Reading maps, using navigation tools, understanding terrain, preparing for changing conditions, and staying oriented on the trail.
A practical guide to recognizing when a smartphone GPS track is giving you more confidence than useful information—and how to combine it with a paper map, compass, and sound trail judgement.
A practical, step-by-step reset for hikers whose compass bearing leads toward a cliff, dense vegetation, water, or other impassable terrain.
A practical guide to navigating when wildfire smoke obscures landmarks, affects judgement, disrupts communication, and forces a route change in Western Canada or the United States.
A practical guide to reading beyond the wind forecast when choosing a campsite, with advice on how terrain, forests, valleys, ridgelines, and changing storm direction affect the wind you actually experience.
How to distinguish an unmarked junction, an old trail, a false path, and a navigation error before committing to the wrong line.
An introduction to recognizing avalanche terrain and understanding forecast language before planning a hike through snow-covered mountain passes.
A practical guide to handling forest roads and unmarked junctions after dark, with sensible ways to slow down, confirm direction, use track logs, and avoid turning a late arrival into a larger navigation problem.
Practical techniques for staying oriented and making conservative route choices when alpine trails fade or disappear in the Canadian Rockies.
A practical guide for beginner backpackers choosing between a paper map and compass, GPS device, and phone by considering terrain, battery limits, visibility, and navigation skill.
A practical method for checking digital navigation against ridges, drainages, saddles, and trail direction.
A practical guide for beginner backpackers on using a paper map when a phone battery is nearly empty, including orienting the map, matching terrain, estimating progress, and making conservative route decisions without electronics.
A practical guide to combining forecasts, landforms, vegetation, and nearby ridges to anticipate wind before choosing a high-country campsite.
A practical guide to using contour lines to estimate steepness, identify terrain features, and make better route decisions when a trail description leaves out important details.
A practical guide to interpreting mountain forecasts in Western Canada, including temperature, wind, precipitation, freezing level, thunderstorms, and how to turn forecast information into safer daily decisions.
A practical guide to adjusting mileage, water planning, start times, campsite selection, and bailout options when a backpacking trip may coincide with an early heat wave.
A practical field procedure for navigating safely above treeline when dense fog removes the usual visual references, using bearings, terrain features, pacing, and deliberate decision points.
A practical, step-by-step method for resolving confusing trail junctions without guessing, using map evidence, travel direction, terrain, and a calm reset.
A practical guide to navigating winter trails by combining map evidence, terrain, weather history, and the reliability of existing tracks instead of following footprints automatically.
A practical paper-map marking system for routes, water, campsites, bailouts, and decision points that stays readable in the field.
A practical, cautious framework for comparing conflicting forecasts and deciding whether to continue, delay, reroute, or turn back when wind, thunderstorms, rain, or snow could affect a backcountry trip.
A practical framework for setting weather thresholds, checking forecasts, recognizing deteriorating conditions, and retreating early in the Canadian Rockies.
Practical approaches to map cases, folding, marking, and using wet-weather navigation notes without destroying the map.
A practical framework for deciding whether microspikes belong in your pack when overnight freezing may create icy trail conditions, with guidance on terrain, timing, exposure, alternatives, and when to turn around.
A practical guide to planning backpacking trips during spring freeze-thaw conditions, including how to judge mud, ice, swollen streams, and unstable snow when choosing footwear, timing, routes, and daily distances.