Got completely turned around on the Lost Coast Trail last fall

I was hiking the northern section near Mattole Beach, and the fog rolled in so thick you couldn't see 20 feet. The trail markers just vanished into the grey, and I ended up following a game trail for over an hour before I realized my compass was off by a few degrees. Had to backtrack almost two miles to get my bearings again. Anyone have a reliable GPS unit they trust for coastal conditions like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

faith1226d ago

Yeah the fog out there is no joke. I was trying to find the tide pools south of Big Flat and the mist came in so fast. Spent forty minutes convinced a weird shaped rock was the trail cairn I was looking for. My phone's map was just a blue dot spinning in a grey blob, totally useless. Sometimes you just have to admit you're lost and stop moving.

ivang9826d ago

Happened to me near Shelter Cove once. Ended up just sitting down and waiting for a breeze to clear the fog. My old Garmin eTrex never lets me down out there.

the_seth13d ago

Used to laugh at people who carried dedicated GPS units. Watched a friend's phone die from the cold while my cheap old handheld still had three bars and a solid lock. Changed my mind real fast about which tech is actually reliable.