Latest news with #backpacking
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
British man, 25, goes missing while backpacking in Malaysia - as frantic mother 'just wants him home'
A man on a solo tour of South East Asia has gone missing while backpacking as his family prepares to fly out to Malaysia to search for him. Jordan Johnson-Doyle, 25, has not been heard from since Tuesday, May 27, with his mother saying she feels 'numb' and 'just wants to bring him home'. Family and friends spent days frantically trying to get in touch with him by phone, email and social media before his phone went dead in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, May 30. His last known location was the Healy Mac's Irish Bar in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, at around 8pm on Tuesday, May 27, when he sent his best friend Owen a photograph of the pub's quiz night poster. His mother Leanne Burnett said: 'I have been been feeling just sick, numb. I just want to get over there, find him and bring him home. I want him to know we're looking for him and we're coming to get him. 'I have no idea what has happened. All I know is something is really wrong for him not to contact anybody. I know what he's like and he knows how worried everyone gets at home, that's why he checks in all the time. 'If he was to lose his phone and laptop, if someone had stolen that off him, he knows my number by heart and he would contact. 'He would go to the nearest hotel to use the phone, or go to an internet café. He'd find a way to get hold of us.' On Wednesday morning, Leanne said she checked the 'Find My iPhone' tracking service for the location of her son's mobile phone, and saw it was located at a residential flat block near the bar. She said: 'I speak to Jordan every day and I have him on find my iPhone, so I always have a look before I go to bed and when I wake in the morning. 'But when I woke up on the Wednesday morning, his Find My iPhone had not updated. It just said 'last seen 11 hours ago'. 'It means it's either out of signal or out of range. And this was the last place it had a signal. It was a block of flats in that same area, literally down the road from the bar. 'I carried on tracking him throughout the day, trying to phone him as well. I couldn't get hold of him on Facebook or Instagram. If he does lose his phone, he usually messages me on Facebook or Instagram. 'But it just kept on showing at this location, and the 'time last seen' kept going up and up, and now the phone has gone off completely. It's run out of battery.' Jordan's phone went dead on Friday, May 30, three days after he was last seen. Leanne said: 'I'm a really worried mum because he's working away. So he knows if I can't contact him, he will contact me. I did get a bit anxious and started checking Find My iPhone a bit more and checking Instagram, but just nothing. 'I didn't hear from him on Tuesday and by Wednesday I couldn't get his location. Then his phone went off, and that's when I contacted his best friend Owen, and he said he hadn't heard from him since Tuesday and was getting worried himself. I called the police straight away.' Jordan, a software engineer, had been backpacking around the Mediterranean and South East Asia for around a year and a half while working remotely for an American company. He arrived in Malaysia on May 17 after previously visiting Vietnam, and is believed to have been staying at the Robertson Residences at Bukit, Kuala Lumpur. Leanne, 44 said she last spoke to him on Monday, May 26, and their conversation had been the usual chit-chat about their working days. She said: 'He seemed absolutely fine and normal. Nothing stood out whatsoever. We always end the phone call with 'love long time' and that was the very last thing we said to each other.' As well as reporting Jordan missing to Merseyside Police, Leanne also contacted the British Consulate and police in Malaysia. She said the family had also tried to contact the hotel where Jordan is believed to have been staying, but struggled due to the language barrier. His workplace has also been informed. She said: 'It has been awful. But all his friends and family have been rallying round. 'We've pieced together the last pictures and memes he's been sanding, we've got his messages, so we're building up a timeline of his movements. 'His dad is travelling out there today, and me, his brother, best friends and his stepdad are going out tomorrow.' Tearfully, she begged members of the public to share her son's missing persons appeal far and wide. She said: 'Jordan was really shy in high school, but since he has got his job and turned into a man he's become really outgoing, so funny, very intelligent. 'He's got a massive work ethic and is very loving. He looks after his brother. His brother looks up to him so much and he's loved by everyone, all his friends and family. 'We're very worried. My friends and family are constantly here. We've got a group set up. I've got family posting all over Facebook and whatever Malaysian sites we can find. We've got others contacting our MP. We're just doing everything we can. 'Please share anything. If anybody has seen him, please share it far and wide. If anyone has heard from him, seen him, seen him active on social media - anything. We just need to find him and bring him home.' Merseyside Police has been approached for comment. Leanne said the police incident reference for anyone reporting a sighting to Merseyside Police was 5198 of May 30, 2025.
