A few years ago my wife wanted to ride a self-supported century. We headed out and enjoyed a pleasant day in the coast range. Immediately after our picnic at a pioneer cemetery, we encountered three young men who were on a three-day tour to the coast. They had missed a turn and didn't know where they were. A cell phone would have been nearly useless since the nearest signal was twenty miles away and up a long steep climb.

Lucky for them, I had brought along a laminated map of the roads in the area (actually a photo of a large BLM map that is prominently placed at the junction where they had made their wrong turn). I ran into them in town a few months later. They had a great trip and appreciated the course correction.