[at-l] Maps

[baltimorejack@hotmail.com (Jack Tarlin)]

  R.Rubin recently wrote that "Maps are really useful, though not essential, 
unless you get lost."

  Gotta disgaree with him on this one---I think that possessing a current 
Trail map, as well as the ability to use it, is absoulutely essential 
anytime you venture into a backwoods area not intimately known to you, 
regardless of how well travelled, signed, or blazed it is.

  As far as being essential only if one is lost, I disagree:  They're also 
essential if you ever find yourself in a position where you want to help 
others; to evacuate injured or sick folks from the Trail as efficiently as 
possible; to plan an alternate route if the Trail proves impassable due to 
high water; they can also be a life-saver in directing a hiker to water 
sources, known landmarks, roads, etc.  They're also essential if you're 
trying to direct searcher/rescuers to the location of an injured 
hiker----you really need to know EXACTLY where you left or last saw the 
folks in need of assistance.

   The maps are also extraordinarily useful for planning your days's 
itinerary, for knowing what lies ahead of you each hiking day, for knowing 
where the big climbs are, and where the easier sections lay; this is 
essential in planning your pacing and scheduling, as eighty miles of central 
Virginia is obviously wildly different from 80 miles in Maine.  It is the 
maps that will provide this information.

   Anyway, there are a lot of things that maps are "essential" for, and not 
merely for when you find yourself lost.  In short, tho, the number one 
reason to always carry a map is this:  No responsible hiker ventures into 
the woods or mountains without one.  Is it possible to thru-hike without 
using Trail maps?  Sure it is, and lots of oflks have.  But I don't think 
it's a good idea to encourage this.  I live in a part of the country where 
you can't go a week without reading about some mis-hap, accident, or tragedy 
in the woods.  An incredible percentage of these incidents would have been 
avoided, or easily remedied, had all of the participants been carrying 
current maps, and knew how to use em.  To state that maps are only truly 
useful when you find yourself lost is, in my opinion, an error.

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