Thought the $35 map was a waste until my phone died 3 miles into the Lost Coast Trail

I was real skeptical about dropping cash on a paper map when I had apps and GPS on my phone. Last summer hiking the Lost Coast Trail in California, my phone took a dunk in a creek about 3 miles in and wouldn't turn back on. That paper map from the ranger station saved my butt when I hit a confusing fork near a landslide area around mile 8. The tide schedule printed on the back was the real lifesaver too. Anyone else had a gadget fail and had to rely on old school stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookebailey26d agoMost Upvoted

Hard disagree on this one. A phone that died because you dropped it in a creek isn't a reason to carry around a soggy paper map that can't zoom in or show you real-time weather. Modern GPS devices are way more reliable and waterproof than your average smartphone anyway. If you're that worried about batteries, just pack a cheap solar charger or a backup battery pack. Paper maps get torn, wet, and are basically useless if you take a wrong turn and need to figure out where you actually are on some unlabeled ridge.

the_barbara26d ago

Basically useless if you take a wrong turn" - that's exactly what happened to my friend Sarah last summer. She was hiking in the Smokies, phone died, but she had a paper map folded up in her jacket pocket. Took a wrong turn at a fork, spent two hours trying to figure out which creek she was actually next to, and ended up walking an extra three miles in the wrong direction before a ranger found her. She finally broke down and bought a GPS watch after that.