c/backpacking-routes

TIL the hard way that extra water weight breaks down boots fast

Carried 6 liters through the Superstitions last March thinking it was smart, but my boots delaminated within 40 miles and I lost $140 on a pair that should've lasted seasons, anyone else wreck gear by overpacking hydration?

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the_alex•1d ago

Took 11 miles on the PCT to realize my pack straps were twisted

Was dying near Tahoe with shoulder pain after 3 days, felt like a rookie. Stopped at a creek and a thru-hiker just stared at me, said 'your load lifters are like doing the worm', fixed it in 10 seconds. Anyone else discover a basic setup mistake way too late into a trip?

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the_alice•9d ago

GPS units vs phone maps on the same route

Ran the Olympic Peninsula loop twice last summer, once with a dedicated GPS and once with just my phone. The phone died by day three and the GPS had a trail split that wasn't on the paper map. How do you all handle backup navigation without carrying three devices?

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jenny_lee•14d ago

My tent pole snapped on day 2 near Snoqualmie Pass

The pole on my old Big Agnes broke right where the shock cord goes through, just as a storm rolled in. I ended up splinting it with a trekking pole and duct tape for the rest of the 14 mile stretch to the campsite. Has anyone else pulled off a field repair like that, or do you just pack a spare section now?

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singh.harper•18d ago

Cheap rain jacket vs $400 shell, my knees made the call

I spent years thinking you had to drop serious cash on a waterproof jacket for the PCT. Bought a $400 shell in 2021, hated it, too stiff and loud. Last spring I grabbed a $60 Frogg Toggs on a whim for a 3 day trip in the Sierras. It kept me dry through a solid 8 hours of sideways rain near Donner Pass. Now I'm wondering if the expensive stuff is just hype for most of us. Anyone else ditched the high end gear for the budget option and never looked back?

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alicer53•18d ago

Paid $600 for a 'premium' map pack, ended up using free ones anyway

Last spring I dropped $600 on a full set of topo maps for the Pacific Crest Trail section near Tahoe. I thought having the paper versions would make me feel more prepared, you know, like a real hiker. But every time I pulled one out, it was covered in condensation and hard to fold mid-trail. My phone with a free app and downloaded offline tiles worked better, and I never even opened half the maps after the first day. The one time I did rely on them, a trail reroute from 2022 made the map flat out wrong, and I wasted 3 hours backtracking near Donner Pass. I get that some folks love paper for backup, but for the money, I could have bought a decent power bank and a backup GPS unit. Has anyone else shelled out for fancy map sets and just ended up using their phone the whole trip?

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quinn161•19d ago

Paid $140 for a GPS watch on the JMT, still wish I had my compass

Honestly, I dropped $140 on a GPS watch before hiking the John Muir Trail last summer. It died on day four after a creek crossing, even though it said it was waterproof. I had to fall back on my paper map and compass, which I barely knew how to use. Tbh, that panic taught me more than the watch ever did. Anyone else ditch the tech after a gear fail, or am I just cheap and stubborn?

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pat_roberts55•19d ago

Read a forum post saying thru-hikers should never use phone GPS, is that outdated thinking?

Saw someone in the PCT Facebook group swear paper maps are the only way and that phones fail in rain or cold. But I did 60 miles on the Uinta Highline last August with just Gaia on airplane mode, battery lasted 4 days with a power bank. Anyone else think the old school purist take ignores how far tech has come, or is redundancy still the real answer?

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mark_green•19d ago

Did 40 miles on the Long Trail with zero campsite reservations, here's the catch

Last July I decided to skip the whole reserving thing on the Long Trail in Vermont because I was sick of planning around sites. I figured I'd just wing it and stealth camp if needed. It worked fine for 3 nights until I hit a stretch near Killington where every tent spot was packed with weekenders. I ended up hiking 2 extra miles in the dark to a random logging road. So my question is, how do you all handle the gamble on popular sections, or do you just bite the bullet and reserve everything?

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linda_reed•19d ago

Talking to a 70 year old thru-hiker made me miss paper maps

Met this guy at a campfire near the John Muir Trail last month and he described his 1983 PCT trip with foldout topos and a compass, and idk, I mean I love my phone for route updates but now I wonder if I'm actually paying attention to the land or just following a blue dot, so has anyone else gone back to paper sections for a weekend trip just to reset how you read terrain?

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blair70•22d ago

TIL the hard way that trail maps on my phone can betray me in the Smokies

Last month I hiked the Gregory Bald loop in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and my phone's offline map kept showing a stream crossing that just didn't exist on the ground. I had checked three different apps before I left, all of them said there was a bridge about 4 miles in, but when I got there it was just a muddy gap with no bridge anywhere. I wasted 45 minutes bushwhacking upstream looking for a safe spot to cross, and the water was up to my thighs in late November. Turns out the trail rerouted two seasons ago and most map apps still had the old route listed, only the park's official PDF had the update. Now I always download the actual park service map for any route I do, even if it's just a backup, because my phone's GPS is useless when the trail data is wrong. Has anyone else run into outdated route info on a popular app that got them into a jam?

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corah75•24d ago

Carrying 45 pounds for 3 summers before I got it

I did the JMT twice with a pack that weighed nearly half of me, figured heavy was just how it goes. Then I borrowed a friend's frameless setup for a weekend on the Superior Hiking Trail and my shoulders felt like they grew 10 years younger. Anyone else have that one trip where the gear you swore by finally felt stupid?

