How to Plan a Backpacking Trip: Route Planning Tools & Processes
Planning a backpacking trip can be easy or complex. The process you take to plan a route depends on the length (how many miles), duration (how many days), tread (trails vs. cross-country travel), terrain (mountains, desert, etc.), environment (weather, snowpack, river levels), remoteness, and more. Combine this with an overwhelming number of tools and technologies used in route planning, the widespread distribution of relatively uninformative “Plan a backpacking trip in 7 easy steps!” blog posts, and increase competition for the most popular destinations make route planning a core skill in a backpacker’s toolkit.
In this event, we’ll provide insight into what makes route planning more challenging today than in the past. In addition, we’ll approach route planning in the context of complex wilderness trips in remote environments.
The objective of this webinar is to give you the confidence needed to plan your own backpacking routes, rather than relying on what someone else has told you to do – and to do so knowing that you have planning a route that is accomplishable, safe, and enjoyable.
Keynote: Route Planning Tools & Processes (~30 minutes, by Ryan Jordan)
- route planning challenges
- purpose and outcomes of route planning
- route planning tools and technologies
- route planning process for planning complex wilderness trips in remote environments
Route Planning Q&A (~ 20 minutes)
- How to use route mapping tech to find campsites and water sources
- How to deal with trails on maps that no longer exist in real life
- Comparison of mobile mapping apps and the information provided when zoomed in
- Can you rely on a topo map alone to find campsites?
- How to organize and store route info, beta, maps, etc. on phone vs. desktop
- Fatmap vs. Google Earth
About the Event & Access Info
Live Event Info:
- Event Description: Route Planning Tools and Processes (Member Q&A)
- Date and Time: Friday, April 1, 2022, 7:00 PM US Mountain Time
Backpacking Light Member Q&A Sessions are Hour-Long Members-Only Live Events – they are recorded and the recorded session will be made available below after the live event has ended.
To access the live or recorded (video) version of this event, a printable slide deck for note-taking, and the related resources/downloads, you must be logged in with an active Basic, Premium or Unlimited Membership.
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- Download the Slide Deck (PDF)
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Discussion
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Companion forum thread to: Route Planning Tools & Processes (Member Q&A)
Planning a route for wilderness backpacking trips in remote environments can be complicated. In this webinar, learn about route planning tools and processes that simplify planning and help you plan safe, comfortable trips in the backcountry.
Thanks Ryan for the informative session. I wanted to add a few experiences that I believe compliment the session.
I completely agree that the Trek Planning Master Class is a great way to continue if this session has sparked your interest. I took the course and came away with a new way of looking at not only multi-day trek planning, but also how to scout potential areas of interest for shorter activities like day hikes. I put it to use in the White River NF a few months later, where my research put me onto a trail that was exceptional and off the beaten path. I even got a compliment from a local we met on trail for finding an area not many know about. I picked that trail and area because of the research I did showed me things a simple trail or area map would not have.
I also wanted to concur with the use of local Ranger districts for on the ground planning information. The pre-trip planning phone calls to ranger stations have given me valuable local feedback on conditions, weather, and area utilization trends. Also I would add to that make time on a trip, even if it is after the trek, to personally stop in at the ranger station and have a chat with them. In person you have the ability to establish a relationship with them and my experience has been when they ‘see’ your enthusiasm / respect for the outdoors the conversations get much more interesting. On a recent trip in the Black Hills NF these chats gave us the opportunity to see a Rangers personal video of Black Footed ferrets in the wild she had taken while out on a a recent ferret monitoring project. My kids were ecstatic since they have two ferrets at home and are just a little ferret crazy.
Additionally along that information gathering line is, when the opportunity presents itself, talk to the people you see on trail especially those less traveled ones. It may be too late for planning value, but can be very valuable for future treks. In one memorable example I met someone from the area and was given a great tip on a close by but out of the way camp spot. Luckily we had the extra food to add a night to our trip on the fly, a plus of packing my own freeze dried meals that adds minimal extra weight. The next morning my family and I shared some camp coffee and nearly two hours of good conversation with our fellow trekker. All this made the whole trip even more memorable.
I hope these comments can be useful to the BPL community.
Hi Ryan,
For future videos, can you offer the “settings” option to watch at x2 speed? Thanks!
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