Appreciation post: My old paper maps were better than I gave them credit for

I used to swear by my phone for navigation on trails. I thought paper maps were just outdated and bulky. Last month on the Appalachian Trail near Roanoke, my phone died three miles into a six-mile loop. I had a paper map folded up in my pack as a backup. Honestly, that map saved me from wandering off route into some dense brush. It showed a stream crossing I would have missed entirely on the digital version. Now I always bring a paper map along, even if I have the app open. Has anyone else had a similar save with something old school?

3 comments

3 Comments

karen_carter6d ago

Oh man, I'm gonna be the contrarian here. Idk, I feel like people romanticize paper maps way too much. I tried using one on a hike last summer and spent like 10 minutes trying to figure out which squiggly line I was even on while my phone would've just showed me in two seconds.

morganmartinez6d ago

Did your friend ever tell you about the time they got totally turned around in the Smokies? My buddy Mark did that exact thing last fall, phone battery went kaput about four miles into a hike near Clingmans Dome. He had a paper map in his bag from like 2015, all wrinkled and faded. The thing still had every trail and contour line perfectly visible though, even showed a spring that wasn't on his app at all. He said reading that map made him feel like a real explorer instead of just following a blue dot on a screen. Now he keeps a laminated one in his pack always, calls it his insurance policy.

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bailey.jennifer6d ago

That spring that wasn't on his app - did he actually find it on the ground using the old map, or was it just a dried-up mark that didn't exist anymore?