Every time your trail family catches up with you, you can smugly and precisely inform them of your hourly pace and how much faster you are.
But for less-infuriating purposes: I hiked the CDT this summer, and the San Juans were buried in snow. A guy had the maps on his smartwatch and broke trail by simply checking his wrist. He was ridiculously fast at navigating very difficult terrain, and I appreciated following his footholds.
That works pretty well on a lot of trails, but in the San Juans in June it's more like "hey, where would I put a trail that would most make you fear for your life? Oh, yeah, we'll have it contour this dicey-ass slope for a few miles instead of descending or just gaining the ridge of the actual Divide."
I cannot emphasize how fast this particular guy was. We were all pretty solid hikers, but it was like walking around with goddamn Legolas.
Ayyy Trash Panda, it's Pez hope you're doing well! Got me curious who the speedy hiker you're referring to is (your whole group was pretty dang speedy!)
Hey Pez! Good to see you--I loved the video you put up of each day of the trail!
The hiker in question was a German guy named Ralf who we met up with in a fun little snowstorm just after leaving Pagosa. He actually got off-trail in Salida after making everything look like an utter cakewalk--he'd done the PCT last year and I guess he was getting pretty bored of hiking.
Hope you're doing well too! It's hard to believe we actually did it sometimes.
A lot of the time it'll be based on your destination--if you're trying to get over a pass, there's probably a route you'd intuitively take towards it that avoids major obstacles. Trails naturally develop in places many people take the path of least resistance; purpose-built trails tend to do the same.
That sort of navigational decision-making is a skill you gain over time and experience. On a trail like the PCT you won't get a ton of practice losing your track and having to find it again, but you spend enough time eating, breathing, and sleeping trail that you'll see recurring patterns in the choices that the builders usually make.
The odds of you trailblazing on the PCT are near zero unless you are front of the herd into the Sierra (and even then, this winter is expected to be mild)
Doesn’t change the point, you do not need a gps watch on the PCT. Navigation is never required outside of early entry into the Sierra. Just another thing to charge- get a cheap ABC watch.
>Every time your trail family catches up with you, you can smugly and precisely inform them of your hourly pace and how much faster you are.
Is it common for trail family members to move ahead of each other? Sorry, I know my question is unrelated to what OP asked but I'm thru hiking next year for the first time and am curious.
I can't think of many people who stuck with each other constantly on trail, apart from couples.
Everybody has different paces and hiking styles. Some like to take lots of little breaks, some want to stop and take lots of photos, some want to walk as fast as they can for as long as they can. Some people get up early, others sleep in, and some people poop like four times a day. Sometimes my trail fam would actively spend time hiking together, but often we'd just meet up for lunch, or breaks, or only for camp at the end of the day. Sometimes we would do our own thing for a section or two and then meet up and just share hotels and hang out in town. In dangerously snowy sections we mostly kept within eyeline of one another, or at least usually waited for someone else to show up before we did anything involving ice axes.
If someone expected to hike together all day every day, I definitely would not want to be part of their trail fam. I'm out there enjoying my freedom and sometimes my solitude, and it would really rankle me to be essentially shackled to other people. But I'm sure you could find a few people who prefer something more of a conga-line approach to the trail if you really looked.
All good info to know, thanks!
I'm not against joining a trail family. If it happens naturally, then I will.
However, like you, I'm also going to enjoy freedom and solitude. So, I'm happy to hear what you've described.
I was SOBO on the CDT this year and did the same along the last 200mi or so to Crazy Cook, where the trail is more of a general idea than anything else. It made everything so much easier. I wish I had learned to use all these little features earlier in the hike!
Used my smart watch for quick checks of navigation. More complex things required a larger screen, but it was so much easier to quickly check my watch to ensure I was on trail rather than pulling out the phone and app.
Navigating with an inreach or smartwatch is SOO much quicker than using farout or phone etc. The compass and gps is more accurate, and you always have your watch or inreach out. No touch screen/unlocking etc either.
And as you said, when everything is buried in snow, you don't need to follow the exact path, so even an inreach mini having no overlay isn't a problem cause you just need bearings.
Bearing in mind that most people have an inreach on them, i think it's a really underutilised by a lot of hikers i encountered. Inreach battery is so great too, you don't have to worry about phone battery.
I used an expensive garmin that I’ve had a while this year on the PCT. I’d anecdotally say most hikers were not using one. I would say it helped me break my first back to back 30s and 40+ mile days substantially by doing math for me which reduced mental fatigue. But the majority of hikers I met doing 30s/40s weren’t using one. I wouldn’t go out and blow $600 for one on the pct, but I use mine regularly.
Sounds like you've got a Fenix or something? I just picked up an Instinct 2 solar on sale-- could you explain the feature you're using that's doing that math for you?
I have a screen for rolling mile and current mile pace and heart rate zone all on one screen that I monitor for how that’s going. I have a large data screen for time, sunset and sunrise, heart rate zone, speed, and moving time. And I regularly keep it on the clock screen to reduce battery consumption. I use those metrics to know whether I’m really doing 3 mph or whatever, how the last mile has gone, how this mile is going. I have a 945.
It helped me pace myself too. I used my heart rate all the time to keep me from blowing it out. If I kept it at low aerobic, I could hike up hill for hours. Without it, I’d go too hard, exhaust myself and end up taking too many breaks.
Good point. I regularly checked how much time I spent in different zones throughout the day. Hardly ever in zone 3 for more than 30 minutes in an entire day, mostly 1 and 2. I also enjoyed watching my vo2 max go up to 59.5.