WIRED
27-05-2025
- General
- WIRED
Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo Tent Review: An Ultralight Summer Shelter
Finding the right tent for a backpacking trip is always tricky. You have to balance packed size and weight against livability and how well it stands up to wind and rain. I've always erred on the side of a sturdy tent over any weight concerns, which is why I love the Hilleberg Akto, but I don't always need the Akto. There is a short season in my neck of the woods called summer, when storms are less likely, and the temps don't drop much below the 60s. This is when I've been using the Lunar Solo, Six Moon Design's flagship ultralight 1-person tent. After several late and early summer trips around the north woods of Wisconsin and Michigan, it's proved itself a capable shelter. It weighs just two pounds, packs down quite small, and checks a whole lot of other boxes on my tent wishlist. Plenty of Space Photograph: Scott Gilbertson There is no one tent to rule them all and trying to find one is a mistake. You're better off with two tents, knowing the limitations of each and using each when it's the best for the job. Which is to say, I love the Akto, but I also think Six Moon Design's Lunar Solo is excellent for summer trips when you prize traveling light over withstanding intense storms. That's not to say the Lunar Solo won't keep you dry. It will. The silicone nylon, or silnylon, is plenty waterproof, though you'll either need to seam seal it yourself with some Seam Grip, or have the Six Moon Designs do it for you before they ship it, which costs $35. My testing tent arrived seam sealed, but being old enough to remember when you had to seam seal just about every tent, I've done it enough times to say it's not hard should you choose to DIY it. The Lunar Solo is single wall, single pole tent intended to be pitched with a trekking pole. This makes for a very small and light tent, but also has two potential drawbacks: structural integrity and condensation. More on those in a moment. Once pitched, the Lunar Solo offers 26 square feet of living space, a peak height of 49 inches, and the vestibule offers 8.5 square feet of additional gear storage. Overall I found the Lunar Solo to be plenty spacious for one person with gear. The rear wall expands out slightly, giving you a place to stash frequently needed items without pushing them up against the tent wall. The 20D silnylon and mesh walls feel as durable as anything you'll find at this weight, unless you want to go with a Cuben Fiber/Dyneema tent, but to my mind the high price of Cuben puts it in a different category. The floor of the Lunar Solo is a more robust 40-denier (40D), and has a bathtub shape to help ensure water doesn't get in. The rear of the Lunar Solo has a 6-inch mesh portion between the floor and the main wall that helps with ventilation. Any single pole tent is going to struggle in wind, no matter how many guyline points it offers. I did find the Lunar Solo compressed a good deal when I pitched it in high winds on the exposed shores of Lake Superior. It was admittedly not a great campsite from a seeking shelter point of view, not one I would pick if I wasn't testing the wind resistance of a tent. But it did convince me that the Lunar Solo needs either a trekking pole or a heavier tent pole than the ultralight pole Six Moon Design provided (I did a good portion of my testing while bikepacking so I didn't have trekking poles).
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
You be the judge: Should my best friend and I get matching tattoos?
