Old paper maps still beat my phone on the Wind River Highline

I did the Highline Trail back in July and my phone died on day two near Island Lake. I had downloaded the GPS route but the battery just gave up in the cold. I pulled out a paper map I bought for 8 bucks at a gas station in Pinedale and somehow felt way more lost but also way more in control. The switchbacks north of Big Sandy were clearer on the map than any app I've used. Now I carry a paper map plus a small compass on every trip over 20 miles. Has anyone else gone back to the old way after a tech fail?

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the_michael1mo ago

The phone dying is honestly a sign you should stick with it, not ditch it. A cheap backup battery weighs less than a compass and a paper map, and you can charge your phone twice for less than 10 ounces. Those switchbacks north of Big Sandy are actually easier on an app like CalTopo because you can zoom right into the trail and see every bend, a paper map can't do that. Paper maps tear, get soaked, and you can't search for a campsite or reroute around a washout without flipping through folds. You just got unlucky with the battery cold, but that's a gear problem, not a tech problem.

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