c/backpacking-routes

Some guy on the trail made me rethink my whole pack weight setup

Last weekend on the Ozark Trail near Steelville, I stopped to eat a Clif bar and this thru-hiker asked what my base weight was. I said 23 pounds and he just laughed, said his whole pack was 14 including the tent tarp. He showed me that he ditched the heavy camp chair and extra clothes I always bring 'just in case'. I went home and weighed every single item on a kitchen scale, cut out 5 pounds by dropping the chair, a second pair of boots, and the big first aid kit I never opened. Has anyone else gotten a reality check from a stranger that made you simplify your gear list?

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tarab54•4d ago

Mile 42 to mile 48 on the Ozark Trail, night and day after one rains storm

Hit the same stretch last fall and it was a swampy mess, took me 5 hours to do 6 miles. This weekend after the dry spell, same 6 miles in 3 hours flat. Anyone else track time on repeat sections to see how conditions shift things?

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rowan666•12d ago

Serious question, is marking a route with cairns helping or just ruining it for everyone else?

Last week I was on the Lost Coast Trail near Shelter Cove and saw a group stacking a fresh pile of rocks right on the beach where the tide could wash it away. They seemed proud of it. I get the appeal when fog rolls in and the trail disappears, but I also know park signs say leave no trace. I used to rely on cairns in the Sierras above 10,000 feet where the path is pure rock, and they saved me twice. But now I wonder if every new cairn just invites more people to add their own, and pretty soon you got 50 piles pointing nowhere. Anyone else torn on this, or am I overthinking a pile of rocks? What's your rule for when building a marker is okay versus just lazy navigation?

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dylan_green58•13d ago

The Sierra route I hiked in 2015 is barely recognizable now

I did the 45 mile stretch from Tuolumne to Red's Meadow back in 2015 and again last summer. The trail itself got wider, which sounds fine, but it's beat down from all the foot traffic. The bigger change is the campsites. We used to find these little hidden spots off the trail, now most of them are marked with signs and packed by 3pm. Permits doubled in that time and it shows. Anyone else notice their favorite old routes getting overrun, or is it just the popular ones?

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patel.phoenix•14d ago

Sleeping pad repair trick that saved my Utah trip

Last month I drove out to the La Sal Loop near Moab and woke up on the second night to a slow leak in my inflatable pad. I had no patch kit, so I tried rubbing bar soap around the valve area and spotted the exact puncture almost instantly. A tiny dab of seam sealer from my repair kit did the job and held for the remaining 3 nights. I carried that seam sealer for years for tent repairs but never thought to use it on a pad. Has anyone else found a quick fix that worked when you were miles from a store?

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evan151•14d ago

The map app lied to me for 2 seasons, a ranger set me straight

I've been hiking the Lost Coast Trail for years using the same navigation app. Every trip I'd add an extra mile to my planned day because the app showed a steep climb right after the beach section. Last month a ranger at the visitor center in Shelter Cove told me that ridge line isn't even on the trail, it's a game trail that dead ends. Turns out I was detouring up a hill for no reason, adding about 45 minutes each time. I switched to the paper map for that section and it's flat the whole way. Has anyone else trusted an app over the official maps and ended up on a phantom route like that?

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tarab54•15d ago

Hit 500 trail miles this year on accident, that feels weird

I keep a log in my phone every time I finish a trip, just dates and distances, and when I added up the numbers for 2024 last weekend it came to 512 miles total. I never set a yearly goal or anything, I just pick routes that look interesting and take off when the weather works. Did anyone else realize they hit a big number without planning it, and did that make you change how you pick your next route?

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ninas70•15d ago

Stopped planning every mile, now I just follow game trails

I used to map out every single turn on my phone for trips in the Smokies, but after getting lost for 3 hours near Fontana Lake last fall, I switched to just picking a valley and following whatever deer trail looks solid. Way less stress, and I've found two hidden waterfalls that weren't on any map. Anyone else ditch their GPS for animal paths on shorter loops?

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wyatt_ross27•16d ago

Just realized my $240 'ultralight' stove setup was overkill for a 2 mile hike

Last weekend I packed my titanium pot, canister stove, and folding windscreen for a day hike near Boulder. Total weight of my cooking gear was almost 2 pounds and I only used it to boil water for instant coffee. I spent $240 on this setup two months ago because some YouTube guy swore it was essential for every trip. My buddy brought a $12 pocket stove and a tin cup and honestly his coffee tasted the same. Anyone else got gear that sounded smart in the store but feels stupid on the trail?

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the_rowan•18d ago

Warning: Glacier crossing on the Ptarmigan Traverse got sketchy fast

We were about 8 miles past Cascade Pass near the Suiattle River side when a snowbridge gave way under my front foot. I went in up to my hip, and my partner had to haul me out with the rope we almost left behind. Checked the map and realized we'd drifted 200 feet off the intended line because the cairns were buried. Anyone else hit a hidden crevasse on a route that was supposed to be 'straightforward'?

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ivan_hayes29•19d ago

Goat ate my trail map on the Lost Coast last month

Doing the Northern section near Shelter Cove. Wild goats everywhere. One walked right up, grabbed the paper map out of my hand. Chewed it for a solid 30 seconds. GPS died after 2 days. Had to navigate by memory and the sun. Got lucky, only took one wrong turn. Cost me an extra 4 miles. Anyone else had wildlife ruin their gear? I'm buying a laminated map next time.

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lisa839•20d ago

My $80 water filter died on day 2 of the JMT, that was rough

I dropped $80 on a fancy inline filter for my John Muir Trail trip last July, and it clogged up after 48 hours with silt from a creek near Red's Meadow. I ended up boiling every drop for the next 6 days, which added like an hour to each morning and I was dead tired by the time I hit Tuolumne. Anyone else had a filter fail mid-route, and what do you carry as a backup that actually weighs less than a brick?