We've been speaking about it for ages. She's just getting cold feet, but I know she won't regret it My best friend Kady and I are planning a backpacking trip around south-east Asia in a few months and I have proposed the idea of us getting matching tattoos. Kady was initially keen, but now she is saying we should make up our minds when we are out there. I'd rather plan it in advance. We're both 20, and I think we'll look back on them when we're older and remember what a fun life we've lived. Tattoos are a reminder of a particular time, and I want to cherish our youth. I've found a cool tattoo parlour in northern Thailand, where we'll be staying. I've seen videos of people having great experiences there and the tattoo artist is really talented. I think Kady is worried about what other people think, including her parents. She was on board with the idea when I first proposed it a few months ago, but now she's told them and they've got in her head. They told her that a tattoo will ruin her job opportunities later in life, but that's rubbish. No one will even be able to see it at work. Tattoos aren't as taboo as they were 20 years ago, and we both think that they look good. It's not like I want to get a random tattoo. I'm quite creative and have already started sketching ideas that represent who Kady and I are. We met at a swim club when we were five, so my design features water and other elements. It isn't huge, it's only about 20cm long. I already have four small tattoos on my arms and torso and love the idea of adding more. I'm not trying to force Kady to do something she doesn't want to do, I'm just trying to encourage her to live her best life and go through with a plan that we've had for a while. I think matching tattoos will cement our friendship. I know she won't regret it as we've been speaking about it for ages. She's just getting cold feet because her parents know. I'm definitely more adventurous than Kady and don't care what other people think as much as she does. I am really excited for this trip – I want to look back on this period of our lives and feel like we made the most of it. What if I grow to hate it or want it removed? We don't need matching tattoos to show we're best friends I was initially on board with the tattoo plan, but then I told my parents and they freaked out. I think it's because no one in my family has a tattoo. They think they are 'common', which I know is classist. My dad also said that no one will employ me if I get one – which is a total overreaction in my opinion – and my mum is worried about the hygiene in the tattoo parlours in Thailand. All of that has got in my head a bit. I'm still keen, I just don't want to commit to it right now. The trip isn't for a while, so what's the rush? I really like the design Marnie has done for us, and I think it's cute that she wants to get matching ones. Cementing our friendship for life is a nice idea, but a part of me also wonders if I'll regret it in the years to come. Obviously we'll always be friends, but what if I grow to hate the design or just want it removed? There's a lot to consider. I'd also rather just wait and see how I feel once I start travelling. I want to go with the vibe of the trip and also see the tattoo parlour in person, get a feel for what the artist is like and how clean it is before I fully commit. Marnie is the kind of person who likes everything to be planned well in advance, whereas I'm more go with the flow. I don't think getting a tattoo should be scheduled too far in advance. We need to get the feel of the place and tweak the designs based on what they will look like on our bodies. We can only do that on the day we turn up, so I don't see the point in debating it too much now. I've always wanted a tattoo and Marnie isn't pressuring me. It was actually my idea initially, but Marnie has really run with it. I could definitely go ahead with a tattoo in the summer, but because it's my first one, I think it's a bigger deal for me. We're travelling for six weeks around Vietnam and Thailand, so I want to have a good trip with Marnie – that's my priority. Making special memories with my best friend is really important to me, but I don't think it's necessary to get a tattoo to show how close we are. