Packing my fears | Pinnacle Newsletter #54
#54 Packing my fears
‘Packing your fears’ is a saying commonly used in the ultralight backpacking community. It means adding extra gear to your pack to compensate for unlikely imagined scenarios. The less you understand your true needs and abilities, the more you’ll worry, and the more likely you’ll be to pile in unnecessary extra gear to compensate for it.
Since my original blog post on gear for my Haute Route Pyrenees thru-hike this July, I’ve made quite a few changes to the gear list. The big one is that I’ve decided not to bring paper maps this time at all. It’s a decision I’m expecting to take a bit of flak for, but it’s the right choice for this objective. Here’s why.
For years, I have used a combination of ViewRanger on my phone and a Garmin handheld GPS for navigating on long-distance backpacking routes. I’ve always carried paper maps, but they've been vestigial backups, carried in the event of equipment failure but never used.
This time things are different. Carrying paper maps for 800km would require either posting some ahead in resupply packages (which I’m not keen to do because it’s an enormous hassle), or printing out maps at such a poor level of detail that they would be useless anyway. My original plan was to carry overview maps for the whole trail in the event of smartphone failure, but I’ve come round to the view that this is just creating more problems for myself when there is a far simpler option.
I think I’ve reached the point where carrying paper maps for the sake of it is an example of packing my fears.
It’s time to go paperless. Rather than carry compass, smartphone, GPS watch and (poor) paper maps, I’ll be carrying compass, smartphone, GPS watch and (mapping-equipped) handheld GPS. The weight will work out about the same, but the difference is that I’ll be able to actually navigate with the handheld GPS. Using the overview paper maps was always going to be a gamble.
The handheld GPS will be the backup system. It will contain complete topographic maps for the Pyrenees and all my prepared GPX files.
This system is not completely foolproof – it’s theoretically possible that the satellite network could go down, but even without GPS pinpointing my location I will still have electronic maps and a baseplate compass. And it isn’t as efficient a system as I’d like, because my GPS watch isn’t mapping-enabled. If it were, I could leave the handheld Garmin at home.
Experience has shown me that hiking long and challenging alpine routes without paper mapping can be made as safe as using traditional methods, and for some people can actually be the better choice. Perhaps the reason I’ve clung to a paper backup system for so long as that I’ve been packing my fears for a while now: fear of some implausible sequence of disasters somehow knocking out all my electronics at once, fear of criticism, and perhaps an irrational, deep-seated luddite twinge. It’ll be a step into the unknown for me, but this is the right choice for this trail.
Needless to say, people who prefer paper map and compass need change nothing if they’re happy with their system. There’s another saying in the ultralight community: ‘hike your own hike’.
In other news…
Vertebrate Publishing are hiring a creative artworker. A good opportunity here for someone! I’ve been working with Vertebrate lately – they’re doing great work in the outdoor publishing industry as they expand.
The new issue of Green Outdoors magazine has launched. Looks like it will be an interesting read.
Recently published
What I’ve been reading this week – this week’s quality online reads.
Ten years ago: Aonach Beag and Ben Nevis, Alpine-style – a story from one decade ago. This day still ranks among the top five I’ve ever spent in the mountains.
The draw of the Cape Wrath Trail – in conversation with backpackers who are planning CWT hikes, plus a few who have recently returned.
Chased by Storms: 113 miles along the HRP and GR11 – my original TGO magazine feature on the Pyrenees from 2017, republished online for the first time.
Review: OMM Rotor Vest – my review of a highly versatile insulated garment.
Until next time,
Alex
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