Choosing and Planning Your Hike

How do I choose a trail?

I am on many hiking blogs, facebook pages and groups, instagram. Many of those give me ideas, but dont take these ideas and run with them without doing some research and preparation. 

I use the WTA app, All Trails app to look up hikes. Both ones that I was clued in on in the above ways or by searching for new ones I havent heard of before. 

Can search by miles, elevation gain, lake, waterfall, views. How near they are to me. Even if they are kid friendly! 

I read the description, the trail stats (miles and elevation) and also the most recent trip reports. 

It is the trip reports that tell me road conditions, if I have to take a high clearance SUV or if I can get away with my gas mileage friendly car. They also tell me the most up to date trail conditions, closures etc. Any tips I may need for the hike. 

I check how far the drive is so I can plan accordingly. 

Then I choose. 

I have a list in "my backpack" on the WTA app of hikes I am interested in. 

After I have done those things, the evening before my planned hike, I open the Gaia app (19$/year) and search for that trail map. Open the map and download the section needed. By downloading the section I need prior while I still have cell coverage, it is accessible at the trailhead when I most likely will no longer have service. You do not need cell service to use the gps function to track yourself, in fact when I reach the trailhead I pull up the saved map and press record. Then I turn my phone on airplane mode to save battery. I always have an extra battery pack too. 

This tracks my mileage and elevation gain/loss in real time and shows me on the map so I can use it for directional purpose so I dont go the wrong way at a fork in the trail, go off trail and get lost. It also helps if I do get lost, I can find my way back.

Sometimes I even find side/spur trails on it that tell me where or what it leads to when there is no signage present. Or at a fork in the road I might want to go on another trail for a quick lake detour etc. I can see that all on the map. 

It is not a personal locator beacon or gps/satellite messaging system. 

But it is a very good gps map app!