One of the worst situations you can find yourself in is being stranded or lost without a sense of direction in the backcountry. When backcountry camping or hiking, having a GPS is key. So why are so many hikers turning towards a wearable GPS Watch rather than just a regular GPS Tracker? What is the GPS, and why is it so important? The Global Positioning System (or GPS as we call it) is a network of satellites and ground stations that coordinate with each other to pinpoint your location at any time.