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Took a wrong turn on the Long Trail in Vermont and ended up bushwhacking 2 miles off route before I realized my GPS had died 3 hours ago
I was scrambling over deadfall in the rain for about 45 minutes before I pulled out my paper map and compass, spotted a ridge line that matched, and managed to cut back to the trail just before dark with only a ripped jacket and bruised ego - has anyone else had a GPS fail on them mid-trip?
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faithwalker5d ago
Oh man, paper maps and compasses save the day every time. And just a heads up, even if your GPS is working it's smart to keep a backup power source handy cause those things drain fast in cold weather.
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Wait, did you have a chance to check your phone for any offline maps before your battery died? I mean, I think we all get a little too comfortable with GPS until something like this happens. Faithwalker's right about the paper maps being a life saver, but I also think people forget that even with a backup power source, the GPS itself can just flat out give up. My old Garmin would crash every time I tried to save a track in heavy rain, so now I make a habit of marking key points on the paper map as I go. Plus, that whole ridge line trick you used is golden. I've done that before where I just found a high point and lined it up with the topo lines, and it worked way better than trying to guess from the valley floor. It's wild how much we rely on batteries when a simple compass and a little practice can get you out of a jam.
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