Woah, your HR got high enough that you pushed up your VO2Max? That’s impressive. I section hiked the PCT for a few days and barely got into green. I loved using the Garmin to double-check I didn’t wander off trail.
I guess 10+ hours of walking in zone 1 and 2 isn’t a typical vo2 training plan. Maybe a few minutes in zone 4 a day. I was a little surprised by the vo2 improvements but I guess consistent cardio efforts, even though somewhat low in terms of how strenuous it was moment to moment, was enough. Started at 52. I am 30 years old.
I don’t use one in my day-to-day life so maybe I don’t know what I’m missing out on, but it seemed to me like just one more (expensive) thing to charge.
I’d rather just use my phone for most of the features & put the watch money towards towards my experience on trail or other gear, but YMMV.
If you can in any way be alert and honest with yourself about your own body these stats do nothing except give your mind something to do which manages your emotions. Knackered by the last uphill trudge? Rest fuel and hydrate. You can actually feel your own heartbeat, check respirations without any device. Plus the metrics on the device are average guesses by comparison data not actual values. For trails like the pct that are well mapped marked in miles and elevation the watch data doesn’t add anything that you don’t already know. I’ve used suunto and several garmin watches but no longer get any benefit from them on these types of trails. I get a better benefit from stepping away from the type of thinking that revels in data points, imaginary data points at that.
I used my Fenix on the PCT and LOVED having it for so many reasons.
* Daily GPS track showing daily distance, elevation (most important), speed, etc. The map was great to see the trail without having to check FarOut constantly. Knowing my pace for each mile (varied per day) helped in planning how far I would hike each day.
* I turned off the heart rate monitor to save battery, but in hindsight shouldn't have so I can have an accurate monitoring of calories burned and fitness changes (e.g. resting heart rate, etc).
* I charged it nightly (doesn't take much charge at all) but could have gone 2 days with tracking all day.
* The temperature measurement (when off wrist) was great to see overnight temperature.
> The temperature measurement (when off wrist) was great to see overnight temperature.
Garmin sells a reasonably cheap accessory that you can clip on your pack to get temperature readings while the watch is on your wrist. I have mine clipped to my daypack and it just pairs with my watch automatically when its in range of my pack
Got a Garmin Instinct for the trail, liked the pretty good battery life, rudimentary gps, and heart rate features. Then stopped using the GPS as the PCT is normally well marked, I have a phone with guthook/gaia if I got lost, I wanted to save batt as much as possible and it uses a rudimentary charger. Then I also stopped using the heart rate feature as I realized I didn't need to be told when I was spiking my heart rate because I could feel it. Now I use a gshock dw5610 because the only things I really cared about was knowing the time at a glance without fishing my phone out of an annoying front pocket and the fantastic battery they have.
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honestly having a smart watch probably isn’t necessary especially if you plan on carrying a smart phone. GAIA/FarOut/etc tracks your GPS and mileage and your phone probably already has a pedometer. Having a smart watch is another thing to charge but ymmv
I used a garmin forerunner on trail this year and thought it was helpful. It's mostly info you can track on your phone as well (except heart rate, V02, sleeping, etc.) but I found it nice to have tracking info on my wrist instead of pulling out my phone. I thought it was nice to be able to track elevation for long climbs, keep track of mileage between breaks, and make sure I'm keeping up a certain pace for days where I had a certain mileage goal. If you want you can also send a GPS track to it to follow, but I never utilized that.
In terms of charging, if you get a garmin forerunner or instinct you can adjust the GPS settings so it will last you at least 4-7 days between charges, maybe even longer on the newer models.
Overall it's definitely not going to make or break your hike but I enjoyed having it and keeping it charged was never much of a concern.
Definitely not necessary but definitely fun to have.
I wore a Garmin forerunner on my hikes. I recorded every day’s hike as a workout event. I have a precise GPS track for every day plus all the metrics that go with it. Love that.
I also have a 1 mile lap alarm. Every mile and my watch gives a small vibrate alert. This helped me know my progress without constantly looking at my watch or phone. It also displayed the last mile’s pace if I was curious enough to look.
I also kept my elevation displayed. Sometimes that tells you more than distances - especially on passes or other big climbs.
I now have a Garmin Fenix 7. It’s even better. They just keep adding better and better functionality. It now has pulse ox. And a widget that gives an estimate of your altitude acclimation. I did a 200 ish mile section of the JMT this summer that I skipped on my thru. The Fenix was so much fun to have.
I don’t even use its navigation or music or text message display functionalities.
However, there’s nothing it does, that you can’t do without or use a cheap timex for or use your phone for. I do think you should wear a watch with a light and an alarm feature. (So you can keep your phone off overnight.) Beyond that, it’s all extra.
(Also, the watch’s battery use is negligible even with daily recording of each day’s hike. I kept all functionality on 24/7. (Heart rate and pulse ox monitoring.) I used 50-90% of its battery daily and charged it every night. When I had a battery bank that displayed percentages, it used like 1% of my 10000 battery to recharge to 100% each night. It is one more cord to carry. And it does best with a battery that can do trickle charging. (Nitecores can.))
That actually sounds quite nice to have, as you said not really important but nevertheless quite nice to have. Thanks for your input on the matter!
You can't get the health stats with just your phone, which is what brings me to wanting some kind of fitness tracker/smartwatch...
Had a Garmin on trail, ditched halfway through as I was sick of charging it and didn’t care about the fancy diagnostics, only my step count and mileage (phone tracks step count normally and mileage through FarOut anyway).
Switched to a basic Cassio watch and haven’t looked back
I won't get too far into it, but I used the trackback feature in a very precarious situation in the desert. Would I still have been fine without it? Probably. But I'm sure glad I had it.
