Appreciation post: I used to plan every mile in a spreadsheet, now I just follow the water

Tessa Hill · 2026-10-11T11:50:03.110983+00:00

Three summers back I mapped out my entire Colorado Trail thru hike in a 40 tab spreadsheet, complete with daily mileage, camp spots, and resupply boxes mailed to tiny towns. Last month on a 60 mile loop in the Wind River Range I threw the plan out on day two because the passes were still snowed in and my schedule fell apart anyway. Instead I just asked every hiker coming the other way where the last reliable water was and let that decide where I slept. Ended up doing 14 mile days instead of the 10 I planned and felt way better. Anyone else switch from planning every step to just going off water sources and weather?

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Appreciation post: I used to plan every mile in a spreadsheet, now I just follow the water | Backpacking Routes - Rigidtalk