[pct-l] New PCTatlas maps

Sat Dec 8 08:02:26 CST 2007

I think the PCT Atlas approach is worth a download.  Just take it for a
walk.  After a hundred miles, you will know which resource is the one you
keep going to for answers.  If the Atlas fits your style, the question will
answer itself.

During my PCT hikes I have used data books, Yogi's info, town guides, and
the WPress books.   What I found is that the key information I wanted was
spread between those resources and it took some juggling to get it out.   In
my judgment, the PCT Atlas is a consolidation of the information I spent 99%
of my time flipping between resources to get.  I am very impressed with the
Atlas style and can't wait to use it on my next long hike.     

The WP books are excellent, but way more than I need for distance hiking.
For day hiking or "strolls" I use them all the time.  The narrative
information, when glanced at every quarter mile or so, is a full of history,
fauna, and other context.   However, when on long treks I found it very time
consuming to figure out on the narrative where I was .  I open the book to
about the page I knew I was hiking and look for some detail in the narrative
to tell me if I should skip forward in the text or back.  The narrative
would say something like, "then you round a series of knolls"... hmmmm, had
I rounded a series of knolls yet?... not sure ... should I glance forward or
back.  Another glance, " for the next couple miles you will find yourself
meandering along chaparral"... what the PH*&%!  I have been "meandering"
past chaparral for three days?!   I just found it took too much time
everytime I needed to reorient myself on the text.  On long hikes I
generally want to know the basics; where am I now, how much further to next
possible water supply, how far off trail to reference points, what services
can I find at the next stop, and where will the next 20 mile day put me.   I
need the information concise and quickly available.  When distance hiking
the only thing I use in the WP are the little maps.  The version of the
little maps in the Atlas are much easier to read, the waypoints are clearly
marked,  and the maps sit right next to the other info I want.  Now, I know
the writers of the WP books are much loved and have a big fan base.   I am
just saying for my style, the book is too much for me when I am covering
distance.  Again, for "my style".  Please... don't hate me because I am
beautiful.

This info does not cover off trail information such as determining what
hotels are hiker friendly or the invaluable planning information in Yogis
book.  On the trail though, the Atlas has my vote.  I am really looking
forward to using it.  And no, I do not know the author, don't get a dime
from him, never met him.

God bless water from the sky in Southern California - 

Bill B
Pink G

  _____  

From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of g l
Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2007 2:09 AM
To: Brian Lewis; PCT
Subject: Re: [pct-l] New PCTatlas maps

I have not studied the "free sample" printout yet.  (But I have printed it
out).  And I like the Atlas.  It is pocket size and has profile maps, which
I think is an excellent feature.  I missed having those in the guide books.
I would be comfortable having all 3 books- guide, atlas and data.....plus
Yogi's of course.

I think it's a little early to start accusing someone of "plagiarism".
(Posted by another member).  This seems unnecessarily negative to me.  A lot
of hard work has gone into these books and I think we should give them a
fair shot.

Wheeew

Brian Lewis <brianle at nwlink.com> wrote: 

Eric Payne said:
"Could someone please compare this map to the maps included in the
guidebooks popular on the trail?"

Thanks for pointing out this PCT Atlas offering Eric!

Summary: I think a reasonable way to view the PCT Atlas might be as an
alternate to the *Data* book (not the actual Guidebook), with integrated
maps and elevation profiles given along with the data. I would definitely
carry the Wilderness Press Guidebook pages regardless.

Read on only if you're interested in some hasty analysis of this vs.
Wilderness Press offerings.

=====================================================================

I printed out the free sample pages of the PCT Atlas and compared these to
the Wilderness Press Guide content, and it looks to me like there's
relatively little overlap with the Guide itself.

It appears that the PCT Atlas will take about half as many pages to cover
the same ground as the Guide, but on the order of three times as much as the
Data book. To compare and contrast the Atlas with the Guide:

The PCT Atlas has no text, gives you a similarly scaled map with less detail
and little color contrast but shows the location of various points on the
map, gives running mileage and elevation of these various points, plus
offers UTM coordinates, an elevation profile, and a running list of distance
to the next water source. The Wilderness Press PCT books give you a lot of
text, more detailed maps with more color contrast but no UTM (to date), and
relative (not absolute) mileages.

"Maps with less detail and little color contrast" don't sound too good, but
in some ways the PCT Atlas maps are easier to read --- less detail can make
it easier to see the information that is there, and having specific points
labelled on the map, with distances between these points shown on the same
page with an elevation profile on the same or adjacent page --- handy stuff.
In this brief sample it looks to me that the Wilderness Press maps typically
cover a little more territory on the whole.

If you add the Wilderness Press Data Book pages to their PCT guidebook
content, then you have the type of running mileage and elevation data that
PCT Atlas provides --- in fact, about 40% more such data points in the Data
book (based on the PCT Atlas example). The PCT Atlas also provides a very
minimal amount of information that a "town guide" (or Yogi's book) offers,
with map symbols showing locations of things like post offices, stores, etc,
and a subset sketch map of towns.

At the end of the day if you carry both data book and guidebook pages from
Wilderness Press, the PCT Atlas doesn't offer too much. I think another
way to view the PCT Atlas might be as an alternate to the Data book, with
integrated maps and elevation profiles, but with a somewhat lower number of
data points given.

And note again that this was a pretty hasty "analysis". I plan to hike much
of the sample PCT Atlas terrain next month, and will hopefully remember to
bring along PCT Atlas content as well as Wilderness Press guide and databook
pages --- to try to decide which of data book or atlas pages might be more
worth while to carry on a thru-hike.

Brian Lewis

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