Smartphones put hikers in danger. What a surprise

[CaptCaper]

I always mention the space shuttle etc..Bezo's new toy is all flown on electronics not paper and compass.

 

[ChrisB]

Well I guess that makes me not only a Luddite but also a Curmudgeon. Don't need all that who ha!

ALL RIGHT!!

I hope then you pine tar you skis, climb in Super Guides, have wooden Bearpaws with leather bindings, pack a 60/40 and fire up the Optimus 111 at dinnertime.

By the way, I still have all that stuff in my basement.

 

[Nessmuk]

i have never learned as much about navigating far off trail and landscape formations (as well as when on trails), while at the same time throuroughly enjoying the process as I do by gaining experience of going my way by map and compass only. All long before anyone could even spell GPS.

I do use a GPS as a madatory peice of equipment in just two instances:
1) as a Crew Boss during SAR incidents when precision to a very few meters is necessary and may help to save a life (or recover a body). That is the only time when such location position accuracy is necessary.
When I am standing on a mountain peak, I know where I am on the map. When I am at a trail junction or bend, I know where I am on the map. When I stand on the shore of a small pond, I know where I am on the map. That is all the geolocation precision I need to proceed on my way.
2) When canoe racing while planning and navigating a new course on a complex river (such as the Yukon) to monitor speed so that I may gain speed and distance advantage over my competition. I may even use two GPS units simultaneously showing different information displays.

On the other hand, when I am hiking for my own recreation pleasure in the wilderness, I gain no better joy and satisfaction than when I leave the GPS at home and use my vision and cranial thought processes to succeed with map and compass. Do I get occasionally confused? Sure, but I find there has been no better way to learn and improve than to make a mistake and learn from recovery. Mistakes become increasing rare with experience.

I do indeed exclusively use waxable skis (never no-wax; pine tar is difficult to find now), I do have and use wood frame bearpaws (and Alaskans) with leather bindings, and recently used my Optimus 8R on a camping trip.

 

[skiguy]

ALL RIGHT!!

I hope then you pine tar you skis, climb in Super Guides, have wooden Bearpaws with leather bindings, pack a 60/40 and fire up the Optimus 111 at dinnertime.

By the way, I still have all that stuff in my basement.

I only have one question then. Do you like SPAM?

 

[ChrisB]

I only have one question then. Do you like SPAM?

Actually a few 20 oz cans of Dinty Moore beef stew is my go-to nutrition choice.

 

[Nessmuk]

How to cook spam:
Find a couple of large non-toxic tree leaves. Maple and beech work good. Get a good bed of wood coals going from a small fire. Obtain a thin slice from the block of spam. Place said porcine morsel on a leaf, then place directly on the red hot coals, leaf side down. When the edges of the leaf char a bit, flip the sizzling reward over onto another fresh leaf. When that leaf chars, your delicioius prize is done. Some say to then throw away the slab of meat and eat the leaf, but don't ever do that. I just enjoy my hot sizzling calorie rich meal.

A can of Dinty Moore beef stew dehydrates beautifully at home (remove any globs of fat first). Package it, then rehydrate with hot water back to its original consistency and satisfying flavor when at camp.

 

[JoshandBaron]

I have Gaia on my phone but rarely use. It's more for local hikes and biking. But even they have some misinformation. Someone on ab FB group said they were doing the Sugarloaf's loop and was looking for more info. I said it's an out an back. They referenced Gaia. I no the trail in purple is there because the Sugarloaf Trail crosses it. It's a snowmobile corridor. But the one in green doesn't exist. At least not anymore. Perhaps years ago it was a snowmobile trail but was abandoned. At any rate, it's simple things like this that can get people completely lost. And I've seen the phantom trails in many other place with Gaia.

Your image just shows up as an X, but all the trails on the Gaia topo layer for the Sugarloafs are there and the mapping is accurate. The trail off the west side may not be official but it's very much in use. It's a nice loop.

 

[skiguy]

Actually a few 20 oz cans of Dinty Moore beef stew is my go-to nutrition choice.

Well then there is hope. At least we can agree to be fellow Hormelians.

 

[Mike P.]

I'd never use one, however, like most of us here, many of us would think of the Whites, ADK's and Southern New England as our backyards. If I don't go someplace new, I seldom bring a map and don't ever look at it. Our experience with these apps in NH should be carefully weighed as it's doubtful we needed the information to get to where we were needed to go, it was more likely we were wondering if it was as accurate as your memory.

 

[cragway]

Actually a few 20 oz cans of Dinty Moore beef stew is my go-to nutrition choice.

Hope your not consuming the whole can........at just under a 1,000 mg of sodium per serv. @ 2.5 servings per can...well,
you do the math

 

[Nessmuk]

While I'm sweating as much as I normally do when bushwhacking in heavy brush between ponds and climbing ridges and peaks, as I try to hydrate as much as I can, I don't worry too much about temporary higher than normal sodium intake.

 

[DougPaul]

Hope your not consuming the whole can........at just under a 1,000 mg of sodium per serv. @ 2.5 servings per can...well,
you do the math

Sodium (chloride = table salt) is the primary electrolyte in electrolyte drinks. Some salt at dinner (along with water) is often helpful in restoring one's hydration level.

Doug

 

[Peakbagr]

As a NYT subscriber, wasn't aware the link I posted had a paywall for viewers. Apologies.

