Aimless, you make a very good point about only the presence of game trail in the most extreme wilderness conditions. Most of our designated wilderness areas in this country have well developed trail systems, as well as extrmely accurate topographic maps.

My most extreme wilderness experience lacked both any kind of trail and anything like accurate maps. It was not in the USA, but just south of the border in Baja California - the Sierra San Pedro Martir. At the time we wanted to climb the high point in that range, Picacho del Diablo, all maps, other than 1:100,000 aeronautical charts, were classified, along with aerial photos. Hiking on an aeronautical chart is quite an adventure.

We started on the eastern side of the range at an altitude around 1000 feet above sea level (PDD is in excess of 10,000 feet). Our first attempt was laughable; we had grossly underestimated the magnitude of the task. On our second, successful try we bushwacked up a desert canyon into the tall pines, broke out our ropes for the summit push, and had a marvelous experience. Never saw any thing like a trail in our entire trip or anything like the slightest trace of man's presence. To this day, that remains a unique experience.