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GPS routes vs paper maps, my buddy made a solid point about battery failure
Last month a guy on the JMT told me his GPS died on day 4 and he had to backtrack 12 miles because he never carried paper. I've always been all-in on digital, but now I'm wondering if I'm one dead battery away from being that guy. Has anyone else had a close call that made you rethink your navigation setup?
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jamiegreen12d ago
I had a Garmin die on me about 8 miles from the Rafferty Creek trailhead in Yosemite back in 2019, and the only reason it wasn't a total disaster is that I had a folded topo in my hip pocket. The thing is, people hear "carry paper" and picture hauling a full set of USGS quads, but you don't need that. I print just the section I'm hiking on one sheet, or grab the relevant pages from a map book, and it weighs almost nothing. Your phone is also a backup, but treat it as the third option, not the first, because cold kills the battery fast and a dead screen is useless when your hands are numb. My rule now is two ways to navigate, and they can't both run on the same battery. Takes five minutes to set up and it saved my trip once already. Your mileage may vary depending on where you hike, but for anything remote I wouldn't skip it.
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