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Should Kady get a tattoo? Why does Marnie need to be so rigid? It feels like all the decisions have been made by her, but holidays should be shared and spontaneous. She is ignoring Kady's ambivalence towards tattoos and not accepting other ways of bonding as 71 Marnie is placing more importance on the symbolism of the tattoo than on their actual friendship. There's no harm in having the design ready, but pressuring Kady to commit before she's ready isn't friendship. Marnie should focus on understanding Kady's concerns instead of trying to rush her to 37 This is a personal decision which Kady is right not to commit to if she's still on the fence. Marnie is excited and wants to plan it out, but she should back off – what's the rush? Also, keeping a fresh tattoo clean and in good nick is tricky at the best of times, let alone when backpacking and staying in 25 Getting a tattoo is a big deal, so Kady should be sure it's what she really wants – and 20cm is a big tattoo! If Marnie wants a tattoo to remember their holiday then good for her, but Kady shouldn't feel pressured to decide 35 This is a personal decision, and if Kady isn't sure then she doesn't need to commit right now. The most important thing is that they are going on the trip of a lifetime – if it feels right to get a tattoo while they're away, then Kady can go for 38 In our online poll, tell us: should Kady recommit to getting a tatoo? The poll closes on Wednesday 28 May at 10am BST We asked whether Lila should stop using boyfriend's earphones. 88% of you said yes – Lila is guilty 12% of you said no – Lila is not guilty
BBC News
22-05-2025
- BBC News
Dartmoor wild camping about responsibility not just rights
Wild camping is "not about large tents and fairy lights" Dartmoor's authority has said after a court decision affirming the right to pitch a tent on the Court judges unanimously rejected an appeal by landowners Alexander and Diana Darwall who said people should not be able to camp without permission from Supreme Court ruling means that people are legally allowed to camp in set areas of Dartmoor if they follow a code of wild campers are being urged to "tread lightly and leave no trace", by the park authority after the ruling. 'Sense prevailed' Wild camping has long been legal in Scotland under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, but in England there is no general right to wild camp on most private land, with Dartmoor being an exception.A code of conduct says tents and camping equipment must fit in a carriable backpack and no more than six people are allowed to camp together."It's only in certain areas, you can't just turn up and pitch up and it's not about large tents and fairy lights," said Dr Kevin Bishop, chief executive of Dartmoor National Park Authority."I'm certain that this case has put Dartmoor on the map for backpack camping, but please look at our website," he urged."Before you come check where you can go and what you can do." Tom Backhouse, who grew up exploring Dartmoor, said the ruling was a chance to reconnect with nature, if done respectfully. "We're guests on this land, the ecosystems and wildlife have been here far longer than us, so walking in and out without leaving a trace is vital," he Backhouse, who runs Wildcamp which promotes wild camping, said: "I'm genuinely pleased that sense prevailed on Dartmoor. "People have enjoyed that land for centuries. "Our hope is that responsible wild camping becomes a legal right in more places, just like in Scotland." Emma Preece, a solicitor who represents landowners at Charles Russell Speechlys, said the ruling may lead to a short-term influx of campers, but she did not believe it would lead to a rise in irresponsible behaviour. "Rural landowners need not panic," she said."The Supreme Court's decision won't open the floodgates as it is limited to the application of legislation specific to Dartmoor Commons."Landowners still have protections under other legislation."This isn't a green light for damage, it's a reminder of the balance between access and stewardship." What are campers allowed to do?Tents and camping equipment must fit in a carriable backpackNo more than six people are allowed to camp togetherCampers must blend into the landscape, out of sight from roads and buildingsMaximum camping length is two nightsNo overnight stays in vehicles, campervans or motorhomesLeave no trace - do not light fires and take all rubbish away Dr Bishop said: "It is important to note that it is not a blanket right to camp wherever, or do whatever, you want. "With the right comes a responsibility to make sure that you tread lightly and leave no trace."We have been robust in defending the right to backpack camp, we will be equally robust in ensuring that people exercise that right responsibly and with respect to landowners and farmers. "If you are thinking of backpack camping on Dartmoor it is important to follow the guidance on our website." Richard Broadbent, environmental lawyer at national law firm Freeths, said bad behaviour by visitors to Dartmoor was partly down to access to wild areas being a novelty in England there is no general right to wild camp on most private land - Dartmoor is a rare exception - while wild camping has long been legal in Scotland."We need a 'both-and' approach," he said. "Yes to access, but also yes to education and responsibility. "If we normalise outdoor experiences from a young age, we'll see fewer problems like littering or fire damage."
