Someone created and is selling a guide including “breadcrumbs” but said the following about it “My maps have breadcrumbs, not a line, in order to depict the route. The longer ones, such as this previously mentioned 315km mix of paths and routes, I’m unsure about trying to represent in OSM. I’m personally mostly interested in the shorter routes up to a pass, side feature, etc rather than long multi-day routes. Sedimentary cliffs tend to be problematic with different layers, having undercuts / overhangs along with strata that are very vertical are common, but finding routes that work up/down on fans caused by erosion is pretty easy to spot on topo using slope angle shading. Generally long lines of sight, unless one is in a canyon, at which point things are pretty straightforward. There are a lot of small cliffs in the rippling of sandstone which pose a navigational and safety hazard. Paths can go onto slick rock as shown in the set of photos earlier in this thread which don’t hold any footprints at all but can be easily cairned.

We also should consider how this might apply to other areas: arid places such as deserts, tropical rainforests where routes get overgrown.ĭeserts are relatively straightforward - sand will cover occasional foot traffic in many places within a year, which helps prevent informal paths from being created (though in some areas you have “biological crust” which should be avoided). It would be interesting to have a perspective from NZ or Australia where missing the route seems rather hazardous. I can suggest locations in the Alps, Scottish Highlands and upland North Wales each with somewhat different characteristics, from those of the Western US. I think we need a bit more of a discovery phase.

Pathless define