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leo_johnson•26d ago

My group trip taught me the opposite of what every blog says about pacing

Hit the Colorado Trail last August with three friends. Every guide says start slow, keep miles low the first week. We did 14 miles day one and felt great, so we pushed 18 the next day. By day four one guy had a bad knee and another was done mentally. We had to cut the whole thing short at 11 days instead of 14. That critique from the group leader, 'you're hiking like you're racing, not touring,' stuck with me. Now I plan rest days like they're part of the route, not a failure. Has anyone else found that going hard early works for them, or was it a one-time fluke for us?

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pat_roberts55•26d ago

Warning: the JMT's "easy" first day is a trap for new hikers

Everyone talks about Happy Isles to Tuolumne Meadows like it's a warm-up, but I did it last July and those 8 miles up to the Nevada Falls switchbacks wrecked my knees for the next 4 days. Am I the only one who thinks the altitude gain is worse than the descent on Donohue Pass later?

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keith274•27d ago

Stop skipping the PCT water caches, found 3 empty this week

I hiked from Tehachapi to Walker Pass last week and three of the seasonal water caches were bone dry. People are grabbing a gallon and dumping the rest on their face without refilling, which is basic trail etiquette. The cache list on the PCTA site marks each one, but folks treat it like a vending machine. Has anyone else seen this getting worse in the southern sections?

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willowr96•28d ago

Shelled out $340 for a fancy ultralight tent, returned it after one night in the Smokies and grabbed a $90 used one instead

The expensive one pitched like a wet noodle in wind and the zipper snagged every time, but the beat-up old model on Facebook Marketplace held up through a thunderstorm near Newfound Gap, anyone else find that the budget gear with more miles on it just works better?

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susan81•1mo ago

Switched from paper maps to GPS app after 12 years, my pace improved a lot

I used to carry folded paper maps on every trip, even the ones I printed at home. Last spring on the Appalachian Trail near Roanoke, I kept stopping every 20 minutes just to check where I was, and my group had to wait for me. A friend finally said, "Just try this app for one weekend, you can go back to paper if you hate it." After three days, I was covering about 3 extra miles per day because I stopped second-guessing the trail junctions. Now I keep a paper backup in my pack for safety, but I mainly navigate from my phone. Has anyone else made this kind of switch and noticed a real difference in their daily mileage?

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the_eric•1mo ago

My favorite trekking pole snapped on day 3 of the JMT last month

I was near Thousand Island Lake when my left pole just gave out. It was an older pair I'd had for maybe 4 years, but I never thought they'd break mid stride. I ended up using a thick branch the rest of the way to Reds Meadow where I could buy a replacement. Has anyone else had a piece of gear fail like that on a long trip? What brand held up for you after that kind of load?

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jessica921•1mo ago

Warning: the trail markers on the Pinhoti in Alabama shifted DRASTICALLY since last fall

I hiked Section 3 of the Pinhoti Trail near Cheaha State Park last October and then again two weeks ago, and the white blazes were completely different in three spots. Over just 7 months, someone or something moved the markers about half a mile off the original path, leading straight into a washout area. Has anyone else noticed reroutes or tampered markers on the Pinhoti this year?

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blair70•1mo ago

Bought a $50 water filter for the PCT and it clogged on day 2 near Mount Whitney

I figured a budget Sawyer knockoff would save me cash on the Pacific Crest Trail, but after filtering from a silty creek just south of Lone Pine it was completely blocked. Had to use iodine tablets the rest of that stretch up to Crabtree Meadow, which tasted awful. Anybody else have a cheap filter fail on them mid-route?

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patricia32•1mo ago

Just realized my old route through the Smokies was way harder than it needed to be

I used to always take the AT up to Clingmans Dome from Newfound Gap, thinking it was the only way. Last month I tried the Fork Ridge Trail instead and it cut 3 miles off my day with way less elevation gain. The views were actually better too since you come out on the other side of the peak. Has anyone else found a hidden alternate route that totally beat the main one?

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phoenix_singh25•1mo ago

That monsoon hike in Sedona nearly got me killed because I ignored the flash flood warning.

I was 3 miles into Devil's Bridge when the sky went dark and I had to scramble up a cliff face to avoid a wall of water coming down the canyon has anyone else had a close call underestimating weather on a desert route just because the trail was rated easy?

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gracethomas•1mo ago

Just found out the Pacific Crest Trail actually goes through my hometown...

I've been hiking sections of the PCT for about 3 years now and always thought it was this far-off trail way out in the mountains. Then last week I was messing around on Google Maps tracing a route I wanted to try this summer and zoomed way in. Turns out a 6-mile stretch of the official PCT goes right through a county park about 10 minutes from my house in Bend. I've been driving past that trailhead for years and had no idea it was part of the whole thing. Felt pretty dumb but also kinda stoked because now I can practice longer sections without a 2-hour drive. Has anyone else stumbled onto a hidden bit of a major route near where you live?

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wood.uma•1mo ago

Got chased by a goat on the Lost Coast Trail last weekend

I was hiking the Sinkyone section near Needle Rock and this big goat just appeared, then started trotting after me for like a half mile. I had to climb up on a rock and wait it out for 15 minutes before it got bored. Has anyone else had random wildlife decide you're their enemy on a trail?

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stella121•1mo ago

TIL I was reading topo maps wrong for my first 3 backpacking trips

So I hiked the Mount Whitney trail last summer and kept missing the turnoff for Trail Camp. I was using a map I printed from some random site, and I didn't realize the contour lines actually mean something beyond just elevation. I ended up going a mile past my campsite and had to backtrack in the dark. How do you guys actually read those lines without getting lost? Is there a trick I'm still missing?

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