Trail
From Trail-Finder -- Dedicated to getting you outside
Contents |
Overview
You would think that the term "Trail" is pretty much self-defining. That's until you realize that trail is no more precise than "road" and "road" can mean anything from the two tire track route through remove desert to the 10-lane wide superhighway, and everything in between. Actually, the term "trail" is probably even more of a broad term, since it means anything from a hiking trail to a kayak route, a cave route to a scuba site, and still more.
Land Trails
Land trails, for purposes of Trail-Finder.com, are mostly trails used for hiking, mountain biking, trail running, horseback riding, etc. These trails are usually a bare dirt path, possibly with trail marking such as blazes, trail markers, flagging tape, etc. If you're lucky, these land trails will also have maps posted, at least at the trailhead and major intersections.
Trails vary from wide, smooth, level paths to narrow, hard to follow, steep, treacherous routes that a even a mountain goat would think twice before attempting. Trail classifications make an attempt to classify trails based on various factors such as surface, slope, etc, but there's no objective standard at this time.
Little used land trails, or even those with moderate use but going through especially wet areas, may sometimes degrade to near invisibility. This is where the skills of trail finding, map reading, compass use, or even orienteering come in.
Water Trails
Water trails, used for kayaking, canoeing, and whitewater rafting, come on two main forms, rivers and flat water.
Rivers
It's hard to get lost going downriver, at least until you hit a lake. Even then, in the fairly rare event that you actually have two or more outlets from the lake, the main one is usually the one you want to follow. Upriver is usually more challenging, since that same lake might have a dozen or more inlets.
Nearly every navigable river can be a trail. Like land trails, rivers also vary considerably in nature, from the wide, deep, gentle flows of the Mississippi River, suitable for long, leisurely canoe or [[sea kayaking}sea kayak]] trips, to the Lower Niagara River, which includes some of the most dangerous rapids on Earth.
The whitewater community has has developed an objective categorization system for rivers, ranging from Class 1, a fairly gentle flow, to Class 5, the worst navigable waters. There has occasionally been talk of adding a Class 6, but so far, this hasn't happened.
Flat Water
Flat water trails are the domain of the sea kayak, although canoes are welcome here, as well. Flat water means not rivers, although anyone who's been around the Great Lakes or any ocean during a storm can tell you they're anything but flat. Flatwater trails come in two forms, coastal and crossings.
Coastal
Coastal routes are easy to follow. Just follow the shore. Kayaking along the Bruce Peninsula, for example, you just follow the rocky coastline. Navigation challenges are mostly limited to finding a good place to go ashore for lunch and trying to find which bay it was where you left your car.
Crossings
Most flat water travel is done following the coastline. Normally, people stay far enough out to avoid the breaking waves, but not much further, so you may never get more than 100 meters out. Sometimes, though, you need to leave the shore, maybe to cut across the mouth of a bay or go out to an island or lighthouse.
Crossings require a bit more nerve, depending on the distance and conditions. Cutting across a 0.5km by entrance isn't too bad, but a 10km crossing to an island can be a bit unnerving the first time. Crossings can actually be so long that you can't see your destination. That's where weather forecasting and kayak navigation skills really become critical.
Other Trails
There are plenty of other types of trails covered in Trail-Finder.com. These include rock climbing routes, scuba dives, cave routes, etc.
