24
Spent 3 hours trying to find the actual trailhead for the Skyline Loop in the North Cascades
GPS kept pointing to a washed-out logging road, finally found the real start behind a ranger station 2 miles away. Anyone know a better offline map app for the PNW backcountry?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
reese1241mo ago
Been there, my GPS tried to send me down a cliff near Mount Rainier last fall. The trail was actually a half mile back on the main road. I've had good luck with the Gaia GPS app for offline stuff, it shows those old decommissioned roads in a different color so you know to ignore them. Still double-check with a paper map though, those things never lie.
6
gibson.sarah1mo ago
That whole thing about old maps being gospel is so true until it isn't. Read a story once about a guy who followed a trail on a classic topo map right into a swamp that had grown over the old path decades ago. The ranger station tip is the real key, they'll tell you about the new slide area or the bear activity that no map ever knows. Even the best apps just show what was there at some point, not what's actually walkable today. Always feels like you need three sources to get one real fact.
5
robertb471mo ago
Yeah, paper maps are solid, but they can lie too if they're old. Found that out the hard way with a forest service map from 1998 that showed a bridge that washed out ten years prior. You're right about Gaia, @reese124, the color coding is a lifesaver. Still, nothing beats calling the local ranger station right before you go. They know what's actually on the ground right now.
-1