Navigation

Waymarking is in Red and White

Different scales require different strategies

• A trip overview (500km) might be done on paper
• The next few days worth (50km) could be comfortably viewed on a tablet
• The next hour (from 5km down to 500m) can be done easily on a phone
• The next few steps (between 50m and 5m) requires looking at the terrain, waymarks and the path itself

These are the strategies I will adopt on this trail:

Plan A: Waymarking. For the most part I expect it will be quite an easy trail to follow and adequately signposted. But it appears that there are areas of low (and scratchy) scrub where finding the path is both more difficult and more important. Update: It was pretty easy for 98% of the time.

Plan B: iPhone with the Maps.Me app loaded with all the Tracks and Waypoints I have prepared. This is especially useful for looking up things that are ahead on the trail or calculating a quick distance-till-lunch/camp. Update: The track I had loaded was about 95% in agreement with the facts in the ground. Where these differed I went with the marked trail. 

Plan C: Garmin GPS turning it on/off whenever I need it. Used that way (30x2mins per day) I can get over three weeks use out of one set of AA batteries. I will carry a spare set. It is one of the two main reasons I still have this device which I otherwise find limited and whose software is irritatingly badly designed. That said it is robust and waterproof enough to use it where I’d rather not use the phone. And for the little I demand of it it works well enough. As as it is now 6 years old it is starting to owe me rather less. I load OSM maps to it directly. And carry a spare microUSB card with a backup copy of the files/maps. Update: I only turned on the GPS twice just to confirm it was all working. If it had rained more I might have used it more often. 

Plan D: I have a compass in my Suunto watch and there is the sun and most likely there is a great big sea on one side. This would be adequate to get back to a place to regroup.

Plan E: Sometimes you just need to ask! Especially if local weather conditions are difficult or dangerous.

Update: I did encounter one young guy walking the trail armed only with a compact German description. This is of very limited value and gives no mental overview of where the route goes. Crucially it was inadequate for both planning water and resupply. Of course it was completely useless once one was already off the described route. Foolish and potentially dangerous. I hope he managed somehow, but he was certainly making life difficult for no good reason. 

Trail Signage

Water

Water availability (or the lack thereof - see Hazards) is one thing, but water quality is also important. Where necessary I will use the following purification methods:

• Drink tea - Or in other words boil the water. This also has intrinsic benefits, amongst which slowing you down is high on the list.
• Tablets - I have some dubiously aged Micropur tablets and some dubiously tasting regular Puritabs. The advantage of these being that there is negligible weight involved. The former are certainly past the “best before” date and the latter taste like a used public swimming pool. Still both may be better than nothing in a pinch
• Sawyer filter - this is a new addition. It is very light and I am unlikely to get through the 400,000 litres that it can apparently process. In other words its lifetime is certainly longer than mine (especially if it doesn’t work as advertised!)

Aside from the large number (124 or so) of points I have already marked as water sources, there are also Mosques, which always have water. Failing that ask at a house.

Shepherds may also know of water sources if you find yourself far from habitation and running low. Running low is definitely a situation to avoid at all costs. At the end of the hike I will update all this and in particular detail any significant gaps between water points.

Digital Packing

I will put a bunch of files in the Downloads section.

These have taken a while to put together, but I am getting quicker with practice and experience. All of the Documents are loaded to Dropbox in a logical structure, and backed up. 

Finally they loaded to their respective devices:

• Kindle Paperwhite - PDF documents and books to read
• Garmin eTrex 20 GPS - Maps for all the countries on this journey. GPX files for Tracks and Waypoints
• iPhone 5s - KML files for Tracks and Waypoints, PDFs for reference and reading (including a Profile of the trail)
• iPad Mini 2 - Same as the iPhone. Used for overview and planning but not taken on the trail

Tracks

The tracks are taken from the Lycian Way path as marked on Open Street Maps (OSM). Wherever it is not 100% accurate I will go with whatever is marked on the ground and attempt to record the differences where these are material.

Waypoints

The waypoints are a considerable mixture. Some are recorded by friends who have done it already and recorded where they camped. Others are from websites, and others I created from OSM. A notable example of the latter is one file with every water source that I could find, so that I have an explicit “pin” for each point. As I progress along the trail I intend to record camping places and any significant water sources that are not already marked.