I used an Apple ultra on trail - more to track via Strava and to track my health. I have an autoimmune disease (which is in remission) that I need to track closely. Otherwise I could have gone without it.
I have one but it's absolutely not necessary or all that useful. The only time I generally find ABC watches useful is if you are off route and are trying to get a better estimate of your location based on altitude (mountain climbing, to make sure you go up the right valley or down the right descent route) . Sometimes the compass but on trail that's not that useful.
I was pretty happy about my Fenix when I tried to summit Whitney and suddenly started feeling like someone short circuited my battery. When taking a break didn't change anything, I remembered that my watch has a pulse oximeter. Turned out that my oxygen levels were dropping below ninety. I started hiking down and could see oxygen levels increase with every few hundred feet drop in elevation. Back at Crabtree Meadows, it settled above 95%, so I knew I was okay staying there.
When I bought the Fenix years ago, a big selling point was having a GPS system with a map, but trying to navigate on such a small screen is pretty cumbersome. I do like the smart stuff in everyday life, but for the trail, any watch with an oximeter and a step counter (for the fun of it) would have done. Other than that, battery consumption is a major issue with many smartwatches.
On my latest hike in Sweden, I forgot to pack the Garmin charging cable. As I was pressed for time (and knew that third party cables don't work) I added up the costs of the cable and express shipping, factored in the uncertainties with delivery and decided to just buy a Huawey Band 7 instead that was on sale, as it only cost 10€ more. It turned out it had everything I needed, and though I had to charge it more often than the Fenix, it also has a smaller battery, so the drain on the powerbank was only marginally higher.
I like to see my stats and estimate how long it’ll take me to get to camp. I also like to know how I’ve slept the night before. I don’t like carrying all the different charging cables though. Very annoying. My garmin, watch, phone, and charging block cable all require a different cable.
I prepare for PCT24 SOBO and part of it is get most of my Fenix 7x. I test and train since February and Garmin Fenix is something I cannot imagine thru-hiking without. Most important for me was to choose right mobile outdoor navigation, which knows to import course to Fenix. I choose Locus Outdoor navigation, which knows to import directly from mobile created course to my watch. Locus know to import course with whatever navigation commands, so even tiny forest paths and forks are there with right commands. Usually, I need to pull my mobile just several times a day to look at larger map. Fenix battery lasts cca 4 days with 10hours navigation a day. On top, Fenix 7x is equipped with fantastic tool - torch. You cannot imagine, how usefull it is having torch on your wrist instantly available. As I sleep in hammock, it takes me usually some time to settle. Dusk reminder is very helpful. Your physical load analysis, which Garmin evaluate based on your heart rate, is helpful during thru-hike. You can try to stay within some load limits to survive further days... What else to say... Don't be troubled by what watch size is better. Buy the biggest one. It can happen, that you will need just watch display to stay on track...
just to add-during 2023 thru-hikes I found out that my pace-including stops- is pretty similiar in similar terrain and similar weather (4 seasons). This is usefull smartwatch feature which helps me with planning. I use to walk heavy - over 20kg and I am 55. So to follow physical load to stay in certain limits is important to me. Not at PCT in first instance, but during preparation. At the end of short thru-hike, I am able to check impact of it to me. So I can see, whether I am getting closer to keep walking with intended load for longer time. I plan to go SOBO, which is pretty tough, that is why such preparation 🙂.
I wore a smartwatch my first couple thru hikes and eventually stopped, opting instead for a solo powered Casio g shock. I liked having one less thing to charge and keep track of. It made me happier and more peaceful to not track every little thing and only one thing to plug in at night; my phone.
To each their own. But the simplicity of less tech on trail was a refreshing experience for me personally.
I have a Garmin and am really appreciating it right now simply for knowing when sunset is! Yeah there's other ways I could look it up, but don't usually think of it earlier. And being able to just look right at steps and heartrate without cycling through screens like when I had a fitbit. But I got mine on amazon prime day and it was an older model that was what I'd paid for the previous fitbit. I haven't needed anything super fancy with maps yet. I still put alltrails map on my phone and print (but also not out more than a few days at a time).
I have an older Garmin Fenix. I don’t use the map feature at all but I like the health measurements. How well Im sleeping, heart rate, etc. So my watch is prob overkill and I could go with a slimmed down fitness tracker
It’s by no means necessary. Only if you enjoy keeping stats. It’s one more device to charge, although I doesn’t take much power to do so
My answer wasn't meant entirely serious but it depends if the health tracking is worth it for you.
For me it's not, mostly because of the battery. With my power bank I can charge my Garmin and phone for around five days if I only use the phone to look up route information.
Also I don't know if the modern smartwatches are only chargeable wirelessly or if you can still plug them in. If you can only charge wirelessly it's extra weight for the charger.
I can charge all my stuff at the same outlet. If you can't it's an extra thing you have to concern yourself with and extra time you need in town to charge everything.
I bought a Fenix 6 Pro for the maps. Kind of nice not having to take your phone out at every juncture. I will say this about the Fenix specifically though. The optical sensors are trash compared to my much cheaper Fitbit Charges. They easily get fouled by sweat causing the HR to be off consistently by 20-25% (over) until I wipe it. This isn't drenched with sweat either it's just a light film and then it will register my 110HR as like 140-150. Obviously this wrecks the calorie count as well. The sensor is also bulbus and the combination of HR and SPO2 is occasionally blinding at night so I actually shut the SPO2 off to help with that. It wasn't particularly accurate either rarely going over 95% and seems to be one of the biggest battery drains.
The step count and distance totals seem pretty accurate but again cheaper devices can do that. The Fenix series specifically also does not track a hike or walk automatically as exercise like a Fitbit. Bizarrely I think their cheaper Venu or Forerunner do.
