In July, I had the privilege of traversing the White Mountains of Idaho with Kula Cloth Founder Anastasia Allison. During the months leading up to the trip, I poured out my map of the area, putting together a beautiful route of my own creation.
Looking at maps and figuring out how to get around is simply one of my favorite things. That’s what drew me to packing – at the water’s edge, pump up the boat and move on. And that’s what drew me to adventure racing, a sport that not only involves a combination of activities – hiking, mountain biking and boating are essential – but also requires the special use of maps, a compass and a walking altimeter.
And my love of navigating maps extends to the foreland. A few years ago, while visiting a friend in Santiago, Chile, I found myself with an entire day to explore the famous city. While my friend went to work, I opened a map of the sprawling metropolis — complete with a subway system — and made a mental note of places that looked impressive. Then I left.
The day ended up featuring a random fish market inspection and an off-the-beaten-track museum tour. It included well-known places, such as the town square, where old men played chess. I was happy with everything.
While I’ve quickly embraced technology in many aspects of my life — as a co-founder of GGG, running an e-commerce store from rural Idaho while working with a remote team — I’ve been hesitant to let it seep into my time outside.
This is partly because my time in the mountains is my chance to take a break from work, to get away from the junk that fills my day. Also, it’s because I also don’t want a phone that interferes with my relationship with nature. I like to notice subtle things – the color of the clouds, the shape of the earth and the hoot of an owl in the distance.
But this method has its problems too. A few weeks ago, while out for a run, I sprained my ankle badly. As I walked home in tears, I kept wishing I had my phone to call my husband, so he could come pick me up from the square, avoid the last mile of the road. Also, while in the White Cloud Mountains with Anastasia, I found myself rethinking the idea of using a GPS.
When Anastasia reached out before our trip to get our exact route to download to her GPS app, I was a little surprised. The follow-up mentioned by inReach did nothing to ease my anxiety.
All I could see was on the Wind River High Route last summer and I could see people looking down, with their phones attached, using them to guide each step. At one point, I wanted to shout to someone, “The pass is so obvious. It’s up here. Just put the phone down and go there.”
But with Anastasia, I took the ‘one to her’ route, keeping my mouth shut and still bursting with joy at our meeting at the end of the long, winding forest road.
Our White Clouds trip ended up being amazing on every level, and fun, at least for me. At every intersection and confusing turn, I would pull out my map and Anastasia would pull out her phone. We all came across our respective machines and compared notes.
In this way, we cross limestone peaks and sapphire lakes with ease (minus a few parts of the road with horrible dust and one night of mosquitoes so numerous that they turned the sky from green to gray.)
I have to admit, more than once I was grateful for the extra layer of confidence that we were on the right track. And, yes, even inReach ended up giving me some peace of mind, knowing we had a way to communicate with the outside world, should the need arise.
Input from Instagram
After what happened to White Clouds, I started to wonder about other people’s opinions on the question of whether to install a map or use an app. So, here at GGG, we posed a question to our Instagram community.
In our informal, non-scientific Instagram poll, 81 people voted for the map and 96 people voted for the app. The follow-up comments seemed interesting, many people found the combination of the two helpful.
There is nothing wrong with using navigation technology, but it is a fool’s errand to rely on such things.. – @mtncrusher.
The main navigation app, it’s fast and easy to see where you are. The map is a backup. – @lonestarultralight
If I can’t find the map, I download the app and print it, the batteries die. – @jonbarton56
Both. Always have a backup map. – @tbryceryan
Use the app but you should still be able to use a map and compass. – @csmith_on the plane
Also, my personal favorite:
Or … I’m getting lost. – @elenabriane
Input from Experts
As part of my curiosity about this subject, I was interested in knowing about the long-term effects it might have on our brains. Vox article with the title Is GPS Harming Our Ability to Navigate? provides interesting information.
“I think GPS devices are causing our navigation skills to atrophy, and there’s increasing evidence of it. The problem is that you don’t see the overall view of the area, and where you are in relation to other things. You’re not actively moving – you’re just listening to the voice,” Nora Newcombe, a psychologist at Temple University who studies spatial awareness, told Vox.
The Vox article goes on to say…
Eleanor Maguire of University College London found that city taxi drivers (who are forced to memorize 25,000 routes as part of a strict licensing test) have larger hippocampi than non-drivers and bus drivers.
The work raised an important question: Were people with spatial knowledge (with large hippocampi) flocking to taxi work in the first place – or was it the process of building a large, detailed mental map of London that caused their hippocampi to grow?
Some research by Maguire shows that it is actually the latter. He followed 79 taxi drivers who had been training for the test for four years, and found that 39 failed. he saw significant growth in their hippocampi at that time. Failed drivers saw little growth, and a control group of non-drivers saw even less.
This points to an important fact about navigational ability: It can change over time. Newcombe now believes that some people’s ability to create spatial maps is not some kind of genetically determined trait like height or eye color, but a skill they must develop through work. People who are “bad” at navigation, he says, simply don’t use this skill often enough.
Piggybacking from Maguire’s 2011 study, a 2014 study examined the question of whether a smaller hippocampus could lead to age-related dementia. After following 97 subjects for two years, the study concluded:
After adjustment for age and vascular risk factors, hippocampal volume was a significant predictor of mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
The long and short of it seems like exercise, using spatial thinking to navigate yourself creates potential long-term health benefits. Although the opposite is also true i.e. it is lost if you don’t use it.
The decision
While I won’t be ditching my paper map anytime soon and still cringe when I see people glued to their phones in the backcountry, I now think there is a time and place for GPS apps. I look at them as a reality check, a way to make sure I’m actually where I think I am. While this can sometimes reduce the sense of adventure, it can also boost confidence – both in myself and the journey I choose to take.
Let’s continue the conversation! Please leave a comment below with your 2 cents. I’m also interested in people’s navigation apps of choice (by getting a trackable title). In our Instagram survey, Guia and Guthook were mentioned frequently. Do you all use these apps? What other backcountry navigation apps are out there that you like? What about the ones you don’t like the most?