[pct-l] Halfmiles maps and other recourses

[Len Glassner]

On Sat, Dec 12, 2009 at 8:25 AM, Ryan S. Bozzell
<RBozzell at vailresorts.com> wrote:

> I hiked last year and it seemed to me based on mine and other hikers experience, the best combination was the databook, >halfmile's maps, yogi's town guide, and the water report. It was interesting to see how many people threw out the "official guide >books" because they were pretty much useless. If you want a free set of these books you could just wait until the big group of >hikers came through the first few town stops and check out the hiker boxes there. The people with the PCT Atlas seemed to >be somewhat pleased, but much of the data didn't match the other recourses i.e. the water report and the data book. The price >of the Atlas is a little rough as well. I think the three esientals for the hike are milage data, water data, and topo maps. The >PCT Atlas dose put this together in one light weight expensive resource except for the current water conditions, and for some >reason the data in the atlas and the water report milage don't match. The "official guides" just give way to much turn by turn >detail and is confusing to most, not to mention the fact that the small black and white maps are difficult to see and use. >Halfmiles maps are in color and can be referenced to the databook, water report, yogi's guide, and are 100% free except for >printing cost of course.
>
> Any other takes on this subject I would be interested to hear.
>

My .02 on the Atlas:

I used a combination of Halfmile maps, hikertrash.net maps, Harrison
JMT maps and guidebook maps and the Data Book (DB) in '08.  This year
I replaced all of those with the Atlas.  Both years I carried the Yogi
book and the water report.  (And DNF either year.  The net of it all
is that I still have from White Pass north to visit.)

The Atlas does an excellent job of assembling the the things you want
to know in a concise and logical manner.  It eliminates most of the
paper shuffling and 'now, where is that page I just had in my hand'
experiences.  I referenced the Atlas more frequently because the time
penalty was greatly reduced.  So maximal convenience is its main
selling point.  I used the current Yogi pages to mark my place in the
Atlas.

It's definitely not perfect, however.  The landmarks and their
elevations seem to be sourced from the DB.  As a result, the elevation
charts are just as misleading as what you might infer from the DB.  A
good example of this is around mile 1600, heading toward Etna.  Both
the DB and the Atlas lead you to to believe that you are in for a
flat-as-a-pancake hike for several miles, but, as you'll find out on a
nice hot day, it's not quite like that.  (The Yogi pages do warn you
of this inaccuracy.)  Erik says the older volumes have been improved
in this regard, but I still found noteworthy errors.  Most of the time
the elevation charts present a reasonable picture, but there are
enough errors that the credibility of the whole series is undermined.
I ended up reviewing the topos as best I could, to try and confirm
what the charts showed.

For some reason, the Atlas defines sections differently from the
official.  The Atlas SoCal  Section A ends at Scissors crossing, the
official A ends at Warner Springs.  The benefit of introducing this
confusion eludes me.  Good luck communicating with someone using a
different resource.

Landmark mileages don't match the official either.  The variance
starts out small of course, but by the end of Oregon the variance is
up to 4.5 miles. It shrinks to a .2 variance in the last few miles to
Cascade Locks, and then starts expanding again.  This made it a real
PITA matching water and other comments in the Yogi book to the Atlas.
Several times, when mentally calculating distances, I got Yogi book
mileages mixed up with Atlas mileages, very aggravating.

There is a sentiment expressed in the Oregon guidebook that the Oregon
Skyline Trail is often a better path to follow than the PCT.  Neither
the Atlas nor the Halfmile maps can help you out with that.

If I try this again I might carry, in addition to the Atlas, the
Halfmile or Harrison maps through the High Sierra.  I think it might
be helpful to to have a couple different perspectives in that area.  I
might also want more detailed maps for the areas around San Jacinto
and Baden-Powell if I was one of the first through any snow in those
areas.

Given the above significant caveats, the overall quality of the Atlas
is impressive for a new publication.  I can remember only one rogue (a
marker at a point where there was no possible source) water indicator.
 And one instance where the listed landmark did not get marked in the
elevation profile.  The print quality is first rate. (I think I did
notice a spot or two where the ink didn't quite transfer.)  I cut the
first two volumes in half to save weight, but wish I hadn't.  Those
pages are quite worn and coming apart.  The intact volumes are in good
shape and lost no pages.  The full volume carried pretty well in my
front pants pocket.