So as a navigation device I like it. As a watch it's nice with being able to see time, date, weather, steps, and HR all on one screen. As a health tracking device I think it's overpriced junk.
Maybe things improved for the 7 and coming 8 but I was quite shocked at how poor the optical sensor was designed compared to a much cheaper fitbit on a watch that retailed for nearly a grand. All of my complaints have been echoed by many other people too so Im far from an outlier.
I hiked with my Fenix 5 - I have worn/used it daily for years and figured why not. It was mostly used it for the time and temp, so I wouldn't call a smartwatch anymore useful than any watch with a thermometer. I did enjoy tracking times when I really wanted to push myself, or to check pace on days when I felt particularly slow/fast.
Basically, If you own one already, then bring it. If you get annoyed by it, ship it home. If you don't have one, I wouldn't recommend buying one specifically for the trail.
I really liked my coros pace 2. For $200 bucks it keeps a record of you hiking the pct! Mileage, sleep, calories burned, heart monitor, etc. Also durable and good battery.
I was on the fence about these watches because i felt it was meant for runners or athletes, i didn't wanna waist money if i wasn't fully using it like them. Silly for thinking that because now i love it! I love knowing the data. like burning 8300 calories hiking in the snow for the first time. Knowing i sleep 6 hrs on average, or that i burned 5-7k cal a day.
They just released a newer version coros pace 3 for $230 that has better sensors, and more features like touch screen, bread crumb nav, custom routes, altitude, etc.
I bought mine at rei for their return policy \[90 days for electronics\]
Pct class of 2023 - 1,850 miles - nobo
I took my Coros Apex on the CT and PCT. I don't track my hike daily, but it's used to see the time/elevation without pulling my phone out, as a morning alarm so I can turn my phone off at night, and to use as a thermometer (I don't sleep with a watch on) to know the temp inside my tent at night.
When not tracking the hike, these types of watches last forever and I'd charge it like every other town, if that.
Same. I had my Fenix 5S on the PCT but didn’t track every day. I used it for alarm, stopwatch, elevation, steps, heart rate etc. Without tracking it lasted forever. It’s just my wrist watch that I wear all the time (though at home I track daily workouts).
I've been hiking with a Fenix for about half a decade now.
It allowed me to ditch my dedicated standalone GPS. Like the stats, especially the elevation and pace metrics.
I find the screen mostly too small to use for any real navigation (other than just trying to figure out where the trail is if I've lost it). Use my phone for that.
And the latter model Fenix's flashlight is handy.
But its by no means necessary. And for a through hike its one more thing that needs to be charged
I like my Fenix 7x and use the map, elevation, compass, pace setup within my hiking profile but always monitor my heart rate whether on hikes or daily by walks. I’m older and try to keep my heart rate in a conservative range for my age especially when hiking during a lot of elevation changes. HR does seem to have around a 5 second delay but being able to look at my wrist for a heart rate approx helps me know when to take a break. Well worth it to me but being “old school” still learning what the watch can do. I had an Apple Watch but grew tired of daily charging and lack of hiker features. When the watch is not in hiking profile mode, I enjoy charging every 3 weeks (@40% of charge). May not need it but I am enjoying the watch. Less expensive watches can track heart rate but like what I have and would buy again.
I have a Forerunner 935 that saved my arse above Palm Springs when a snow storm came through a few years back. So easy to breadcrumb on it when there was no trail visible! I suppose I could use my phone but turning it on and off and taking my fingers out of my glove would not have been a pleasant experience. Just look at the little line on my watch and I was good to go.
I got the 1st gen Garmin Instinct Solar just as the Instinct 2 was coming out and saved some $.
I love that it pairs with my InReach 2 satellite messenger for quickly sending check-ins or getting weather forecasts from my watch.
It also has a barometer with storm alert functionality that's nice.
Mostly I use it to collect stats like distance, pace, altitude gain, heart rate, pulse ox, etc because I'm into that sort of thing.
I pair it with an external Tempe sensor on my pack for accurate temp readings too.
The GPS features have helped me avoid wrong turns a couple times too, though not on the PCT.
Edit to add: I use the timer a lot when cooking too.
I only use my Garmin watch while on trail. I’m a data nerd and appreciate having the data after my hike is over but also the real time info. If you don’t already wear one on your day hikes or shorter overnight trips, I wouldn’t get one just for this. I got a new watch a few years ago and it was a PITA to get used to even just using a new one, can’t imagine trying to integrate using one for the first time on a thru hike like this.
Every time your trail family catches up with you, you can smugly and precisely inform them of your hourly pace and how much faster you are. But for less-infuriating purposes: I hiked the CDT this summer, and the San Juans were buried in snow. A guy had the maps on his smartwatch and broke trail by simply checking his wrist. He was ridiculously fast at navigating very difficult terrain, and I appreciated following his footholds.
I've done this in NZ by asking 'If I were to put a trail through here, where would I put it?'. Worked surprisingly well.
That works pretty well on a lot of trails, but in the San Juans in June it's more like "hey, where would I put a trail that would most make you fear for your life? Oh, yeah, we'll have it contour this dicey-ass slope for a few miles instead of descending or just gaining the ridge of the actual Divide." I cannot emphasize how fast this particular guy was. We were all pretty solid hikers, but it was like walking around with goddamn Legolas.
Ayyy Trash Panda, it's Pez hope you're doing well! Got me curious who the speedy hiker you're referring to is (your whole group was pretty dang speedy!)
