A map misprint sent me on a wild detour last fall | Backpacking Routes

Tessa Wilson · 2026-02-27T03:20:44.557233+00:00

I was following a route in the North Cascades and the trail on my map didn't match the ground. Instead of backtracking, I used a compass to aim for a ridge I could see, which led me to a connector trail. It added a couple hours but the views were insane. Have you ever had to navigate around a clear map error?

the_barbara6mo ago

Actually read about a guy last year who followed his GPS right into a closed forestry road. Thing was totally washed out. Had to winch his truck out with some serious effort. Makes you double check even the official sources sometimes. Your ridge navigation was way smarter than just trusting the line on the paper.

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cooper.reese5mo ago

That washed out forestry road story is wild. I mean, a GPS telling you to drive straight into a missing road is next level wrong. I'd be sitting there just staring at the map and then the huge hole in the ground.

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fionaw426mo ago

Compass and ridge was a good call. I've had to ignore a mapped stream before that was definitely not there. You just sort of stare at the empty dirt for a minute.

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