The Verge
18-05-2025
- The Verge
I used two GPS hiking apps for backpacking and I'll do it again
For most of my life, I've relied on a paper map when I go outdoors. Then, in March, I joined my friend Rusty on the Appalachian Trail for two weeks. He told me to download FarOut. FarOut was my introduction to the world of app-based navigation. It's focused on thru-hikers, and has useful details, including comments that tell you whether a specific water source is flowing, and if so, how well. It took me a minute to get the hang of it — I was hiking southbound, and it defaults to northbound — but once I did, I was impressed. FarOut works like a guidebook. But the kind of backpacking I ordinarily do is on more offbeat trails in the local national forests — not the wilderness highways FarOut specializes in. So for my first solo trip, to the Ventana Wilderness area of the Los Padres National Forest, I thought I'd try out some of the other navigation apps, as part of an absolutely transparent ploy to get my job to let me fuck off outdoors more often; there are a lot of hikes I want to do. I suspect many of our readers are connoisseurs of the great indoors, but I also know you love gadgets, and let me tell you something: so do backpackers. You would not believe the conversations I have had with absolute strangers about gear. Now, I'm not going to top Outdoor Gear Lab — I love their reviews, and have found them reliable guides when it comes to big purchases * — but I do work at the phones website. We kind of specialize in having feelings about apps. I considered several options. I quickly discarded onX Backcountry when I discovered on one of my trial hikes how quickly it drained my phone battery. I also used CalTopo to prepare for the hike, but because it's a fairly complex platform with a steep learning curve, I don't think I've spent enough time with it to give it a proper review.I figured I might as well keep it simple. I already knew Google Maps wouldn't cut it; the acquisitions Google has made over the years suggest that the company's more interested in cars than pedestrians. Looking at the Health and Fitness category on the Apple App Store, I noticed AllTrails ranked #10, so trying the popular app seemed natural. The other app I saw frequently mentioned on hiking subreddits — besides CalTopo — was Gaia GPS. So I figured I'd start with those two. There are a few other apps in the space I didn't consider. The most notable are Avenza and Goat Maps. I've found Avenza limited, but it seems the feature set has been updated since the last time I played with it. Goat Maps is new to me, but it's from the same team that created Gaia GPS before it was sold to Outside. (More about that in a minute.) Route planning Because this was my first solo hike, I was not interested in doing anything especially difficult. I've been to the Ventana Wilderness before, and am familiar with the Pine Ridge Trail, which I viewed as the backbone of my trip. One of the things AllTrails has going for it is suggested routes — for this area, 41 possible hikes. I had originally contemplated doing an overnight at China Camp before heading down the Pine Ridge Trail to Sykes Camp as an out-and-back, but after hiking with Rusty, I decided I could be more ambitious. I considered a few routes before settling on what AllTrails calls the Big Sur Sykes Hot Springs Extended Loop. That was partly because I'd checked in with the Big Sur Trail Map, a volunteer information repository hosted by Jack Glendening for trail conditions, and discovered a few trails I might have otherwise wanted to use were overgrown. AllTrails has user comments, which can be useful. One user told me to prepare for ticks and poison oak. Another suggested a stop at Timber Top for a meal or snack as it was beautiful, even if it was a detour, so I worked that into my agenda. In order to get a sense of what I'd be doing, I used tools to create my routes, with different lines for each day. CalTopo, AllTrails, and Gaia all have 'snap to route' tools that let you automatically follow a trail the map knows about, which makes creating a route easier. But once I started mapping my route, I noticed some trouble. AllTrails said this was a 32.8-mile hike. I had trouble getting Gaia to acknowledge the fire road that would be part of my route with its auto-route tool set; also, the app insisted I was hiking 40 miles. Both the AllTrails and Gaia 'snap to route' tools were easier to use than CalTopo, and it came up with a totally different mileage count than either: a 35-mile hike. Similarly, looking at elevation gain, AllTrails told me to expect 9,160 feet, CalTopo told me to expect 8901 feet, and Gaia, for some reason, was insisting on 19,000 feet. I gotta say, 19,000 feet did not seem like it was in the vicinity of right. Looking at the map I created on Gaia, I think that's because the 'snap to route' tool had given me some weird detours. Well, what's a couple miles and a few hundred feet of elevation between friends? I decided the smartest move would