Navigation and Trip Planning

There will probably come a time in your hiking career where you need or want to do a big day hike or a backpacking route that requires hiking longer daily distances than you’re used to. While training for bigger mileage in advance …

There’s an expression used in many hiking guides called book time. Also known as Naismith’s rule, it refers to the minimum time that it would take an inexperienced hiker to complete a trail segment. It’s based on the following metric: 30 minutes …

Bushwhacking is a form of off-trail navigation through forested areas, so-called because the trees and ground vegetation whack back when you try to push through them. While expertise with a map and compass is a prerequisite skill to become an expert bushwhacker, …

Wilderness navigation requires planning routes across terrain that doesn’t have pre-defined trails or roads to follow. While following a route using a map and compass, GPS, map-to-terrain association or just dead reckoning is required, those tools and techniques don’t provide you with the …

Topographic maps are used by hikers and backpackers to plan routes, estimate travel times, find water, good campsites, and track their progress on hikes. They’re designed to depict the three dimensional shape of the world (mountains, valleys, plains, etc.) in two dimensions …

Most US Government Land Management Agencies, including the United States Geological Survey, the National Park Service, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Land Management publish FREE maps using a format called GeoPDF. Like Adobe PDF documents, these maps …

How long does it take to hike a Presidential Traverse? That depends on a lot of factors, but there is a way to figure it out using a navigational aid called a Time Control Plan. Time control plans (TCP) are used to estimate …

Above Treeline. If those words don’t scare you or at least raise your guard, then you should read this post carefully. Above Treeline occurs at about 4,500 feet of elevation in my neck of the woods, in the White Mountains of New …

One of the hallmarks of good hiking and backpacking navigation is picking trails or routes that reduce the level of effort required to climb mountains or descend into valleys. The steepness or slope angle of a trail is usually the best indicator …

I’ve been evaluating a mobile navigation app for the past few months called Topo Maps+ (IOS only) that lets you print maps and routes to wireless printers without having to go through a computer or an internet portal to print them. Many people …

I backpacked the northermost section of Vermont’s Long Trail during Hurricane Ike in 2008. I didn’t realize that I was hiking through a hurricane at the time, since that kind of weather is the norm on the Long Trail not the exception. …

GaiaGPS is the smartphone navigation app that I teach students how to use, in addition to map and compass, in the Backcountry Navigation classes I teach. GaiaGPS works on iPhone and Android smartphones, which makes it easy to use in groups that use a …

I’m often asked whether Smartphone GPS Navigation Apps like Gaia GPS can work when they’re not connected to a cell phone network. Most Apple and Android Smartphones purchased in the past 3-4 years can operate in what’s called offline mode without access to …

Satellite imagery is a powerful source of information for planning backcountry routes but it takes practice to interpret what you’re looking at, and whether it depicts features you can use to make your route easier or whether you should avoid them. The …