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I mapped out every mile of the Timberline Trail before hiking it, and it made the trip worse
I used to spend hours on route maps, printing out elevation profiles and marking every campsite. Before my Timberline Trail loop in Oregon 3 months ago, I highlighted every turn and water source, then spent the whole hike staring at the map instead of the mountain. On day 2 near the Eliot Creek crossing, I was so focused on my paper plan that I walked right past a clear detour sign and had to backtrack half a mile. Now I just mark a rough sketch of camp spots and wing the rest. Is there a middle ground, like a few key waypoints but not full turn by turn?
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drewr152d ago
That bit about staring at the map instead of the mountain is the whole problem in one sentence. What works for me is picking maybe five or six checkpoints for the day, like a pass, a creek, and where I plan to camp, and that's it. I write them on a little card in my pocket and the map stays buried unless something looks off. Then I can actually look around and still know roughly where I stand. The detour sign thing happens to everybody, but it stings less when you're not glued to a paper plan that says the trail should go some other way.
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