Map Ideas

you wont find anything near the quality of 7.5 minute maps….that I know of

I have done extensive cross country travel all over the sierra, I get by just fine on tom harrison maps. Now with the internet I can study the USGS maps at home. before the internet, you just went for it.

I sometimes create my own maps using USGS maps for short hikes. you can view them, take a screenshot, then cut and past it together in paintshop.

I just did one for a loop I am doing this weekend because I am taking someone along, and wanted him to have a detailed map. I prefer solo for off trail hikes, so if you are going in a group please make sure everyone treads lightly! :)

Nat Geo has some very detailed maps of yosemite….NW,NE,SW,SE yosemite. I do have the set and they are very nice. Scale is 1 : 40,000 with 50ft contours.

How much experience do you have in cross country travel?

My experience in printing many forms and maps for outdoor field work is:

1) you want to use a laser printer (xerography) in which heat sets the toner to the paper rather than inkjet which remains water soluble.

2) Thompson's Water Seal, sold for waterproofing your deck works from on paper maps (which are, you know, made from wood, too). And is vastly cheaper per pint than the stuff sold in map stores.

3) to make really sturdy maps quickly, get "Rite-in-the-Rain" paper from the manufacturer and run that through the laser printer.

Those Nat'l Geo stations at REI stores let you pick the borders so you got just what you needed, even if it had once been on 4 or 6 USGS quads.

Here's a link to a source I've been using. You can click the checkbox for the 7.5 USGS topo maps and then click on the map for the section you want and it will let you download the topo map files for free. (tip, make sure you zoom in to the specific location you want before clicking the map to download)

http://www.highsierratopix.com/high-sierra-map/map.php

Hope that helps.