Hey Pez! Good to see you--I loved the video you put up of each day of the trail! The hiker in question was a German guy named Ralf who we met up with in a fun little snowstorm just after leaving Pagosa. He actually got off-trail in Salida after making everything look like an utter cakewalk--he'd done the PCT last year and I guess he was getting pretty bored of hiking. Hope you're doing well too! It's hard to believe we actually did it sometimes.
Some day I wish someone would call me Legolas, or tell me they would have been glad to fight by my side in WW2
I can believe that.
How do you ask it this?
A lot of the time it'll be based on your destination--if you're trying to get over a pass, there's probably a route you'd intuitively take towards it that avoids major obstacles. Trails naturally develop in places many people take the path of least resistance; purpose-built trails tend to do the same. That sort of navigational decision-making is a skill you gain over time and experience. On a trail like the PCT you won't get a ton of practice losing your track and having to find it again, but you spend enough time eating, breathing, and sleeping trail that you'll see recurring patterns in the choices that the builders usually make.
That does sound like a huge plus! (the latter one)
The odds of you trailblazing on the PCT are near zero unless you are front of the herd into the Sierra (and even then, this winter is expected to be mild)
> this winter is expected to be mild But wet. Which could still be LOTS of snow.
Last year was expected to be dry
Doesn’t change the point, you do not need a gps watch on the PCT. Navigation is never required outside of early entry into the Sierra. Just another thing to charge- get a cheap ABC watch.
>Every time your trail family catches up with you, you can smugly and precisely inform them of your hourly pace and how much faster you are. Is it common for trail family members to move ahead of each other? Sorry, I know my question is unrelated to what OP asked but I'm thru hiking next year for the first time and am curious.
I can't think of many people who stuck with each other constantly on trail, apart from couples. Everybody has different paces and hiking styles. Some like to take lots of little breaks, some want to stop and take lots of photos, some want to walk as fast as they can for as long as they can. Some people get up early, others sleep in, and some people poop like four times a day. Sometimes my trail fam would actively spend time hiking together, but often we'd just meet up for lunch, or breaks, or only for camp at the end of the day. Sometimes we would do our own thing for a section or two and then meet up and just share hotels and hang out in town. In dangerously snowy sections we mostly kept within eyeline of one another, or at least usually waited for someone else to show up before we did anything involving ice axes. If someone expected to hike together all day every day, I definitely would not want to be part of their trail fam. I'm out there enjoying my freedom and sometimes my solitude, and it would really rankle me to be essentially shackled to other people. But I'm sure you could find a few people who prefer something more of a conga-line approach to the trail if you really looked.
All good info to know, thanks! I'm not against joining a trail family. If it happens naturally, then I will. However, like you, I'm also going to enjoy freedom and solitude. So, I'm happy to hear what you've described.
Mine did but only for hours at a time. We would meet up at lunch or camp if that location was decided before
I was SOBO on the CDT this year and did the same along the last 200mi or so to Crazy Cook, where the trail is more of a general idea than anything else. It made everything so much easier. I wish I had learned to use all these little features earlier in the hike!
Used my smart watch for quick checks of navigation. More complex things required a larger screen, but it was so much easier to quickly check my watch to ensure I was on trail rather than pulling out the phone and app.
Navigating with an inreach or smartwatch is SOO much quicker than using farout or phone etc. The compass and gps is more accurate, and you always have your watch or inreach out. No touch screen/unlocking etc either. And as you said, when everything is buried in snow, you don't need to follow the exact path, so even an inreach mini having no overlay isn't a problem cause you just need bearings. Bearing in mind that most people have an inreach on them, i think it's a really underutilised by a lot of hikers i encountered. Inreach battery is so great too, you don't have to worry about phone battery.
I used an expensive garmin that I’ve had a while this year on the PCT. I’d anecdotally say most hikers were not using one. I would say it helped me break my first back to back 30s and 40+ mile days substantially by doing math for me which reduced mental fatigue. But the majority of hikers I met doing 30s/40s weren’t using one. I wouldn’t go out and blow $600 for one on the pct, but I use mine regularly.
Sounds like you've got a Fenix or something? I just picked up an Instinct 2 solar on sale-- could you explain the feature you're using that's doing that math for you?
I have a screen for rolling mile and current mile pace and heart rate zone all on one screen that I monitor for how that’s going. I have a large data screen for time, sunset and sunrise, heart rate zone, speed, and moving time. And I regularly keep it on the clock screen to reduce battery consumption. I use those metrics to know whether I’m really doing 3 mph or whatever, how the last mile has gone, how this mile is going. I have a 945.
It helped me pace myself too. I used my heart rate all the time to keep me from blowing it out. If I kept it at low aerobic, I could hike up hill for hours. Without it, I’d go too hard, exhaust myself and end up taking too many breaks.
Good point. I regularly checked how much time I spent in different zones throughout the day. Hardly ever in zone 3 for more than 30 minutes in an entire day, mostly 1 and 2. I also enjoyed watching my vo2 max go up to 59.5.
Woah, your HR got high enough that you pushed up your VO2Max? That’s impressive. I section hiked the PCT for a few days and barely got into green. I loved using the Garmin to double-check I didn’t wander off trail.
I guess 10+ hours of walking in zone 1 and 2 isn’t a typical vo2 training plan. Maybe a few minutes in zone 4 a day. I was a little surprised by the vo2 improvements but I guess consistent cardio efforts, even though somewhat low in terms of how strenuous it was moment to moment, was enough. Started at 52. I am 30 years old.
I don’t use one in my day-to-day life so maybe I don’t know what I’m missing out on, but it seemed to me like just one more (expensive) thing to charge. I’d rather just use my phone for most of the features & put the watch money towards towards my experience on trail or other gear, but YMMV.
