It's entirely possible to fall down and break a leg in the back country and be unable to walk out. Plus, the rangers had local knowledge of what was interesting in their neighborhood. Waterfalls, good fishing, epic views... I always loved those USGS maps showing elevation and sometimes we would just walk to a hidden lake by navigation. "It's got to be just on the other side of that pass so... let's go!" It was a reasonable way to hike above timberline. Not so practical in the woods.
In the High Sierra, people would stack rocks on top of each other in order to mark trails. Above timber line, the ground is all granite and wearing a trail into the dirt just doesn't happen. We would walk to a stack of rocks, look for the next stack and walk there and then look for the next stack of rocks... and on and on... That way we were able to go backpacking using "Ducks" to navigate. Since it was impossible for rocks to stack themselves, we knew that people had gone there before and were marking the trail...
In the High Sierra, people would stack rocks on top of each other in order to mark trails. Above timber line, the ground is all granite and wearing a trail into the dirt just doesn't happen. We would walk to a stack of rocks, look for the next stack and walk there and then look for the next stack of rocks... and on and on... That way we were able to go backpacking using "Ducks" to navigate. Since it was impossible for rocks to stack themselves, we knew that people had gone there before and were marking the trail...
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| Big Brother is Watching You - Flying Eyeball FREE COLORING BOOK ART by gvan42 |
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| Snake Dance CelebrationFREE COLORING BOOK ART by gvan42 |
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