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felixward•21d ago

Just realized I was reading topo lines all wrong for 6 years

Was on the Collegiate Loop last month and kept second-guessing every climb. A thru-hiker pointed out I was counting contour intervals from the wrong elevation. Now I check the index line first, saves me like 30 minutes of route planning per day. Anyone else make that mistake early on?

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margaret_nelson•22d ago

Three trips on the JMT and paper maps beat my phone every single time

I did the John Muir Trail twice with my phone as the main nav, then once more with just paper maps and a compass. The phone died by day 3 near Evolution Lake both times, even in airplane mode with a backup battery. Paper maps let me see the whole route at a glance, so I caught a cutoff I'd have missed near Muir Pass in the fog. Now I bring a folded map for every section and keep the phone off unless I'm lost. Anyone else switched back to paper after a battery fail?

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johnfoster•23d ago

Why does nobody talk about how heavy those cheap foam pads really are

I spent $45 on a budget sleeping pad from a big box store before a 6 day trip in Olympic National Park, thinking I was saving cash. Turns out it weighed 3.2 pounds, which felt like hauling a brick on my back by day two, and I ended up replacing it with a $110 inflatable that's half the weight. Has anyone else made this mistake, or did you just bite the bullet on a lighter pad from the start?

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julia286•23d ago

Can we talk about the trail magic spot outside Damascus that became a full blown camp kitchen in one summer?

I passed that same little clearing by the Virginia border in June with two folding chairs and a cooler of warm soda, then came back through in August to find a propane stove, a dry erase menu board, and someone grilling burgers for 12 hikers, so has anyone else watched a random trail side stop evolve into something unrecognizable that fast?

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hernandez.ben•26d ago

Ditching the paper map in the Smokies cut my time by a third

I used to be all about paper maps. Last trip on the AT near Gatlinburg, I got lost for 2 hours at a stream crossing. Downloaded the Guthook app for that section and followed the GPS blips. Next day I did 14 miles instead of my usual 9. Anyone else think the old way is just nostalgia?

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jade221•26d ago

Warning: the way I packed my pack for 4 years was completely backwards

I always put the heavy stuff like my tent and cook kit at the bottom of my pack, figured it kept the center of gravity low. Last month on the Olympic Peninsula, this thru hiker I met at a shelter watched me pack up and just laughed. She said the weight belongs up high, against my back, and my lower back was doing all the work for no reason. I tried her way on the next 12 mile stretch and my shoulders felt way better, why did nobody tell me this sooner? Anyone else have that moment where a stranger pointed out something basic that changed how you hike?

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faithjones•26d ago

That hiker in Yosemite told me to skip the Muir Trail cutoff, saved me 4 miles of hell

Guy at Tuolumne Meadows said take the old ridge route instead of the signed cutoff, and he was spot on because the official path was still snowed over in June. Anyone else ever get advice from a random stranger on trail that turned out way better than the map?

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craig.parker•27d ago

Bailed out of a flooded creek crossing in the Smokies, 3 miles from camp

Last fall I was doing the Russell Field section near Fontana and the forecast said clear skies. Got caught in a cell that dumped 2 inches in under an hour. The creek I needed to cross was running fast and up to my knees in spots. I watched a couple of logs float by and decided it wasn't worth it. Turned around, hiked 3 miles back to the parking lot, and camped out in my truck instead. Felt dumb at the time but the next morning that same crossing was still sketchy. Has anyone else called it quits on a crossing and later felt good about the decision? Or am I just overly cautious?

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nelson.finley•28d ago

Took me 5 days to sort a river crossing on the JMT

I planned a Sierra trip for late June near Bishop and figured the creeks would be manageable. Turned out the snowmelt was way higher than any forecast I checked, and I spent an entire afternoon scouting one crossing by Evolution Creek. The water was knee deep on a rock hop that should have taken 10 minutes, but finding a safe line ate up 5 hours of daylight. Has anyone else had to abandon a route mid-trip because of unseasonable runoff, or do you just pack waders and commit?

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kim.sandra•1mo ago

Hit 100 miles on the AT last week and my knees let me know about it

I finally got to the 100 mile mark on the Appalachian Trail last weekend near the Virginia line. My right knee started clicking on every downhill after that, which never happened before. I figured I was in great shape from hiking local parks, but trail miles hit different. Anyone else find a weird muscle or joint that held them back around that distance?

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eric_ramirez67•1mo ago

Two nights on the Long Trail taught me my stove was a lemon

Two nights on the Long Trail taught me my stove was a lemon. Last October I brought a new canister stove on a 3-day solo hike through Vermont. First morning it would barely simmer and then stopped lighting by dinner. I had to cold soak my ramen which was a bummer in 40 degree drizzle. Do you guys carry a backup stove or just trust your gear to work?

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sage_perry•1mo ago

Got caught in a storm on the Pinhoti Trail last month

Was hiking the Alabama section of the Pinhoti Trail about 3 weeks ago and got hit by a sudden thunderstorm around mile 14 near Cheaha Mountain. My map got soaked and the trail markers were hard to spot through the rain. Ended up following a creek downstream for about half a mile before I found the right path again. Anyone else ever had to navigate by water flow when their map got wrecked?

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verab28•1mo ago

Warning: don't trust water sources marked on older maps

I nearly ran dry on the Long Trail last summer because a stream marked on my 2015 map was completely dry for 3 miles. Has anyone else found outdated maps causing real trouble out there?

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