N2 Trail Hiking
Route-Tested Since 2017
The N2 Trail Planner · Free Download
Forty-seven pages of field-tested route cards, Bonk-Risk scored meal plans, resupply math, and GPX tracks — built from 1,400+ miles the N2 route team logged in 2024, and the same 187,000+ GPX downloads our readers have trusted since launch.
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Inside the 47 pages
Not a marketing PDF. A working field binder — laid out so you can flip to a chapter the night before a resupply and find numbers, not inspiration.
Fourteen route cards covering the JMT, the Sierra section of the PCT, the AT through the Smokies and Whites, and nine Colorado 14ers — each with mileage, water windows, snow-line notes, bailout options, and a hand-checked elevation profile. Built from in-person logs, not scraped from AllTrails.
Nine pre-scored meal plans rated on our 1–100 Bonk-Risk Index: caloric density per ounce, sodium-per-hour on climbs, and the cost-per-2,000-kcal comparison against a benchmark of Mountain House and AlpineAire entrees. Includes a resupply spreadsheet template.
Companion GPX tracks for every route card plus a CalTopo map pack with slope-shading layers pre-applied. Drop straight into your phone, your Garmin, or your Gaia map. Same format we've handed out 187,000+ times since launch.
WFR-credentialed decision trees for the failures we actually see in the field: GI shutdown above 11,000 ft, lightning on an exposed ridge, hyponatremia on a long water carry, and the "should I turn around" flowchart that has ended more bad days than any sat phone.
Why this planner isn't another Google Doc.
No outside investors. 100% reader-supported since 2021. Cited by the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region in four official trail advisories.
Pull quote · page 23
Every meal plan in the planner ships with a Bonk-Risk™ Index score — a 1–100 rating that combines caloric density per ounce, sodium-per-hour on sustained climbs, and glycemic load over a six-hour effort window. The page on the right is the actual Chapter 02 entry for Day 3 of a JMT northbound resupply. This is what lands in your inbox.
Audience
The 47-page Trail Planner is built for hikers who already know the difference between a Class 2 talus hop and a Class 3 scramble, and who plan their trips in spreadsheets instead of vibes. If that sentence irritated you, keep reading.
It's for JMT, PCT, and AT thru-hikers prepping the season's resupply math before they fly to Yosemite or Monson. It's for Colorado 14er baggers stacking two or three summits in a long weekend and needing a bailout plan that isn't just "turn around at the saddle." It's for section hikers with a backpack full of homemade dinners trying to figure out if their calorie math actually works above 11,000 feet.
It is not for someone Googling "how to go camping." We don't publish beginner content. The page-quality decisions in Issue 47 — what water sources to trust in late September, when to bail off a ridge before the lightning cell builds, how many mg of sodium per hour of climb to keep GI function online — assume a reader who has already done at least a handful of multi-day trips and is ready to plan a longer or higher one. If you need the basics, our archive is free; the planner is what comes after.
Deliverables
One opt-in. Three deliverables. No drip campaign of "Day 1 of 14…" emails.
The full issue delivered the minute you opt in. Formatted for tablet reading, but printable on US Letter if you want a paper copy at the trailhead. Already used by 6,400 paying members on the N2 Pro trail-planning tier.
Fourteen GPX tracks plus a CalTopo map pack with slope-shading and historic-fire layers pre-applied. Drops straight into CalTopo, Gaia, Garmin BaseCamp, or Locus. Same pack format we've distributed 187,000+ times since launch.
Every Tuesday, a short field report — snowpack updates, water-source windows, gear failures from the week's testing, and one route or 14er we think you should be looking at. Opt out in two clicks; we do not sell or share the list.
One email field. No phone, no survey, no "are you a robot." You'll get the PDF, the GPX pack, and one confirmation email for the weekly newsletter. Unsubscribe is in the footer of every issue.