GPS battery died 11 miles in on the Superior Trail and I had to go old school

I heard some kid at the trailhead say paper maps are dead weight, so of course I left mine at home. Halfway up the section near Split Rock, my GPS unit just blinked out with 11 miles left. I ended up using the sun and a sketchy memory of the ridgeline to find the cutoff. It worked out, but I was sweating the whole time. Am I the only one who still carries a physical map as backup or is that just boomer behavior?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_johnson91mo ago

Saying paper maps are dead weight is exactly the kind of take that gets people lost, lol. Physical maps aren't just a backup, they're the thing that keeps you calm when tech fails because you can see the whole route at once, not just a little screen. I always carry one folded in my pack even on trails I know, and honestly it takes up less space than a candy bar. Plus, there's something kinda cool about tracing your finger along a real piece of paper when you hit a junction, like you're actually reading the land instead of just following a dot. Kids can call it boomer behavior all they want, but my map never needs a charge and it doesn't lie to me when I'm 11 miles from the car.

the_taylor1mo ago

Ha, heard a ranger say the same thing, tech dies in the cold but paper never quits on you.