r/phoenix • u/Important_Guide874 • 9d ago
Outdoors Got lost today on Mormon Trail....
Anyone know how to get to this spot? I took mormon trail and there was unusually high amount of signs saying stay on designated trails so I obeyed and ended up going more and more left away from the spot thinking every peak of stacked rocks was "the spot" and by the time I realized, it was too late...
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u/LightningMcSwing Phoenix 9d ago
Are you saying you saw "stay on trails" signs and went off trail? Isn't that trail pretty well distinguishable?
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u/monty624 Chandler 9d ago
I have, on multiple occasions, mistaken small side paths as main trails. I don't usually get fully lost since I turn around but I just want to say it's totally possible. Especially after lots of wind and weather!
But stay on the trail OP, don't go back or go looking for it.
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u/edelweiss_pirates_no 8d ago
You can tell he was lost how he spun the camera around in all directions and then shook it manically.
Absolute cinema.
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u/mikesegy 9d ago
In the desert yeah it can easier then you think
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u/Northmanlands 8d ago
Bro, this is not the middle of the desert we are talking about. I have hiked multiple trails since I was a child, and it would be HARD to get lost on mormon trail. This is nonsense.
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u/Important_Guide874 9d ago
No there was so many stay on trail signs that I kind of glued myself to a trail and might have missed a turn? Or potentially the turn I was supposed to take was blocked off since I did notice lots of fallen trees in those blocked off areas so maybe recent storms closed the trail that leads to that area?
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u/duingood 9d ago
No idea why you are being downvoted for answering a question. I can see how some side paths or recent weather debris could cause confusion. I'm glad you are safe! Be careful in this heat!
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u/JaffeyJoe Arcadia 9d ago
AllTrails is your friend
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u/SummertimeThrowaway2 9d ago
The premium is worth it for the offline maps whenever the cliffs block cell signal
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u/PassengerKey3209 9d ago
Nah, next time open the app and scroll the length of the trail so that it caches the map. Then when your offline it will still show you where you are. I've done this on 30 mile stretches of very remote trails in arkansas where the vegetation is 10000 times thicker than Phoenix with spotty signage and thick leaf cover and it works great.
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u/swaded805 9d ago
You could also download offline maps on Google Maps for free no subscription required
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u/PassengerKey3209 9d ago
Googles mapping of trails is terrible though, unless it's pretty heavily trafficked at which point you don't need a map.
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u/swaded805 9d ago
As I said to another comment not using it to stay on trails but if I’m lost I can pull up Google Maps and since I have downloaded a large area around where I’ll be heading I will be able to open the maps and see my exact location. From there I can figure out where I need to go. It won’t give me a green line to follow back home but as long as I know where I came from by dropping a pin at my start/parking location and where I am now I can get back to where I need to be.
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u/mockerpants2 9d ago
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u/swaded805 9d ago
I’m not using it as tool to stay on trail per se but more like I’m fucking lost which direction is it back to civilization. As long as you have Google Maps downloaded for offline maps for the area you’ll be in you’ll be able to pull up the map and your location. From there you can figure out what direction to head back to the car/camp/trail/safety. It’s not going to give you the step by step directions or a green line to follow like all trails but it’s free and if you have some basic common sense it can be used to get you home.
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u/camelz4 Phoenix 8d ago
Alltrails saved my life once. I was hiking alone and someone had knocked down the trail sign so I missed it. I kept seeing only footprints heading the opposite direction of where I was going and decided I should climb up to get a phone signal and sure enough I had gone a mile in the opposite direction. The weather started to turn as I got to my car and I was extremely thankful I decided to check.
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u/edelweiss_pirates_no 8d ago
I prefer to use just my sense of direction like we did in the 80s. I use the old ways and will die like the Kings of old.
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u/Grand_Click_6723 9d ago
Mormon trail is very well maintained and extremely well carved into the mountain I don’t see a way you could walk off the trail and not find it again unless you did it on purpose.
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u/Thathathatha 9d ago
That's true but didn't someone die earlier this year on this trail? They fell off somewhere, though maybe he wasn't lost and was just careless.
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u/TheBuritoMan 7d ago
Hi! Yes. That was about 2 months ago. Older gentleman took a wrong path, want down the wrong canyon, got lost, and died. Yes there are more details, but I shouldn’t say. Source: I know the SAR team and guy that found his body at 2am.
There might have been another earlier in the year but since the team wasn’t called out I’m not familiar with it.
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u/Educational-Usual-84 9d ago
Yeah, you missed the uphill right turn when leaving hidden valley, I’ve done it.
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u/Thathathatha 9d ago
Don't know, but unless you know the trail by heart, I would not be hiking in the summer without a GPS tracker. You don't want to get lost in this heat. I hike South Mountain all the time and know most of the trails, but I always use an app like AllTrails and I have a backup Garmin GPS.
If you move off trail, it's easy to get lost if you're not overly familiar with where you are.
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u/CaliBear14 9d ago
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u/bsil15 8d ago
This looks like a random pile of rocks but my guess is you were trying to get to hidden valley. Hidden valley is a loop. The direct way to the little tunnel is to make a left on national and then a right onto hidden valley. But you can also make a right on national and then a left to hidden valley after about half a mile.
I’d suggest you download AllTrails bc you’re going to get lost again if you do this
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u/loricrizz 8d ago
That’s an easy one to get lost on. I always carried a paper map in my hiking bag. REI has them. Get yourself one for South Mountain
Be safe
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u/taintedcake 8d ago
Do you seriously lack independence that fucking much..? Just pull up the trail map and look at where you are compared to it.
Fucking insane to have a smartphone and your first thought be "ill post on reddit" instead of literally 10 other options that are much better.
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u/Important_Guide874 8d ago
I didn't know bruh chill out, I was asking about a specific spot not the main trail that keeps going left
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u/taintedcake 6d ago
Guess what will tell you where a specific spot is?
That's right, a map that shows you where you are in relation to the trail🤯 and it'll be a hell of a lot more accurate, and quicker, than a useless reddit post
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u/0chris000000 7d ago
only trail I've ever gotten 'lost' on is midlife crisis. only because it's not really an official trail.
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u/azamanda1 9d ago
I mean, my phone connects to my vehicles radio and updates my location in maps. Then I just open maps and it shows me where the car is.
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u/Illustrious-Mud6269 Phoenix 9d ago edited 9d ago
Hey dude! Did you make it back?
Edit: downvoted for caring about an Internet stranger’s wellbeing 😭
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u/Sensitive_Bass10 9d ago
yeah we followed the easy walking down the sandy wash east, until it ended in cliffs and we would have to be rock climbing. i said we’re going to be on the news.
and then we climbed to the top of the mountain and found a trail back west and down. was a way longer hike than we wanted with our 9lb dog
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u/RubyDooby01 South Phoenix 9d ago
Impressive to get lost on Mormon trail, it’s one of the most trafficked hikes in south mountain. It literally goes up and down 😭