Rant: New hiker told me my route planning was overkill, then got stuck
On the PCT near Tuolumne Meadows last August, a younger guy laughed at my paper maps and spoke about just winging it. He said “you don't need all that, the trail is right there.” I shrugged and kept walking, but two days later I saw him at a ranger station, lost because a fire closure had rerouted everything. He had no backup plan and no idea where the alternate started. I gave him my extra map, but it made me wonder, how many people skip the basics and then expect someone else to fix it?