[pct-l] Hiking Without Maps

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good afternoon, All,


I’m not exactly a quivering virgin when it comes to trail navigation – or
even minimalist off-trail bushwhacking in remote areas – but I’ll admit
being uncomfortable without maps.  Once my resupply box didn’t make it to
Big Bear so I bought chow locally and hiked on.  Unfortunately, the maps
for my next segment were also in the missing box.  That wasn’t such a big
deal:  The trail isn’t tough north of there, and I’d been over it before,
but I still didn’t like it.

Again in ’08 I planned to resupply in Belden Town but that’s the year
Belden was in the middle of a big wildland fire so I had to schlep around
and continue north from Chester.  I hiked between there and Castella
without maps, and didn't like that either.

In both cases, I had a GPS with waypoints so I wasn’t at any real risk of
becoming “lost”, but what bothered me was a loss of perspective.  I’m a
visual person:  For any directions don’t tell me how to get there, tell me
where it is.  Guidebook instructions and waypoints tell me “how to get
there.”  Maps tell me “where it is”.

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/