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Why does nobody talk about hiking passes with a paper map taped inside your rain jacket
Last month I did the Timberline Trail around Mount Hood in 4 days and my phone died on day 2 near Ramona Falls, right when I needed to find the next campsite. I had a paper map of the whole loop taped inside my rain jacket with packing tape, and honestly it was faster than pulling out the phone every time. The tape kept it dry through two rainstorms and I never once worried about battery life. I know some people swear by their GPS apps, but has anyone else just gone old school with a map and had it work out better than expected?
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wade_perez12d ago
I used to be the guy with three backup batteries and a wall charger in my pack, swore I'd never trust paper again after getting turned around in the Goat Rocks years ago. Then my buddy taped a Forest Service map to his chest on a rainy trip through the Enchantments and pulled it out maybe twice while I was fighting a dead screen in a ziplock. The tape thing sounds dumb until you try it, my map stayed readable even after I sweated through two shirts. There is something about not checking a battery percent every ten minutes that just lets you walk. Reading a trail line on paper is slower at first but you stop second guessing every turn. Your Ramona Falls story sold me, next loop I'm taping one in.
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