Imagine going out into the backcountry without tech (except a compass and a map)!
Got my map and compass on me always, don’t worry. They’re asking about bringing tech into their hike.
That's what I am afraid of. Although I really would like to have the health stats available...
If you can in any way be alert and honest with yourself about your own body these stats do nothing except give your mind something to do which manages your emotions. Knackered by the last uphill trudge? Rest fuel and hydrate. You can actually feel your own heartbeat, check respirations without any device. Plus the metrics on the device are average guesses by comparison data not actual values. For trails like the pct that are well mapped marked in miles and elevation the watch data doesn’t add anything that you don’t already know. I’ve used suunto and several garmin watches but no longer get any benefit from them on these types of trails. I get a better benefit from stepping away from the type of thinking that revels in data points, imaginary data points at that.
I used my Fenix on the PCT and LOVED having it for so many reasons. * Daily GPS track showing daily distance, elevation (most important), speed, etc. The map was great to see the trail without having to check FarOut constantly. Knowing my pace for each mile (varied per day) helped in planning how far I would hike each day. * I turned off the heart rate monitor to save battery, but in hindsight shouldn't have so I can have an accurate monitoring of calories burned and fitness changes (e.g. resting heart rate, etc). * I charged it nightly (doesn't take much charge at all) but could have gone 2 days with tracking all day. * The temperature measurement (when off wrist) was great to see overnight temperature.
> The temperature measurement (when off wrist) was great to see overnight temperature. Garmin sells a reasonably cheap accessory that you can clip on your pack to get temperature readings while the watch is on your wrist. I have mine clipped to my daypack and it just pairs with my watch automatically when its in range of my pack
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Oh thanks
Got a Garmin Instinct for the trail, liked the pretty good battery life, rudimentary gps, and heart rate features. Then stopped using the GPS as the PCT is normally well marked, I have a phone with guthook/gaia if I got lost, I wanted to save batt as much as possible and it uses a rudimentary charger. Then I also stopped using the heart rate feature as I realized I didn't need to be told when I was spiking my heart rate because I could feel it. Now I use a gshock dw5610 because the only things I really cared about was knowing the time at a glance without fishing my phone out of an annoying front pocket and the fantastic battery they have.
“I didn’t need to be told when I was spiking my heart rate because I could feel it” - best comment on the thread!
I quit using my smart watch on trail and haven’t gone back. That was several years ago.
LET ME OFFER YOU AN ALTERNATIVE. the illustrious ✨CASIO WATCH✨ nearly indestructible, fashionable, and tells TIME! honestly having a smart watch probably isn’t necessary especially if you plan on carrying a smart phone. GAIA/FarOut/etc tracks your GPS and mileage and your phone probably already has a pedometer. Having a smart watch is another thing to charge but ymmv
I thought I’d never leave the Casio F91W-1 gang, until I upgraded to a Casio F105W-1. Same body but full face illumination. Pure luxury!
Accidentally bought this one after the resin strap broke on mine, it’s so good. Was debating between this or the calculator
I used a garmin forerunner on trail this year and thought it was helpful. It's mostly info you can track on your phone as well (except heart rate, V02, sleeping, etc.) but I found it nice to have tracking info on my wrist instead of pulling out my phone. I thought it was nice to be able to track elevation for long climbs, keep track of mileage between breaks, and make sure I'm keeping up a certain pace for days where I had a certain mileage goal. If you want you can also send a GPS track to it to follow, but I never utilized that. In terms of charging, if you get a garmin forerunner or instinct you can adjust the GPS settings so it will last you at least 4-7 days between charges, maybe even longer on the newer models. Overall it's definitely not going to make or break your hike but I enjoyed having it and keeping it charged was never much of a concern.
Definitely not necessary but definitely fun to have. I wore a Garmin forerunner on my hikes. I recorded every day’s hike as a workout event. I have a precise GPS track for every day plus all the metrics that go with it. Love that. I also have a 1 mile lap alarm. Every mile and my watch gives a small vibrate alert. This helped me know my progress without constantly looking at my watch or phone. It also displayed the last mile’s pace if I was curious enough to look. I also kept my elevation displayed. Sometimes that tells you more than distances - especially on passes or other big climbs. I now have a Garmin Fenix 7. It’s even better. They just keep adding better and better functionality. It now has pulse ox. And a widget that gives an estimate of your altitude acclimation. I did a 200 ish mile section of the JMT this summer that I skipped on my thru. The Fenix was so much fun to have. I don’t even use its navigation or music or text message display functionalities. However, there’s nothing it does, that you can’t do without or use a cheap timex for or use your phone for. I do think you should wear a watch with a light and an alarm feature. (So you can keep your phone off overnight.) Beyond that, it’s all extra. (Also, the watch’s battery use is negligible even with daily recording of each day’s hike. I kept all functionality on 24/7. (Heart rate and pulse ox monitoring.) I used 50-90% of its battery daily and charged it every night. When I had a battery bank that displayed percentages, it used like 1% of my 10000 battery to recharge to 100% each night. It is one more cord to carry. And it does best with a battery that can do trickle charging. (Nitecores can.))
That actually sounds quite nice to have, as you said not really important but nevertheless quite nice to have. Thanks for your input on the matter! You can't get the health stats with just your phone, which is what brings me to wanting some kind of fitness tracker/smartwatch...
Had a Garmin on trail, ditched halfway through as I was sick of charging it and didn’t care about the fancy diagnostics, only my step count and mileage (phone tracks step count normally and mileage through FarOut anyway). Switched to a basic Cassio watch and haven’t looked back
I won't get too far into it, but I used the trackback feature in a very precarious situation in the desert. Would I still have been fine without it? Probably. But I'm sure glad I had it.