 

[Rick]

Speaking of Scotland.... I was there with my family a couple of years ago. We had a large rented van and my son, a US Air Force fighter pilot was driving. I had a Garmin auto GPS, recently updated with maps of Europe. We were looking for a route from one town to the next that happened to be directly east of a village at our current location. The map showed the main highway looping north, then around to the south to our intended destination. But the GPS immediately took us to a nearby farmhouse yard, then through a gate onto an undulaitng hilly curvy farm road with the fighter pilot driving at his 'normal' speed and his mother hanging on with white knuckles. No other traffic, but it was spring lambing season with sheep, lambs, and highland cattle all watching us from the side of the road. In a few miles we made it to the destination village, through another farmer's yard and driveway on the other side. In all it was the one of the most memorable parts of our entire visit.

Similarly in Germany, we were headed from one WWII memorial to another in a somewhat remote rural location. The GPS took us through a farm gate on a dirt path through a pasture directly to the monument we wanted to visit.

Had the same thing happen visiting my cousins in near Mt Pilatus Switzerland in 2006. Garmin took straight up single farmpath mountain roads with 2,000 ft drop-offs one side and no room to pass, but only to back up to wider passing pull-offs - fortunately only came upon a farm tractor. We decided to stay on it because it was an adventure, but it was both exhilarating and terrifying at once. I then later learned to deselect "dirt roads" and "most direct route"

 

[peakbagger]

The Gaia Ap now comes up on my Android Auto options on my Toyota. It comes up with a default Gaia map that shows all the roads plus all sorts of trails and off road features. Far more interesting than a boring Google map. I wonder when the first news article comes up about someone following the Gaia Ap on their car leading to someone going really off road pops up.

Vermont has numerous roads that I have seen marked with "Your GPS is wrong, dead end or road closed in winter. The problem is that they are usually way out in the woods so that turning around means a major detour by the time the driver sees the sign, rarely are the road gated so the temptation is to keep going.

 

[JoshandBaron]

The Gaia Ap now comes up on my Android Auto options on my Toyota. It comes up with a default Gaia map that shows all the roads plus all sorts of trails and off road features. Far more interesting than a boring Google map. I wonder when the first news article comes up about someone following the Gaia Ap on their car leading to someone going really off road pops up.

Vermont has numerous roads that I have seen marked with "Your GPS is wrong, dead end or road closed in winter. The problem is that they are usually way out in the woods so that turning around means a major detour by the time the driver sees the sign, rarely are the road gated so the temptation is to keep going.

That's great news! Now I can take my phone off my dash. Going really off road is the best part about that layer. When in the NMW, that layer was the most useful map in my arsenal, being more accurate than the most recent gazetteer. Between that layer with all the class VI and IV roads and the MVUM layer you can pretty much drive from CT to Canada through MA, VT, NH, and ME and barely touch pavement.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Speaking of Vermont, we used our GPS to follow a road that got worse and worse until we came to a bridge with a hand-painted sign that said:

"Bridge not known to be safe for car traffic"

We got out and took a look, and decided to chance it, as there were recent tracks on both sides. We made it.

The local problem is Spruceton Road, which is a long dead-end access road for the Devil's Path, North Dome, Sherrill, Westkill, Leavitt, Rusk, and most importantly, Hunter Mountain. Countless skiers have gotten to the end of the road and asked how to get to the ski center.

 

[TEO]

I will not hike without a gps running all day. And I won't hike with someone who doesn't have and or use them.

You wouldn't hike with someone skilled at map & compass navigation? If you have one, what would be the point of their carrying one?

The use of analog devices exercises a different part of my brain than digital devices. I find a certain purging cognitively that this provides. Like the old saying goes.”Time to get away from it all”.

On the other hand, when I am hiking for my own recreation pleasure in the wilderness, I gain no better joy and satisfaction than when I leave the GPS at home and use my vision and cranial thought processes to succeed with map and compass. Do I get occasionally confused? Sure, but I find there has been no better way to learn and improve than to make a mistake and learn from recovery. Mistakes become increasing rare with experience.

I couldn't agree more. It's especially rewarding when (a) you find yourself unsure of where you are and you have to figure out how to get to a place where you will know where you are, the satisfaction is multiplied when you're solo; (b) you pop out of the woods exactly where you intended, e.g. the trunk of your car or a specific spot on a trail; (c) both.

 

[Nessmuk]

For the past 30 years I have been on an instructor tream training and certifying young (typically college age) folks as Adirondack wilderness guides who are applying to work for BSA resident camps as tek leaders, guiding 5 day wilderness camping/canoeing trips for scouts and their adult leaders. Those lucky enough to get me as their trek instructor on their field exercise will get to visit a number of interesting remote locations that few others will ever see. That is, if they have learned map and compass as I had taught them in a previous class and practice training session. I know I am doing a good job when, as TEO implies, the "leader of the day" student shows that the light is on in their head and as a destination is exactly reached, then he or she says "hey, this really works". It makes me feel proud. In contast, I have been forced to recommend failure of some students who just couldn't get the concept and would likely be a danger to themselves and others in the backcountry. In particular, I caught one student cheating by using a hidden GPS. Instant failure. You want to learn how to use a GPS? I can do that for you, but lets talk about it in another session that does not include the map and compass only portion of the training exercise.

Whatever happened to the guidance concept that I learned under.... well before anyone could even spell GPS. When something in what you observe in your surroundings does make sense with everything else you see or expect to see and confuision sets in, that is when you sit down on a log or rock, pull out a sandwich and a drink as you ponder the map and what you have done to get to where you are now. Chances are in a very few minutes you will realize a mistake has been made and you will figure out where you are and how to proceed from there.

 

[ChrisB]

No one has mentioned noting the sun's position in the sky as another point of orientation. Very handy to use when going gets thick.