This Weeks Trail Lingo:
Bonus Miles – Miles walked that are not on the trail, such as miles to and from resupply points or to and from off-trail water sources or non-trail miles walked due to bad navigation.
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- Power Your Next Hiking Trip
- On The Trail Updates
- The 99 Best Outdoor-Related Subreddits
- Trail Magic
How To Power Your Next Hiking Trip
Whether you’re headed to the desert or off on a remote expedition, keeping your portable electronics charged can be a problem. With so many chargers to choose from, finding the best, lightweight charger is hard. There are a lot of options for solar panels and portable battery banks you can take with you on all your adventures.
You’ll need to know how you’re going to keep your GPS, smartphone, and headlamp charged before you head out on the trails. Knowing where to find power along the way will keep your trip enjoyable and help ensure you stay safe.
Does your route have stops that you are sure have power available? Perhaps you’re scheduling a zero day in a nearby trail town but you forget to turn off a few features on your phone and it’s a 0% before you realize it.
Step 1: Plan Ahead
Know where (or if) power sources are available on your hike before you start it. Ration out your battery on an as-needed basis. If you travel light, that can be especially important as you will have limited options while on the trail.
Step 2: On The Trail Options
1. Battery Bank Chargers: Probably the simplest and most reliable option to charge your devices is to have a battery bank or two with standard port options available. These can come in various sizes for weight, capacity and footprint but we encourage you to have one capable of charging your primary devices (GPS, phone, 1 light) all at least 1 time on a single bank.
2. Solar Chargers: Solar charging for devices has improved quite a bit over the last few years. It’s still not all the way there but it’s a viable option with today’s technology. This is where $ can be an issue as a quality solar charger can be expensive, but it can also be well worth it. Of course, the solar charger has 1 major dependency…the sunlight available to you. Sometimes trees, clouds and just mother nature in general can get in the way of the effectiveness of these style of chargers. One must take that into consideration.
3. Manual/Hand-Crank Chargers: These are for backups for your backups. There are options out there with a flashlight/radio/battery combo and as single options as well. These can be useful for last ditch emergency needs but are quite a lot of work for regular and normal use. If you’re going back-country hiking, it’d be a good idea to throw one of these bad boys in your bag but otherwise I wouldn’t recommend.
4. Fire/Heat Chargers: A relatively new trend but growing in options is a campfire grill that also uses the heat to produce electricity. Some of these devices can output a decent 3W which is enough to charge up a smartphone if you’re patient. Turning biomass into heat and thus into electricity is a pretty cool idea in theory but not always practical. Would be a fun item in limited situations.
5. Trail Towns: Always max out your power banks before you head back onto the trail. This will ensure you’re best options to stay “connected” as you take selfies, panoramic and fun hiking videos to post and document on your social media accounts [so we can all ignore them while we work our 9-5. No…we’re not bitter.]
Step 3: Prep Your Devices For Optimal Use
To prevent your device from running out of power at the worst possible time, here are some charging tips to keep you connected no matter where you roam.
1. Use “Airplane Mode” when out of cell coverage, or just simply turn off your devices when you’re not using them.
2. Unless absolutely necessary, keep external screens off on cameras and video recorders. Just use a viewfinder or eyeball it. (Practice makes perfect at eyeballing it.)
3. In low-light settings, be sure to turn your screen brightness down. No need to replicate the sun while scrolling Instagram in the evening.
4. Remove batteries in flashlights and store separately inside your pack so that they’re not accidentally turned on and wasted.
5. Turn off any unneeded services and keep your apps closed on smart devices so as not to have anything draining them while they’re on unnecessarily.
Step 4: Ration Your Power
It’s rare that you would need your GPS, phone, laptop, headlamp and other devices on all at the same time. Use of only a few of these at a time is practical and no, you don’t need to edit that selfie you took earlier that very second. Sorry, it can wait. Just store it and move on.
Bonus: Don’t Be THAT Guy (or Girl)
Sorry, just because you like your music doesn’t mean that the rest of us do. IF you take a portable speaker with you on the trails, just don’t blast it around. We just don’t like Nickleback as much as you do…
On The Trail: Issue 3
Local 900 Miler Johnny On The Trail shared a video featuring a new member of the 900 Miler Club on his latest video. (Congrats to Jimmy for his completion!)
Taylor has taken her dog Kali on all 48 4k footers in New Hampshire but what was really special about this hike was the “Flags on the 48” 9/11 Memorial hike.
Dine N Dash is back for Day 58-60 on the CDT!
Lauren updates us in both Episode 1 and Episode 2 of her Colorado Trail journey!
Ever wanted to hike the ICT (Idaho Centennial Trail)? Here’s Episode 1 of these hikers trip.
Eva is entertaining us again with Chapter 34, Chapter 35, Chapter 36, Chapter 37, and Chapter 38 of her thru hike on the Appalachian Trail! Lots to catch up on!
