How I Use Custom Routes to Make Thru-Hiking Easier
By Brian Walsh, a 2024 FarOut Scout
Most of the thru-hikers I’ve met on my AT and PCT thru-hikes have used FarOut for their daily navigation. However, I was surprised by how many of them downloaded it just a week before starting the trail and weren’t aware of my favorite feature: creating custom routes! So take notes: Here’s a quick guide on how I create and use Custom Routes to make thru-hiking much easier.
Photo provided by Brian Walsh
Photo provided by Brian Walsh
Why Use Custom Routes?
Sure, you can navigate without them, but creating a route is a much more accurate and efficient way to calculate your mileage and elevation. Hikers using FarOut without a custom route are forced to rely on mile markers and spend the entire day doing mental math. When your route is selected, the app will tell you at a glance how far into your hike a particular landmark, water source, or privy is. Save the math for the computers–who wants to do that on a thru-hike? While viewing a custom route, when you switch to the Elevation View, the map is cropped to only show the selected portion, which helps to better visualize your day. If necessary, it’s always easy to go back to the default view by tapping ‘Clear Current Route’.
A familiar feature on FarOut maps are blue blazes identifying side adventures and off-trail landmarks or summits–many of which are unforgettable! Creating a route makes adding up your PCT miles, and your off-trail miles, effortless so you know exactly how far you have to hike before you can eat your ramen and pass out. By creating a Custom Route, you can also see the elevation profile of the blue blaze that you normally couldn’t see on the Elevation View without your route selected.
Photo provided by Brian Walsh
Photo provided by Brian Walsh
A common issue among hikers is that when you are off trail, even by a tenth of a mile, FarOut will calculate your mileage in a straight line rather than along the trail. This can result in spending too much time at the bar in town thinking it’s only 4 miles to the first shelter, when really it’s 9 trail miles… I’m speaking from experience here. When this happens, the app will say “12 mi from you” instead of “12 mi by trail”. This is a dead giveaway that the mileage you are looking at isn’t using trail miles. If you want accurate mileage and are off-trail, creating a route is the most reliable way to determine exactly how far you need to go. I learned that the hard way– and I’ve never made the same mistake again!
Photo provided by Brian Walsh
Photo provided by Brian Walsh
How to Create a Custom Route
While you are in the Guide view, tap on the Tools icon from the toolbar on the right side of your screen. Then, select ‘Create a Route’. Simply tap and hold on the trail line to drop a pin and add as many pins as needed to build your route!When you’re done you can save your route and give it a name. Custom Routes can be accessed later under ‘My Routes’ where they are displayed in alphabetical order. For more info on creating custom routes, check out this in-depth guide and video!
Now that you know how to make your own route, here are a few ways I like to use Custom Routes on my thru hikes:
Photo provided by Brian Walsh
Photo provided by Brian Walsh
How I Use Custom Routes on a Thru-Hike
Planning Resupply Stretches
A quick and easy way to see how many trail miles from one road crossing to another is to drop two pins and create a Custom Route. Divide the total miles by the daily mileage you’ve been hiking, and you can quickly calculate how many days of food you will need to buy. Of course, you will have to take a closer look to see if you pass by a restaurant so you can carry one less meal!
There are often multiple access points to a town, so relying solely on the mile marker on the FarOut icon isn’t enough. By creating Custom Routes you can easily compare how much food you’ll need to get into town via Road A versus Road B– an invaluable tool for planning.
Photo provided by Brian Walsh
Planning Each Day
I create a route for each day of my thru-hike. I start by creating rough routes in town before we hike out based on our average daily mileage. Then, I’ll refine them in my tent by adding details like water sources, ideal campsites, and must-see side trails. Every night, I edit the route to make sure it reflects what we actually hiked for that day. Doing this keeps me organized, and when scrolling through ‘My Routes’, I can easily track daily mileage and elevation gain/loss.
Pro Tip: Label each day starting with 00 so that your day 6 doesn’t go down next to day 60!
Measuring Blue Blazes
This is simple, but the quickest way to measure the distance of a blue blaze or side trail is – yep, you guessed it – by creating a custom route! You can drop a pin further up the trail and it will calculate the distance both ways and add the elevation profile to your day as well.
Daily Log
I love having all of my FarOut routes saved from my thru-hikes. I can always go back and see how many miles we did on a particular day and see what the trail looked like. I’m someone who makes many videos and posts about our thru-hike, but often not until months later. It’s been an invaluable resource to refer back to my routes for any given day, helping to jog my memory about what the trail was like.
These are the main ways I harness the power of Custom Routes, though there are many other uses! Staying organized with my routes has saved me countless hours of mental math and unnecessary time lost. I can’t imagine using FarOut to plan or navigate without them. I’ve shown a handful of hikers how to create and use Custom Routes on the trail, and every time, they’re amazed. Now that you are armed with this knowledge, go out there and fill your ‘My Routes’ tab with countless beautiful trail memories!