section....

^^^this^^^

[Pinnah]

Go to Google Books and search for
"Backpacker Magazine February 1991"

https://books.google.com/books?id=me...201991&f=false

Once you find that issue, look for the article "The Case for Primeval Wilderness" by Dave Foreman.

He argues that there should be some wild places that are left unmapped so that we can encounter them on their own terms.

I'm not recommending this approach necessarily, but the essay is well worth reading and considering.

[Deadeye]

He argues that there should be some wild places that are left unmapped so that we can encounter them on their own terms.

might be too late for that already, but you don't have to go far to find places that are untrailed