Orientation & Navigation
Into the Dark: How to Navigate Safely When the Mountain Has No Light
Night hiking is not day hiking with a headlamp. The terrain reads differently, landmarks disappear,…
How Professional Guides Plan Routes — and What That Approach Changes
A guide’s route plan and a hiker’s route plan cover the same terrain. The difference…
GPX Files: How to Find, Create and Follow Them Without Becoming Dependent on Them
A GPX file is the most practical navigation tool for modern mountain hikers. It is…
Gaia GPS: The Navigation App That Works When the Others Don’t
Gaia GPS is more complex than AllTrails and more technical than Komoot. It is also…
Finding Your Way: A Beginner’s Guide to Route-Finding on Mountain Trails
Route-finding is different from navigation. Navigation tells you where you are. Route-finding tells you which…
Dedicated GPS vs. Smartphone: An Honest Comparison for Mountain Navigation
Both work. Both fail. The failure modes are different, the strengths are different, and the…
AllTrails: What It Does Well, What It Doesn’t, and When to Use Something Else
AllTrails is the world’s most popular hiking app. Popularity and suitability are not the same…