[at-l] AT maps

[DataBook97@xxxxxxx (DataBook97@xxxxxxx)]

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In a message dated 1/28/03 8:34:51 AM Eastern Standard Time, ccr_ii@yahoo.com
writes:


> I'm going to start my first section of the trail this
> summer, from the DWG in PA to the MA-VT border. Are
> the 1:36000 and 1:38700 maps close enough to navigate
> by? Has anybody used them? I'm trying to decide if I
> should track down the USGS 1:26000 scale maps I'm used
> to.

       As the one who was directly responsible for creating the A.T. maps for
New York and New Jersey about 20 years ago, I second the comments that have
been made by others on the list.  The topo maps for this area are essentially
useless, as the route of the A.T. and other trails hasn't been updated in
years, and in many cases was wrong to start with.  Unlike the situation down
south, where A.T. maps are very poorly done (something like 1:100,000 scale
-- essentially useless for navigation) and the Trail runs along mountain
ridges which are obvious and shown in far greater detail on the topo maps,
the A.T. maps for NJ-NY are very well done (if I may say so myself!).
Moreover, the Trail in NJ and NY often follows routes that are not obvious on
the topo maps, so the topo maps are not at all helpful unless the correct
route is shown on the topo -- and in most cases, it is not.

       Along with the maps, you will obtain a copy of our beautiful new
"uni-directional" A.T. Guide for New York-New Jersey (for which I served as
field editor, and Rhymin' Worm -- another list member -- did the lion's share
of the work).  We would both welcome feedback on the new format and
suggestions on how the book can be further improved.

       The maps currently being sold with the new book are several years old,
but the only significant relocation that has taken place since the maps were
last printed is the Pochuck relo in New Jersey.  The relo is shown on the map
as a proposed trail, but the route shown is not precisely correct.  In any
event, it's rather hard to lose sight of the boardwalk!  Just make sure that
you don't follow the old route.

       Perhaps the most glowing -- and most famous -- testimonial to our maps
appears on page 228 of Bill Bryson's well-known book, "A Walk in the Woods."
If I may be permitted to quote the relevant passage (the reference is to
Bryson's entry into New Jersey at the Delaware Water Gap):

       "And here was a final, joyful bonus: I had excellent maps. I was now
in the cartographically thoughtful hands of the New York-New Jersey Trail
Conference, whose maps are richly printed in four colours [sic; the book was
printed in England!], with green for woodland, blue for water, red for trails
and black for lettering. They are clearly and generously labelled and
accurately scaled (1:36,000), and they include in full all connecting roads
and side trails. It is as if they want you to know where you are and to take
pleasure in knowing it.

       "I can't tell you what a satisfaction it is to be able to say: 'Ah,
Dunnfield Creek. I see,' and 'So that must be Shawnee Island down there.'  If
all the AT maps were anything like as good as this, I would have enjoyed the
experience appreciably more -- say 25 per cent or more. It occurred to me now
that a great part of my mindless indifference to my surroundings earlier on
was simply that I didn't know where I was; couldn't know where I was. Now for
once I could take my bearings, perceive the future, feel as if I was somehow
in touch with a changing and knowable landscape."

       Bryson's comments contain one minor error (the green color on the map
is used to designate parkland, rather than woodland), but overall, I cannot
imagine a more glowing testimonial to our maps!

                   Daniel Chazin