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[cdt-l] topo maps
What's all the sweat about topos anyway?? Just buy yerself a GPS; then the
Forest Service and BLM and Trails Illustrated maps are more than sufficient.
You will, however, still spend close to $300 on maps. To use in the
field, interpolate positions on and off the maps using the cross hatches
that occur every 7.5 minutes on those maps (Carry a light ruler and
calculator). Always gits ya close enough to know where you are or where yer
s'posed to be. Your time might be better spent packing better food or
lightening your equipment, or dredging thru Wolf's guidebooks to decide on
your route. (Oh, yes. Do you really want to know ahead of time how much
elevation gain yer facin'?)
I'm sure this will breed all sorts of irate, disagreeing responses; anyway,
I don't guarantee to read, or respond to any of them. Just putting in my
two cents worth.
Happy Hiking!!!
Bilgy
>From: "Nate Young" <barfface74@hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: cdt-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>To: cdt-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>Subject: RE: [cdt-l] topo maps
>Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2001 16:16:12 -0000
>
>I like what I've seen so far in these maps, but I'm printing them on 13" X
>19" high quality paper. In two weeks I put them to a field test and I'll
>tell you what I think of them then.
>
>
>>From: "JDragotto" <jdragotto@dellepro.com>
>>Reply-To: cdt-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>>To: <cdt-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
>>Subject: RE: [cdt-l] topo maps
>>Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 23:53:34 -0500
>>
>>Jim
>>
>>I was hoping that I was providing an economical way for some to look at
>>the
>>24K maps associated with the CDT. I for one do not have $300.00 or more
>>to
>>purchase topos. Granted if you print a complete quad on a 8.5 x 11 piece
>>of
>>paper it is virtually impossible to read. But on the other hand if your
>>printer allows you to print poster form, than you can print the same map
>>on
>>four sheets, seam them together and the result is a map about the size of
>>a
>>USGS quad. Better yet view the maps highlight your route and print only
>>the
>>portions you need. As for detail I'm not sure what kind of maps others use
>>but I find 24K topos more than adequate.
>>
>>I'm not saying that this is the way to go all I did was compile the maps
>>and
>>was offering copies for a minor charge of $20 to cover the cost of the CDs
>>(5) and shipping. What better way to see the lay of the land and do a
>>little
>>planning without spending a fortune?
>>
>>John.
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: cdt-l-admin@mailman.backcountry.net
>>[mailto:cdt-l-admin@mailman.backcountry.net]On Behalf Of Ginny & Jim Owen
>>Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2001 8:29 AM
>>To: cdt-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>>Subject: [cdt-l] topo maps
>>
>>I've stayed out of the topo map/CD thing up till now but I was recently
>>sent
>>a copy of some of the maps that someone took off one of the topo CD's. I
>>finally got some time to take a good look at them today - it wasn't happy
>>time. Or maybe I should be happy that we didn't try to use them for our
>>hike.
>>
>>Personal opinion is that those maps are just plain inadequate. For me,
>>they're too hard to read and reading elevations is impossible. Maybe it's
>>cause I'm blind? I won't speak to the accuracy of the contour
>>information,
>>but if I can't read it off the map, then it might as well not be there.
>>
>>Anyway, other problems - they simply don't have the level of detail that I
>>demand of a map for that kind of country. Many of the trails aren't on
>>them, and at the level of detail I'm seeing, I doubt if they show a lot of
>>the jeep tracks that you need to keep track of in Montana and Wyoming -
>>but
>>I'd have to see more of them to be sure about that.
>>
>>They also don't cover enough area - if you stray from the narrow corridor
>>that they cover, you're well and truly lost. The way they're cut, if you
>>stray just a few miles, you're off the map and have no landmarks. Someone
>>out there wasn't paying attention when we were talking about how easy it
>>is
>>to get misplaced in that country.
>>
>>The maps also don't allow enough leeway to be able to adjust your hike to
>>make sidetrips - as we did, for example, by going through the Cirque of
>>the
>>Towers. The one map shows the Cirque, but it also shows only enough of
>>the
>>area to get out of there by one route. The route we took would be a
>>complete mystery to someone carrying that map. I think my problem here is
>>that they're cramped and just make me feel claustrophobic.
>>
>>Nor do they cover enough area to allow you to change your route if you run
>>into weather problems, stream flooding or any of the dozen or so other
>>factors that can influence (and interfere with) your hike.
>>
>>They also don't give you the information you'd need to bail out in case of
>>emergency. With this kind of map, we'd have had no clue about how to get
>>Ginny out when she got hurt.
>>
>>One question is whether or not they show water sources across the Red
>>Desert
>>or in New Mexico. Without that, I'd consider them to be useful only as
>>firestarters. In the Winds, that's not a problem - there's plenty of
>>water,
>>but once you get south of there, you're into desert. And there are rarely
>>signs to point you to the water sources.
>>
>>Personally, I'd rather carry the full size FS and BLM maps - they had
>>problems and they lied to us regularly, but they were readable and we had
>>the assurance that if we did stray, we'd have what we needed to navigate
>>our
>>way back to where we wanted to be. Or to bail out if necessary. Or if we
>>wanted to change our route, we had the capability to do so.
>>
>>For those who haven't been there - this isn't the PCT, much less the AT.
>>You need better maps because a lot of the time you're not just following a
>>well-marked and maintained trail - you're following a route. There's a
>>very
>>large difference. We know of one hiker who had good maps and was lost for
>>4
>>or 5 days and out of food before being picked up by some fishermen in
>>Montana. How hungry do you want to get?
>>
>>Walk softly,
>>Jim
>>
>>
>>
>>
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