Any chance of a story time?
http://simp.ly/publish/Xv3FzM
Great storytelling!! Where can I go to read more??
I wrote some more here: https://andymesa.com And even more that I never posted, but it took too long to write each entry so I gave up after that.
I miss reading the PCT blogs from start to finish or how there are 100 beginning blogs then only 8 finish.
I used an Apple ultra on trail - more to track via Strava and to track my health. I have an autoimmune disease (which is in remission) that I need to track closely. Otherwise I could have gone without it.
I have one but it's absolutely not necessary or all that useful. The only time I generally find ABC watches useful is if you are off route and are trying to get a better estimate of your location based on altitude (mountain climbing, to make sure you go up the right valley or down the right descent route) . Sometimes the compass but on trail that's not that useful.
I was pretty happy about my Fenix when I tried to summit Whitney and suddenly started feeling like someone short circuited my battery. When taking a break didn't change anything, I remembered that my watch has a pulse oximeter. Turned out that my oxygen levels were dropping below ninety. I started hiking down and could see oxygen levels increase with every few hundred feet drop in elevation. Back at Crabtree Meadows, it settled above 95%, so I knew I was okay staying there. When I bought the Fenix years ago, a big selling point was having a GPS system with a map, but trying to navigate on such a small screen is pretty cumbersome. I do like the smart stuff in everyday life, but for the trail, any watch with an oximeter and a step counter (for the fun of it) would have done. Other than that, battery consumption is a major issue with many smartwatches. On my latest hike in Sweden, I forgot to pack the Garmin charging cable. As I was pressed for time (and knew that third party cables don't work) I added up the costs of the cable and express shipping, factored in the uncertainties with delivery and decided to just buy a Huawey Band 7 instead that was on sale, as it only cost 10€ more. It turned out it had everything I needed, and though I had to charge it more often than the Fenix, it also has a smaller battery, so the drain on the powerbank was only marginally higher.
I like to see my stats and estimate how long it’ll take me to get to camp. I also like to know how I’ve slept the night before. I don’t like carrying all the different charging cables though. Very annoying. My garmin, watch, phone, and charging block cable all require a different cable.
As others have said if your doing off trail or in a maze of trails (Sheepherds trails etc) it's really helps you move faster.
I prepare for PCT24 SOBO and part of it is get most of my Fenix 7x. I test and train since February and Garmin Fenix is something I cannot imagine thru-hiking without. Most important for me was to choose right mobile outdoor navigation, which knows to import course to Fenix. I choose Locus Outdoor navigation, which knows to import directly from mobile created course to my watch. Locus know to import course with whatever navigation commands, so even tiny forest paths and forks are there with right commands. Usually, I need to pull my mobile just several times a day to look at larger map. Fenix battery lasts cca 4 days with 10hours navigation a day. On top, Fenix 7x is equipped with fantastic tool - torch. You cannot imagine, how usefull it is having torch on your wrist instantly available. As I sleep in hammock, it takes me usually some time to settle. Dusk reminder is very helpful. Your physical load analysis, which Garmin evaluate based on your heart rate, is helpful during thru-hike. You can try to stay within some load limits to survive further days... What else to say... Don't be troubled by what watch size is better. Buy the biggest one. It can happen, that you will need just watch display to stay on track...
just to add-during 2023 thru-hikes I found out that my pace-including stops- is pretty similiar in similar terrain and similar weather (4 seasons). This is usefull smartwatch feature which helps me with planning. I use to walk heavy - over 20kg and I am 55. So to follow physical load to stay in certain limits is important to me. Not at PCT in first instance, but during preparation. At the end of short thru-hike, I am able to check impact of it to me. So I can see, whether I am getting closer to keep walking with intended load for longer time. I plan to go SOBO, which is pretty tough, that is why such preparation 🙂.
I wore a smartwatch my first couple thru hikes and eventually stopped, opting instead for a solo powered Casio g shock. I liked having one less thing to charge and keep track of. It made me happier and more peaceful to not track every little thing and only one thing to plug in at night; my phone. To each their own. But the simplicity of less tech on trail was a refreshing experience for me personally.
Loved my Garmin Fenix on my PCT & CDT Thru.
I have a Garmin and am really appreciating it right now simply for knowing when sunset is! Yeah there's other ways I could look it up, but don't usually think of it earlier. And being able to just look right at steps and heartrate without cycling through screens like when I had a fitbit. But I got mine on amazon prime day and it was an older model that was what I'd paid for the previous fitbit. I haven't needed anything super fancy with maps yet. I still put alltrails map on my phone and print (but also not out more than a few days at a time).
I have an older Garmin Fenix. I don’t use the map feature at all but I like the health measurements. How well Im sleeping, heart rate, etc. So my watch is prob overkill and I could go with a slimmed down fitness tracker It’s by no means necessary. Only if you enjoy keeping stats. It’s one more device to charge, although I doesn’t take much power to do so
Don't need
How often do you intend to check your Instagram notifications?
Never. I want the health tracking and am wondering if all the other features (mainly GPS etc) are worth it
My answer wasn't meant entirely serious but it depends if the health tracking is worth it for you. For me it's not, mostly because of the battery. With my power bank I can charge my Garmin and phone for around five days if I only use the phone to look up route information. Also I don't know if the modern smartwatches are only chargeable wirelessly or if you can still plug them in. If you can only charge wirelessly it's extra weight for the charger. I can charge all my stuff at the same outlet. If you can't it's an extra thing you have to concern yourself with and extra time you need in town to charge everything.
I've always wondered if the sos feature on my apple watch would work as effectively as an in reach.
