Route-Finding: Reading the Terrain
Trail-less navigation is about reading the landscape and making continuous micro-decisions about where to go.
Look Ahead
Don’t just look at the ground in front of you. Scan ahead. Look at the terrain 50 yards, 100 yards, a quarter mile out. Identify obstacles. Identify lines of travel that look efficient.
If you’re constantly reacting to what’s immediately in front of you, you’ll waste time and energy.
Choose the Path of Least Resistance
In trail-less terrain, the “path” is the line that minimizes difficulty. This might mean:
- Staying on ridgelines to avoid dense brush in valleys
- Contouring around slopes instead of climbing straight up and down
- Following game trails (animals know efficient routes)
- Using gravel bars along rivers instead of bushwhacking through alders
But: The path of least resistance isn’t always the most direct path. Sometimes a longer route is faster and easier than a shorter one.
Avoid Terrible Terrain
Thick alder. Miserable. Slow. Exhausting. Avoid if you can. If you can’t, grit your teeth and push through. It’s part of Alaska.
Tussocks. Those ankle-twisting mounds of grass. Also miserable. Slow. If you can go around them, do. If not, step carefully and expect to stumble.
Steep, unstable scree. Sliding rocks. High fall risk. Avoid if possible. If you have to cross it, move carefully and test your footing.
Cliffs and steep drops. Don’t get yourself into a position where you can’t retreat safely. If the terrain ahead looks questionable, scout before committing.
Use Terrain Features for Navigation
Drainages, ridgelines, prominent peaks, glaciers. These are your landmarks. Use them to orient yourself and confirm your position.
If you’re heading toward a specific drainage and you can see it from your current position, you can navigate toward it even if you can’t see the exact line you’ll take to get there.
Getting Lost: Stay Put
If you get separated from your group and you don’t know where they are, stop. Stay where you are.
Don’t wander around looking for them. Don’t try to backtrack unless you’re absolutely certain of the route. Don’t keep moving in the direction you think they went.
When you realize you’re lost, stay put.
The guide knows you’re missing. The guide will come find you. But the guide will have a harder time finding you if you’re moving.
Why “Stay Put” Works
You become a stationary target. Easier to find than a moving one.
You don’t make the situation worse. Moving when you’re lost usually puts you farther from where people are looking for you.
You conserve energy. Wandering burns energy you might need later.
You reduce your risk of injury. Moving through unfamiliar terrain increases the chance of falling, getting hurt, or getting into worse terrain.
Rare Exceptions
There are a few situations where staying put might not be the best call.
- Immediate danger. You’re in an avalanche path, a flooding drainage, a rockfall zone, or some other location where staying put puts you at risk. Move to safety, then stay put.
- Severe weather exposure. You’re caught in a storm with no shelter and you’re at risk of hypothermia. If there’s obvious shelter nearby (treeline, rock outcrop, etc.), move to it. Then stay put.
- You have a clear, certain route back to a known location. If you’re 100% confident you can retrace your steps to camp, the trailhead, or another known point, and it’s not far, you might choose to move. But “100% confident” means 100%. Not 90%. Not “pretty sure.”
- In almost every other situation, stay put.
What to Do While You Wait
- Relax. Absolutely #1. Always.
- Make yourself visible. Bright clothing, a tarp, a signal mirror. Anything that makes you easier to spot.
- Stay warm and dry. Get out of the wind. Add layers. Protect yourself from the elements.
- Conserve your energy. Don’t panic. Don’t burn calories wandering around. Stay calm.
- Listen. The guide might be calling for you. Other group members might be nearby. Listen for voices, whistles, or other sounds.
- Signal if you hear or see someone. Three of anything is the universal distress signal. Three whistle blasts. Three shouts. Three flashes with a mirror.
Group Navigation
Staying Together
When traveling as a group in trail-less terrain, stay together. Don’t spread out over a mile of tundra. Don’t let fast hikers disappear over the next ridge unless you absolutely know where you’re going.
The group should be able to see each other, or at the very least see each other who can see each other. It’s helpful to be within earshot.
The Lead Person Sets the Pace and Route
If you’re following someone, follow them. Don’t veer off on your own line unless you’ve communicated that you’re doing so. If someone’s following you, keep an eye back there.
If the guide is leading, the guide chooses the route. If someone else is leading and the guide is fine with it, that person chooses the route. But everyone follows the same line.
Communicate Changes
If you’re deviating from the group’s direction, say so. If you’re stopping, say so. If you’re taking a different line around an obstacle, say so.
Don’t just wander off. Even if you think you know where you’re going.
Pre-Trip Planning: Know Your Route
Study the map before you go. Identify key landmarks, drainages, ridges, potential campsites, river crossings, and bail-out routes.
Use satellite imagery. Google Earth shows things maps don’t. Look for vegetation density, river braiding, potential obstacles.
Talk to people who’ve done the route. Get beta. Learn from their experience. Ask about difficulty, time estimates, river crossings, terrain challenges.
Have a plan B. And C. D, E and F are good choices as well. What if the weather is bad? What if a river is too high to cross? What if the route you planned isn’t passable? Know your alternatives.
Know your bail-out options. If things go wrong, where can you retreat to? What’s your exit strategy? Are there alternate landing sites for a pickup? Or a drop-off? How do you get to them?
Do you have extra food and supplies “just in case”?
You should.
Experience in Trail-Less Travel
If you’ve never navigated trail-less terrain before, don’t start in Alaska’s remote backcountry on a multi-day trip.
Build your skills in less remote areas. Do day hikes in trail-less terrain. Practice route-finding. Practice map-and-compass and GPS navigation. Get comfortable with the kind of terrain you’ll encounter.
Alaska’s national parks are not the place to learn these skills on the fly.
Guides and Route Knowledge
If you’re hiring a guide, one of the most valuable things that guide brings is . Your guide either has exceptional backcountry skills and route beta, and/or has ideally hiked the route before. Your guide knows where the river crossings are, where the alder is thick, where the good campsites are, where the terrain gets difficult.
That local knowledge is worth far more than any amount of map study.
Summary
“No trails” means you’re navigating terrain, not following a path. Route-finding is continuous. Experience matters.
Navigation tools: Map and compass (fundamental), GPS (primary tool but not a replacement for map/compass), satellite imagery (for planning), route beta from others.
Read the terrain. Look ahead. Choose the path of least resistance. Avoid terrible terrain. Use landmarks for orientation.
If you get lost, stay put. Don’t wander. Wait to be found. Exceptions are rare and specific.
Stay together as a group. Don’t spread out. Communicate changes. Follow the same route.
Plan before you go. Study maps, use satellite imagery, get route beta, know your bail-out options.
Build skills in less remote areas first. Don’t learn trail-less navigation on a multi-day Alaska trip.
Navigation in Alaska’s backcountry is not technical. It doesn’t require ropes or specialized equipment. But it does require judgment, experience, and constant attention.
If you’re not comfortable with trail-less travel, hire a guide. That’s what guides are for.
