Remember when you had to trust a paper map and a hunch in the field?

Ngl, I was out near Sedona last fall trying to find a specific basalt layer from a 1980s survey. My GPS died, and the old map coordinates were off by almost a mile because the datum was wrong. Ended up using the actual dip and strike of the sandstone beds to triangulate my way back to the truck. Anyone else have a story about old data leading you astray?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt_green2d agoMost Upvoted

Matthewperry is right on the money. That blinking dot makes you lazy, you stop paying real attention. Getting properly lost with a paper map is how your brain actually learns the lay of the land for next time. Relying on a screen just means you never really know where you are, you only know where the little dot says you are.

matthewperry1mo ago

Honestly, I kind of miss that. The old maps forced you to really see the landscape. You learned the rock, not just a blinking dot. Getting lost was how you found the good stuff.

reese1771mo ago

My last trip to the Red River Gorge, my phone died on the trail. I spent forty minutes actually looking at the cliff lines and tree shapes to find my way back. It was just stressful, not some big adventure. I've found way more cool spots using a good digital map with marked climbing routes than I ever did by being lost. That blinking dot lets me focus on the climbing, not the worrying.