mileage gauge

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Need a bit of clarification on this question.

Do you want something that you carry that will calculate how far you have hiked? If so you can go low tech with a device that measures the number of steps you take or go high tech and get a GPS

If you want something to use at home when you are considering a hiking route there are several mapping programs that allow you to trace out a route and it will calculate distance, elevation gain and loss and several other items.

Or maybe you want something entirely different?
 
Also, when you say "reliable", I think you mean accurate. Do you have a particular use in mind? Whether you're talking about something you carry with you or a tool for reading a map, all technologies have limits. Then there are the deep philosophical questions: when you step up and over a boulder, should you count the rise + run + drop, or just the horizontal distance?

Planning a ten-mile hike and getting the distance right to within half a mile might be good enough for you, in which case lots of methods will work. If you need to get much more precise than that, you might need a whole lot more planning and equipment.
 
I`m looking for a simple fairly accurate mileage guage that I can carry with me to measure the distance I`ve traveled during my hike.( Something I can check without having to scroll through multiple pages to find.) I often think I`ve hiked further than I actually have. It can be discouraging.
 
A GPS unit will do what you want. You may already have one on your smart phone and just need to download the right ap, or in a GPS running watch, or a dedicated GPS unit will do the job.

Alternatively, you can scout the trail ahead of time on a map and just note the distances to each trail junction or major landmark. That's often sufficient in the Whites.
 
Map My Fitness apps do this as well.

Then there is the good old fashioned pedometer.

But what good is all that if you think you are now 3 miles from the car, and the sign at the junction says 5! :mad:

My mantra is that trail signs were put there to teach you to mistrust them! :rolleyes: :confused: :D ;)
 
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