be to plan a four-day hike with three overnight stops: Sykes Camp, Rainbow Camp, and Outlaw Camp. I figured having more stops meant I could more easily absorb some unexpected miles if I had to. AllTrails' route-building tool was easiest to use, and the easiest to edit if I made a mistake. While I appreciated Gaia's similarly easy snap-to-trail function, it was a profound pain in the ass to edit after I'd made a route. And CalTopo was the most finicky for route-building of the bunch, requiring painstaking clicking. But it also had the best feature set, in terms of lines, colors, and editing. It also had more base layers and overlays showing, among other things, where to expect cellphone service. CalTopo and Gaia let you build and edit maps on a phone, but I primarily used my laptop because a big screen is better for planning routes, and a mouse is a more precise tool than my finger. Tinkering with Gaia on my phone, I found route creation buggy. AllTrails doesn't seem to offer route creation on the iPhone at all. This didn't matter much for me, but if you're creating routes on the fly in the backcountry, you're out of luck with AllTrails, and Gaia may suddenly quit working. Why use apps at all? I harbor a deep and profound pro-paper bias. A notebook is the best organizational tool available to you. I own hundreds of paper books because they don't have DRM and they can't be altered post-publication, or removed from my devices. I like paper maps a great deal, and have used them as my main navigation tool for my entire hiking career. Paper maps have downsides. They don't respond well to water, for instance. Wear and tear can render them unusable. They may be out of date. And, of course, there are no crowdsourced comments telling you about trail conditions before your hike. The obvious benefit of the navigation apps is the reassuring little blue dot The obvious benefit of the navigation apps is the reassuring little blue dot that tells you exactly where you are on the trail, without requiring nearly as much work. You can pull out your phone and see how much farther you need to go before arriving at a landmark. And most of us have our phones on our hikes because they're the most convenient way to take photos. Gaia and AllTrails offer downloadable maps as part of a premium service — for a subscription fee, of course. That's either $59.90 for Gaia or $89.99 for Gaia's Outside Plus, which includes access to Outside's assorted publications. The AllTrails Plus subscription I tested was $35.99 a year; after I went on my hike, it announced AllTrails Peak, which costs $79.99 a year and includes AI tools for route planning. (Given what I know about LLMs, I personally would not trust an AI to plan any hiking route, but I suppose your mileage may vary.) CalTopo, which offers its own set of subscription plans at $20, $50, and $100 a year, shows weather data and information about how much sunlight any part of its map gets at any hour of the day. There are a couple downsides to these apps. They drain the phone battery, which necessitates carrying a portable charger, which means more weight. If the phone doesn't work — because, say, you dropped it — the app won't work either. And there are, of course, the privacy issues. I don't want people to know where I am at all times My location is sensitive information; I don't want people to know where I am at all times. AllTrails defaults to sharing your data publicly, so anyone on Earth can look up your hikes. While you can change this setting, defaults matter. 'Public trail activities and community reviews are a big part of the AllTrails experience,' spokesperson Mia DeSimone in an email. I was also prompted to review my hike afterwards — part of the crowdsourced data that makes AllTrails work, I suppose. AllTrails also shares your data. Some of that is unobjectionable — payment providers, for instance — but some of it, like sharing data with marketing partners, raised my eyebrows. 'AllTrails does not process sensitive personal data, including precise geolocation, for purposes other than actual use of the AllTrails platform,' DeSimone said. I can't speak to the pluses and minuses of AllTrails Peak, which I haven't experimented with. But after my hike, AllTrails also discontinued its 'Advanced Conditions' feature that showed weather along a prospective route, what to expect from the ground (wet? icy?), and mosquito activity. AllTrails Peak users will get access to 'Trail Conditions,' which DeSimone says is 'significantly more robust and precise than Advanced Conditions.' Some AllTrails users seem unhappy about the new pricing tier. Gaia similarly defaults to public sharing, because of 'a social component designed to help users connect, share experiences, and discover trails,' said Devin Lehman, general manager of Gaia GPS, in an emailed statement. 