Apps

I have installed the TrailSmart App and set it to the Lycian Way. It appears to contain a wealth of information and will be a useful supplement to my regular mapping app.

My normals apps (iOS) include: Maps.Me, Kindle, Acrobat Reader and Dropbox. 

SIM

I intend to get a TurkCell Sim card with a data package to be able to stay in touch with a few friends. I’ll put my regular SIM into a spare little plastic Nokia 108, just as a backup and for any occasions when I need to receive an SMS on that specific phone. Assuming it does roam there. TurkCell seem to be the best deal as far as I can tell at this stage. I will get it once I arrive in Antalya.

Packing

This has been updated with what I actually took. 

• Luggage
  Crux AK70 70-litre dry bag pack, Quechua 2-litre pouch, sunglass pouch, food packs, clothing packs, multiple sizes of plastic ziplock bags
• Documents
  Passport, Visa form (printed). Flight tickets, Bank cards, cash, Passport photos, Health Insurance card, Notebook and pen
• Camping
  Tarptent Contrail with extra pegs, 3/4 length Therarest Ultralight self-inflating mattress, Exped summer sleeping bag 
• Cooking
  MSR Superfly gas stove head, Primus 1.8-litre pot with built-in heat exchanger, 600ml titanium cup, plastic cup, plastic knife, fork and spoon, can opener, lighters x 4, matches, drying up cloth
• Clothing
  Quechua Shorts and Long trekking pants, Underwear x 3, Trekking T-shirts x 2, Light fleece, Buffs x 3, Sun Hat, Beanie, Gloves, Ultralight Down jacket, Goretex hardshell jacket, running shorts for swimming
• Footwear
  Scapa R-Evolution Pro GTX boots, lightweight sandals, Salomon X-Ultra non-Goretex (stored in Antalya), five pairs of wool socks (two pairs worn at a time, plus one for nighttime)
• Health and hygiene
  Toothbrush and toothpaste, Tissues, Baby wipes, First aid kit, Pharmacy, Sunscreen, Insect repellant, Tick removal tool, Magnifying glass, Tweezers, Scissors, small bar of soap, small trek towel
• Technology
  iPhone 5s, Garmin eTrex 20 GPS, Kindle Paperwhite, Canon S95 camera, batteries for camera and GPS, cables, SD cards, Power banks x 3, earphones x 2
  Stored in Antalya: iPad Mini 2, Kingston travel router, spare charger, spare cables, spare earphone, extra Power bank
• Gear
  Headlamp, Opinel knife, Trekking poles, misc cord and 3 small carabiners, repair kit for mattress, duct tape (wrapped around a pole), Sawyer mini water filter

Additional to the above is food, water and fuel. 
Before and After comments follow:

Food

Hopefully it will never be necessary to carry more than 2-3 days of food for most of the trail. If you eat in villages, cafes, restaurants etc. perhaps not even that.
The reality was that I carried 5 days supplies at the start and was very glad of it. The maximum I carried was 6 days supplies for the last section from Çıralı to the end. A bit later in the season and more places might have been open in the early stages, but then it would have been hotter so you would need more water instead.

Water

On the other hand it would be very unwise to skimp on water.
Water was generally available at all the marked sources, and during the day I rarely carried more than a litre. Approaching a camp with uncertaian supply I would add 4 litres for overnight needs, but never carried this very far. Water will also be more accessible if you carry the required gear (see Hazards).

After carrying up to 12 litres (every third day) through the Negev desert in Israel, it was relatively easy to cope with the requirements here. That's the benefit of pushing the comfort zone out a bit from time to time.

Fuel

For fuel I will use gas canisters. These are available in both Antalya and Fethiye and apparently other towns along the way. My stove (MSR Superfly) is indifferent to which canister type (screw or click) is available.

Finding fuel in Antalya was not quite as easy as I had been lead to believe. I eventually found a good supply in a big Bauhaus (near a Decathlon store) so to be safe I took two 500g canisters. I definitely bought gas in Kaş and in Çıralı. I might also have bought some in Demre, and I certainly noted at least two outlets. All of these were screw type canisters. Decathlon in Antalya had gas by the time of my return visit.