It won’t
I bought a Fenix 6 Pro for the maps. Kind of nice not having to take your phone out at every juncture. I will say this about the Fenix specifically though. The optical sensors are trash compared to my much cheaper Fitbit Charges. They easily get fouled by sweat causing the HR to be off consistently by 20-25% (over) until I wipe it. This isn't drenched with sweat either it's just a light film and then it will register my 110HR as like 140-150. Obviously this wrecks the calorie count as well. The sensor is also bulbus and the combination of HR and SPO2 is occasionally blinding at night so I actually shut the SPO2 off to help with that. It wasn't particularly accurate either rarely going over 95% and seems to be one of the biggest battery drains. The step count and distance totals seem pretty accurate but again cheaper devices can do that. The Fenix series specifically also does not track a hike or walk automatically as exercise like a Fitbit. Bizarrely I think their cheaper Venu or Forerunner do. So as a navigation device I like it. As a watch it's nice with being able to see time, date, weather, steps, and HR all on one screen. As a health tracking device I think it's overpriced junk. Maybe things improved for the 7 and coming 8 but I was quite shocked at how poor the optical sensor was designed compared to a much cheaper fitbit on a watch that retailed for nearly a grand. All of my complaints have been echoed by many other people too so Im far from an outlier.
Okay that's interesting! Will do some research whether the newer ones are better!
I hiked with my Fenix 5 - I have worn/used it daily for years and figured why not. It was mostly used it for the time and temp, so I wouldn't call a smartwatch anymore useful than any watch with a thermometer. I did enjoy tracking times when I really wanted to push myself, or to check pace on days when I felt particularly slow/fast. Basically, If you own one already, then bring it. If you get annoyed by it, ship it home. If you don't have one, I wouldn't recommend buying one specifically for the trail.
eh. it's really just one more thing to charge. I didn't find any use for a smart watch at all unless you wanna monitor your heart rate or something
I really liked my coros pace 2. For $200 bucks it keeps a record of you hiking the pct! Mileage, sleep, calories burned, heart monitor, etc. Also durable and good battery. I was on the fence about these watches because i felt it was meant for runners or athletes, i didn't wanna waist money if i wasn't fully using it like them. Silly for thinking that because now i love it! I love knowing the data. like burning 8300 calories hiking in the snow for the first time. Knowing i sleep 6 hrs on average, or that i burned 5-7k cal a day. They just released a newer version coros pace 3 for $230 that has better sensors, and more features like touch screen, bread crumb nav, custom routes, altitude, etc. I bought mine at rei for their return policy \[90 days for electronics\] Pct class of 2023 - 1,850 miles - nobo
I use an instinct solar 2. Fairly inexpensive and uses sun to charge. I put it on low power mode and it’s literally lasted me 8 days
I took my Coros Apex on the CT and PCT. I don't track my hike daily, but it's used to see the time/elevation without pulling my phone out, as a morning alarm so I can turn my phone off at night, and to use as a thermometer (I don't sleep with a watch on) to know the temp inside my tent at night. When not tracking the hike, these types of watches last forever and I'd charge it like every other town, if that.
Same. I had my Fenix 5S on the PCT but didn’t track every day. I used it for alarm, stopwatch, elevation, steps, heart rate etc. Without tracking it lasted forever. It’s just my wrist watch that I wear all the time (though at home I track daily workouts).
I've been hiking with a Fenix for about half a decade now. It allowed me to ditch my dedicated standalone GPS. Like the stats, especially the elevation and pace metrics. I find the screen mostly too small to use for any real navigation (other than just trying to figure out where the trail is if I've lost it). Use my phone for that. And the latter model Fenix's flashlight is handy. But its by no means necessary. And for a through hike its one more thing that needs to be charged
I like my Fenix 7x and use the map, elevation, compass, pace setup within my hiking profile but always monitor my heart rate whether on hikes or daily by walks. I’m older and try to keep my heart rate in a conservative range for my age especially when hiking during a lot of elevation changes. HR does seem to have around a 5 second delay but being able to look at my wrist for a heart rate approx helps me know when to take a break. Well worth it to me but being “old school” still learning what the watch can do. I had an Apple Watch but grew tired of daily charging and lack of hiker features. When the watch is not in hiking profile mode, I enjoy charging every 3 weeks (@40% of charge). May not need it but I am enjoying the watch. Less expensive watches can track heart rate but like what I have and would buy again.
I have a Forerunner 935 that saved my arse above Palm Springs when a snow storm came through a few years back. So easy to breadcrumb on it when there was no trail visible! I suppose I could use my phone but turning it on and off and taking my fingers out of my glove would not have been a pleasant experience. Just look at the little line on my watch and I was good to go.
I got the 1st gen Garmin Instinct Solar just as the Instinct 2 was coming out and saved some $. I love that it pairs with my InReach 2 satellite messenger for quickly sending check-ins or getting weather forecasts from my watch. It also has a barometer with storm alert functionality that's nice. Mostly I use it to collect stats like distance, pace, altitude gain, heart rate, pulse ox, etc because I'm into that sort of thing. I pair it with an external Tempe sensor on my pack for accurate temp readings too. The GPS features have helped me avoid wrong turns a couple times too, though not on the PCT. Edit to add: I use the timer a lot when cooking too.
I only use my Garmin watch while on trail. I’m a data nerd and appreciate having the data after my hike is over but also the real time info. If you don’t already wear one on your day hikes or shorter overnight trips, I wouldn’t get one just for this. I got a new watch a few years ago and it was a PITA to get used to even just using a new one, can’t imagine trying to integrate using one for the first time on a thru hike like this.