'Public sharing of hikes is the default setting to encourage this community engagement.' Gaia also shares some data, including location data, with unnamed 'service providers,' but Lehman said this is done 'under strict data protection agreements' and is used to 'support and power specific features and functionalities.' Last year, Gaia began requiring sign-ins, catching a few people who were on multi-day trips by surprise. 'To ensure minimal disruption, we implemented a 'snooze' option allowing users to defer login for up to 28 days if prompted during an active trip,' Lehman wrote. 'Users entirely offline (airplane mode or zero cell service) would not see the prompt at all. However, we understand some users in areas with intermittent service did encounter unexpected prompts. We've taken user feedback seriously and continue refining our app experience to better support uninterrupted outdoor adventures.' Its parent company, Outside, also jacked up the cost of subscriptions, and on April 14th this year, it removed access to the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps. 'While we understand some subscribers valued the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps, these maps offered limited regional coverage and lacked the global scope and dynamic functionality our growing user base needs,' Lehman wrote. He says Gaia 'substantially expanded' its offerings in the last few years, and the price increase reflects 'the ongoing investment required to maintain and continuously improve Gaia GPS.' Be that as it may, I've got several friends who are disgruntled Gaia subscribers looking around for another option. And I personally do not have faith in Outside's management of Gaia, or its other properties, in the long run. On the trail Because I was uncertain about my mileage, I decided to track myself several ways: AllTrails, Gaia, and my Apple Watch Series 6. The Apple Watch isn't really an ideal fitness tracker for outdoors enthusiasts — it's flimsy and its battery drains too fast; even the Ultra 2 only gives you 72 hours in low power mode. What it does have going for it is that I already own it, and there are other pieces of gear that were more important to upgrade after my experience on the AT. The Big Four in pack weight are your tent, sleeping bag or quilt, sleeping pad, and pack itself. Updating my tent and quilt, both expensive, also meant I lost about 5 pounds of weight from my pack immediately. Since this wasn't a long hike and I was already carrying a battery, the Apple Watch's propensity to drain quickly, even with both low power mode and theater mode on, didn't seem too terrible. I set out from the trailhead Monday morning, and turned on tracking for AllTrails, Gaia, and my Apple Watch. As with all tracking, there are opportunities for user error — I am of course capable of forgetting to turn this stuff on, or pausing it and then never unpausing it. I mention this because there was user error: I paused the AllTrails tracker and then never unpaused it, so as far as it's concerned, I hiked 3.7 miles that first day. I was more successful with my watch and Gaia. I started my watch late — looking at the map, I seem to have missed at least a mile before I started it; it recorded 9 miles of walking. I did start Gaia at the beginning of my hike, and it recorded I hiked 11.6 miles. Both watch and app recorded about 2,400 feet of ascent, a little less than what CalTopo told me to expect (2,600 feet of elevation gain) and significantly less than what AllTrails told me to expect (3,000 feet). I arrived at Sykes Camp, alongside the Big Sur River, a little after 4PM, and set up my tent. It was close enough to dinnertime that I decided to eat. As I was hunched over the stove, a woman walked by, so I said hello. She was looking for the hot spring, and continued walking upriver. About 45 minutes later, she returned. She hadn't found it. The hot spring wasn't listed on the AllTrails map, the CalTopo map, or either of my paper maps. But it was on Gaia, and after dinner, I found the hot spring, a half-mile hike on a somewhat overgrown path downriver, and soaked blissfully for about half an hour. I'd post a selfie, but this is the internet, and I know better than to post feet for free. The next morning I packed up and headed off to Rainbow Camp around 8:45AM. This, I knew, would be an up-and-down day of ridgeline hiking; AllTrails had a helpful elevation map telling me roughly what to expect. Unlike Sykes, Rainbow Camp was likely to be a place I'd be alone. Most of the people I'd spoken to the day before were doing an out-and-back, with Sykes as their only stop. But this ridgeline hike was spotted with wildflowers. I'd planned for this to be a fairly short day, only about 7 miles. I pulled into Rainbow Camp around 2PM and was underwhelmed — it was buggy and not especially scenic. So after eating lunch and refreshing my water supply, I decided to push on to Cold Spring Camp. The AllTrails map suggested it would only be 5 miles more. It was uphill, though, about 2,000 more feet of climbing. Even if I dragged along at 1 mile an hour, I'd still arrive before sunset. I'd thought about camping at Cold Spring before I set off, and had shied away from