Trail Lingo personal favorite KK on Trail has a lot of updates posted as well. Check out Day 154, Day 155, Day 156, Day 157, Day 158, Day 159 and Day 160 of his AT Thru-Hike that covers his journey from the Presidentials all the way to his last day in New Hampshire!
Jeff is working his way down the CDT (Continental Divide Trail), here’s Episode 104.
Mommy & Me Adventures (Kayla & Fyn) are on Days 155-157 of their AT Thru Hike reaching The Notch Hostel and Franconia Ridge!
Early Riser is detailing his latest hike over The Long Trail, watch Day 9 here.
Lisa P has hit a snag in the trail and details the latest on how her feet are doing.
Kelly Hays Hikes has a string of updates for us to binge showing Day 89, Day 90, Day 91, Day 92 and Day 93 of her AT Thru-Hike! Check out that Sunrise on Day 92!
Shaker Hikes has posted a video with a Q&A about his 2021 AT Thru-Hike.
Lucky’s 2021 AT Thru-Hike has an update about her “biggest fear on the trail”.
Submissions:
Do you have a favorite content creator or outdoor influencer that is logging their trips on YouTube? Send us a link at traillingo@gmail.com and we’ll add them to our list to follow and update that here each week!
The 99 Best Outdoor-Related Subreddits:
Reddit is a bit of an acquired taste. You either love it, or you hate it. There’s really no in-between. That being said, there are a TON of useful groups and a great source of information for our favorite hobbies.
We’ve compiled a list of the best outdoor subreddits here for you. We had to stop at 99 on this first list but we will add more in the future. There are subs for hiking, camping, RVing, backpacking, travel and so much more! Get some friends and go outside!
General Outdoors Subreddits:
/r/Adventures ← 100% about outdoor adventuring and sharing those with others.
r/Alpinism ← Fans of the alpine-inclined.
/r/Backpacking ← For the international or urban traveler who has supplies on their back.
/r/BackpackingDogs ← Sub for those who enjoy hiking with their furry friends.
/r/BackyardWildlife ← Those who just look out the back window and observe the wildlife they see.
/r/Camping ← Subreddit for camping enthusiasts to share their experiences.
/r/CanoeCamping ← Redditors come together to discuss all things canoe camping.
/r/Canyoneering ← Canyoneerers join together to discuss safety and best practices for this activity.
/r/Hiking ← Subreddit for hiking enthusiasts (like us!).
/r/Mountaineering ← Those who prefer to look down on the rest of us.
/r/Packgoats ← Quite simply a sub for pack goat topics. Yup.
/r/SearchAndRescue ← SAR fans and enthusiasts talk best practices and the keys to safe rescue techniques.
/r/SoloTravel ← For those who think one isn’t the loneliest number.
/r/TrailGuides ← Guides to your favorites trails shared by those who have hiked them.
/r/Travel ← Subreddit for traveling redditors.
/r/TravelPartners ← Looking for that special someone to not take showers with for days on end?
/r/UrbanSurvivalism ← Surviving in the concrete jungles of the world.
/r/WildernessBackpacking ← Subreddit for backpacking in the wilderness variety.
Check out the full list here!
Trail Magic: Issue 3
Trail Lingo has created a list of “The 99 Best Outdoor-related Subreddits” and posted it with a brief summary/description of each one. Take a look and let us know what you think!
Kelly Floro at The Trek has a great feature examining the Appalachian Trail’s Iconic Shelter System and if it’s obsolete in today’s hiking world?
Kelly also covers How To Hike Every 14er on the Colorado Trail in a separate article on The Trek.
Owen Eigenbrot has a great review of the Platypus Quickdraw Water Filter. It’s a $40 1 Liter reservoir filter that is uniquely designed.
It appears that a PCT Hiker has been charged with starting California’s Fawn Fire that has burned over 8,500 acres and destroyed 155 buildings. As of Sept 28th, the fire was still only 50% contained.
Michael Lanza over at The Big Outside has released an article detailing what he believes are the 5 Best Headlamps for 2021.
Hiking Daily has a piece for those wondering what they need to or should wear for hiking this fall.
Fresh Off The Grid is a new site I have recently discovered and it is quickly becoming a favorite of mine for their reviews and recipes. Here’s a few of their more recent articles to follow:
:: The 10 Hiking Essential You Need to Safely Hit the Trail
:: Camping Kitchen Equipment Guide
:: Where to Buy Discount Outdoor and Camping Gear
If you have any suggestions for great reads or reviews that you’d like us to share with other readers, please reach out to us: traillingo@gmail.com.
Thank you so much for reading this issue of Trail Lingo! We appreciate you taking the time and hope to see you again. Please consider referring a friend and letting others know about our newsletter and blog. We’d greatly appreciate it!
“You’re Gonna Hike It Here!” – Trail Lingo Staff
