The Appalachian Trail

An Aid in Hiking

Hiking a short distance can be hard in itself, but imagine hiking two thousand and one hundred miles. The Appalachian Trail is two thousand and one hundred miles of wilderness with rough terrain filled with unexpected obstacles to conquer. Imagine hiking the AT with a sixty pound backpack and only a map for guidance. That could be very scary and is what a majority of people do. There is no reason people should hike such an incredibly tough and enduring trail with no aid from advancing technology. Technology is prevalent in every aspect of our lives and used daily to aid us with things. Typing this paper would not be possible if computers were not created through technology advances. Hiking technology improved greatly in the past thirteen years when an answer to explorers and navigators came about with the creation of the Global Positioning System. GPS allows people to know there location, latitude, and longitude within a hundred feet (Kleppener 1). The GPS is a big upgrade from a plain old map and could be a big aid on the trail. The weight of your equipment could be a major issue when you realize you are carrying it over two thousand miles. Recently, hiking equipment has started conquering this problem with lightweight gear and it should be a consideration when choosing gear for an extended hike. Communication incase of emergency is important, but almost impossible in the wilderness until the creation of the satellite phone. Technology can be a help not a hassle on the trail with these three innovations.

In the novel, A Walk into the Woods by Bill Byrson, Bill and Katz are hiking the Appalachian trail and experiencing getting lost first hand, "All I knew was that Katz was alone in a wilderness with no water, no map, no clear idea of what terrain lay ahead, presumably no idea of what had become of me, and a worrying lack of sense. If there was ever one person who would decide while lost on the AT to leave the trail and try for a short cut, it was Katz. I began to feel extremely uneasy" (Bryson 260). This horrific nightmare could have been avoided with the help of technology. Global positioning systems have come a long way and the Garmin 530 is an example of that. Field and Stream gave it a best of the best awards for a few reasons, "It's one thing to have a waterproof GPS with a killer interface, great maps, and a color screen, but add a 5-watt radio to the mix and you have just saved significant weight, space, and hassle. The 530's two-way radio has a range of up to 14 miles (unrestricted line of sight), and it will interface with any VHS handheld radio. Besides giving you the ability to figure out your location and call someone to help drag your buck back to camp, the 530 is jammed with practical tools, including an NOAA regional weather radio and instant sunrise and sunset info"( Cassell 1). The Garmin 530 could have easily have gotten Bryson and Katz out of their situation no problem because they could have communicated and known where