[ssgg]

Hi All, I have been wanting to develop my route planning skills. Are there good areas in WA which are suitable. Mainly I dont want to accidentally end up in sketchy slopes or super long bush wacking stretches. To give some context: 1. I have gone on long off trail routes in groups but not much when i am taking the lead 2. I have been backpacking regularly is more established trails 3. I am looking for 2-3 day trips and prioritizing solitude first, and views next. Thanks in advance for your inputs

[Conrad]

A good place to start is location tracking on trail. Just make it a point to frequently try to determine where you are on the map. Clues are

• Landmarks like streams, switchbacks
• Direction to visible landmarks like peaks
• Direction and steepness of slope
• Estimate distance from last known location based on time since last known location

Do it with compass and map, no GPS; I question whether you learn anything when using GPS. And thank the USGS for doing all the hard work up front!

[Kim Brown]

Go above treeline! Hit PCT, or trails in the Pasayten (if you can find an area that's not burned and full of down trees) and jump off from there; the PCT is a pretty good baseline to exit and return. And yeah, I think the advice to use map & compass, at least until you know WTF it's all about, is the best. That's what I have done (but I'm not an expert route finder). Maybe this is too rudimentary for you though...?

[asdf]

In my experience, part of route finding *is* finding yourself above sketchy slopes or facing impenetrable bushwacks. Then you take stock, turn around, head back, and look for another way. A great way to practice route finding is dead reckoning while you are on a trail. Put the map and GPS away and hike a while. Pay attention to what you see. Then after a few hours, see how closely you can predict where you are on the map.

[zephyr]

You might want to reach out to the Bushwhacker Climbing Club. I took their Glacier Course several years ago and navigation with map and compass was a big part of their training. There are surely other clubs and organizations that have similar courses. Occasionally they offer map and compass training/refresher to members free of charge. Their schedule is currently affected by the pandemic, but you may be able to connect with someone offline since they still send out emails to members. ~z

[Kim Brown]

[Waterman]

Jeff is right about the alpine lakes high route. I second his warning about the Iron cap variation. You would learn much more by finding your way from Azurite lake. Harvey Manning's descriptions of hikes always had hints to seek out faint trails. When my buddy and I finally went to the foss lakes that area provided plenty of opportunity to learn off trail route finding skills. The USGS 7.5 map Big Snow shows the highest density of lakes in the state. Faint paths lead to most of them. Trout to the necklace would be easier. Have fun. Take a paper map and most vital, an altimeter.

[Cyclopath]

Teanaway is a good place for this, too. There are woods, but not the suffocating kind. Plenty of open space too. Some scramble peaks, a ridge walk, and lots of opportunity to step off the trail and make your way to a different one for a loop.

[puzzlr]

I assume you're talking about off trail. If so, it's important that you can reverse your path. On the way in you'll naturally avoid cliffs and dangerous terrain, but it's surprisingly hard to back track the same route out. At critical spots arrange some sticks or other natural objects to remind yourself which way to go. For example where to drop off a ridge. (Please don't use flagging).

[the1mitch]

IMHO, altimeters rock. Using a map, altimeter, and a compass you should be able to find yourself pretty closely. BIG CAVEAT if you have good visibility. I agree with the above comment about avoiding GPS. One time on Three Fingers we had a couple ask us where the look out was. He had all brand new REI gear and no knowledge or wisdom. We said it's right there, pointing into the cloud. Response? Our GPS shows it "over there". I tried to explain that the route "over there" involved a cliff. We slept warm in the look out and never saw them after we parted company.. Experiment and see how close you can place yourself on the map. have fun and get better with time. Start with the basics, can you orient a map? can you run a compass ? Do you know how to shoot a bearing? Talk to someone who has Special Ops or light infantry training. They don't bite......

[80skeys]

REI offers a good class in how to use map-and-compass. Seems like that would be the right first place to start.