Directions

Not an abstract but something that really made me think happened today.

Blipper EvelyneNC had a scary event as she was walking in an area near her home and got "lost".   Even though she had her phone, hardly any battery and as I know, in some areas, cell service is not great or not at all.  She had the smarts to keep walking to try to get to an area that had service so she could pull up Google maps to see where she was, put in a landmark so she had a point for reference.  This worked.     A call to her hubby from here and all was well.    

But what if...totally scary thought!

I have the tools I use for hiking as sometimes I am by myself.  I have the app on my iphone Find My Family which links my phone with Jerry so he can see where I am. We used this several years ago when I traveled across the US with another blipper.  It let him know where we were on our journey.   He keeps track if I make a day trip with friends here.  Gives him peace of mind.    Then in areas that I hike that are new to me I use Map my Walk/Hike which keeps a "trail" on the map that you can use to retrace your footsteps.   When we walk in the forest out west in Colorado or unfamiliar trails, I do use it. Some hikers use the Alltrails app which is not a free one but I don't do enough long distance hikes to pay for this.     Apps do eat up battery life so I carry a charger that I keep fully charged so I can plug my phone into it as I am on the move.  There are also solar chargers that I know long distance hikers use to keep their phone going as they walk.    I always have a paper map of the trail area I am walking especially if it is a new trail or has connecting trails.  In the mountains here in SC and NC, there are several trails that cross each other so if helps to make sure I am on the right trail if it is not marked well.  

It pays to be a little prepared even in the best conditions.   Most times on longer hikes I have people with me.  

Thankful for all the tools available to make walking and hiking safer.   As the weather gets cooler I plan to be out on the trail more often.   With my tools!   

I let Evelyne know what I use in hopes that she won't have a bad experience on the trail again.