Finally stopped ignoring the topo lines after a soggy night near Roan Mountain

For years I planned trips by reading blogs and eyeballing elevation gains. Never really looked at the actual contour lines beyond finding peaks. Last October I camped in a saddle that looked flat on the profile chart. Woke up at 2am in a puddle that turned into a stream. Rain came down for 6 hours. My tent floor was never waterproof after that. A guy at the hostel the next day showed me how the lines were packed together right where I pitched. Said to always check for drainage patterns in the first 15 minutes with a map, not just the big climb numbers. He was right. I spent 4 days on the Appalachian Trail in that section and every flat spot on paper had a ditch through it. Now I pull up the USGS quad before any trip and trace the small creeks in my head. Has anyone else been caught by subtle ground slope that the elevation profile just doesn't show?

0 comments

0 Comments

No comments yet

Be the first to share your thoughts on this discussion.