it both because of the climb and my uncertainty about the actual mileage of my hike. But I was feeling good, and I'd used my Garmin InReach Mini to check in about my change of plans, so I shoved off. According to my trackers recording my actual route — Gaia and AllTrails — it was more like 6 miles, not 5. Gaia tracked 4,884 feet of climb over a total distance of 13.6 miles; AllTrails suggested I'd climbed 5,213 feet over 14.6 miles. (Did I miss a mile somewhere on Gaia? I don't see a gap in the recording, so I'm not sure how to account for the difference.) My Apple Watch said I'd gone 11.5 miles, also with 4,884 feet of climb — but its battery died before I made camp. I set up camp at Cold Spring, and watched the sun go down over the ocean as I ate dinner. The extra mileage meant I could plausibly make it home the following day. Sure, there were several camps available if I was too tired to do the rest of the hike, but depending on which tracker I used as my source of truth, I had somewhere between 11 and 13 miles left, a fairly easy day of hiking, particularly since it would all be downhill. The third day opened with ridgeline views; I was above a thick ceiling of clouds hiding the ocean. There were, of course, more wildflowers. When I turned off the dirt road onto Terrace Creek Trail, I met a day hiker going the other direction, who warned me about ticks on the grassy descent toward a redwood grove. (Maybe because he went through just before me, or maybe because of the permethrin I'd used on my clothes, I didn't see any.) I made it back to the parking lot a little after 4PM. I'd had some user error with my Apple Watch — forgetting to start it again after breakfast at Timber Top, so there was an hour and a half gap in its data — and it recorded 11 miles. AllTrails crapped out at some point between when I set off from Cold Spring and breakfast, so it didn't record my entire hike. Still, it got 11.63 miles. Gaia also had a gap in its recording (something wrong with my phone?) and put me at 12.7 miles. I thought the hike would settle how long the route was. It did, in a way — certainly the hike was longer than the 32.8 miles AllTrails had promised. If we take Gaia's tracking, which was the most complete of the bunch, as the source of truth, I'd hiked 38 miles, 39 if I added the hike to the hot spring. Conclusion… of some sort While I had my paper maps (and compass) with me, the point was to test the apps, and they worked well enough that I didn't have to refer to my 'real' maps at all. But I also didn't come away with a single clear winner, whether AllTrails or Gaia was best. AllTrails offered better route-planning features, while Gaia was more reliable on the trail. Both had worrisome inaccuracies in their data, which meant in practical terms that I lugged around another day of food in extra weight because I wasn't totally sure how far I'd be climbing or walking. That's consequential — food and water are usually the heaviest things a hiker carries. I certainly wouldn't recommend relying on either of these, particularly without a backup map, and I'm not sold on how they handle my privacy. AllTrails seems to be aimed at people who are more casual hikers than I am. I don't think Outside has been a good steward of Gaia (or of Outside Magazine). I also hesitate to recommend pricey subscriptions to these apps, given the issues I had with them. In fact, as I was writing this, I realized the most useful app in planning the trip was the one I hadn't downloaded maps from: CalTopo. I haven't tested CalTopo in the backcountry yet, so consider this a cliffhanger. Please feel free to pop over to the comments to demand I be allowed to go backpacking for work sooner rather than later, so you can hear more about my map-related misadventures. I've been eyeing the Tahoe Rim Trail for later this summer, and if I'm testing gear, it doesn't count as vacation time, right? Right? * Except in the case of bras. Outdoor Gear Lab's top bra recommendation's largest size is a C cup, and the reviews are written primarily for teeny tatas. That's an astounding editorial failure. Not only do athletes of big titty experience have a harder time finding bras at all, we are more likely to experience boob pain — which is a major reason women quit sports. Breast tissue is dead weight, so bra structure is crucial. A bra that's stretchy enough to fit over your head won't keep the girls in place during high-impact exercise. Some other rules of thumb: racerbacks press on your traps; thin straps cut into your shoulders; a thick, tight band is a must for weight distribution. A low-cut bra means an astonishing amount of cleavage, but a high neckline will make your gazongas look even bigger, so pick your poison, I guess. (Also, a high-cut bra worn for a long time will incubate a real banner crop of cleavage zits and, in some cases, chafing.) For running, I like Enell's High Impact Bra — it's the only one I've tried that's kept my rack from bouncing. (It's also recommended by Swole Woman Casey Johnston
