Updated Halfmile’s PCT maps for 2015?

[Derek M.]

Does anyone here possibly know if Halfmile's maps are going to receive an update before the 2015 PCT hiking season (I know they got one last year)?

I emailed Lon Cooper (a.k.a. Halfmile) with this question but haven't heard back yet. I'm sure he's busy, and I thought I'd ask around here to see if anyone has heard anything that I'm not aware of.

Thanks!

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Halfmile hiked the full PCT last year – we met him on Mather pass – so I imagine a lot of updates are either coming soon or have already happened. My guess is that the updates are a continual process, rather than a yearly thing.

Last year my wife and I downloaded his maps onto our iPad Mini and used only that (no paper maps). For the most part, the trail is extremely easy to follow so looking at maps is a rare thing. Carrying a stack of paper maps seems a bit ridiculous – and it's expensive to print that much.

If you're carrying electronic maps, you can download just the first few sections close to your start date. You'll frequently have good wifi in SoCal (not so much thereafter), so you can put off downloading the rest until you're on the trail if you want the latest updates. If you are using halfmiles app, then it's probably less important to have the latest updates on the maps.

My main critique of the halfmile maps is that they are too zoomed in. They are designed more for micro-navigation along the trail corridor (i.e. when is that stream?) rather than landscape scale navigation (what mountain is that? what valley am I in?). If you were truly lost several miles off the trail, these maps wouldn't be much help. Also, the phone apps (Halfmile's, Guthook's) are better than these maps for micro-navigation (ie. stream is in 0.2 miles), which is why a lot of people ditch the maps entirely. I did meet people in the Sierra's with really nice landscape scale maps that I was jealous of.

One smaller critique is the base map needs more shading so the topography pops out easier.

[Derek M.]

Dan,
As always, your info and experience is invaluable and much appreciated!

I'm currently torn with the map thing… A part of me simply does not leave on a backpacking trip without paper maps. Period. I know that electronics cannot be too heavily relied upon, lest they fail you at the most inopportune moment.

At the same time, I can also appreciate how Halfmile's maps are way overkill 95% of the time. It's also a lot of paper to carry (even when broken down into sections), and we'd have to deal with the hassle of making sure to mail ourselves the right section at the right time to the right place. Not exactly rocket science, but still it's one more thing to deal with and one more thing to tie us to town (thereby limiting some flexibility).

I was planning on buying and downloading both Guthooks apps and Halmile's app for all the aforementioned reasons, so I would probably be using those most of the time anyway. I also realize that navigation won't be very tricky for 95% of the trail. Additionally, I can appreciate how the size of Halfmile's maps does limit their utility in getting a lay of the land beyond the immediate PCT corridor, rendering them useless if you're very far off course for any reason.

Hmmm… I wonder if there is any sort of compromise? Are there any larger scale maps that cover the PCT that you know of that might be nice to use in conjunction with the apps?

I will definitely want more detailed maps for any sections with significant snow cover (e.g. potentially the High Sierra), but for the rest of the trail, it's probably way more than I need.

Any further thoughts?

[D M]

I used three map sets. Half Miles' on my phone, his paper copies (simply because electronics fail when you least expect them to), and state road maps, or in the case of California state maps broken into south, central and northern. That way if I needed to see the bigger picture or needed to get out or hitch to a different town than is recommended I had the information. And I did that several times. Once I got hurt and needed a doctor. My ability to see where the nearest large town was, was critical to my getting off trail to get treatment quickly and back on trail. Next time I will add Guthooks' app to my phone, lots of hikers liked it also.
Only you can decide what works for you. I've always loved maps and orienteering, and didn't mind using Yogi's system of parceling out both maps and information into each resupply box. Just dump what you don't need any more when you finish sections. I have always carried a map case with everything I need plus some stamps, an envelope or two and mailing labels for sending stuff home. And I have a spouse who loves maps and Google and we have InReach connection online and he can pinpoint my location and give me both mapping information if I need it and local weather info. InReach sends my spouse my current Latitude and Longitude with each communication.
For the most part, the PCT is very, very well marked and first timers need not worry too much, just be attentive to changes at roads and trail junctions, and if in doubt, stop and verify your position. All trails have character, after a while you can predict what is in character and what isn't.
In the old days, 40 years ago, I carried USFS maps since that was all we had. I did the CDT that way in 1980. Compass and topo. When driving , I still use them in the backcountry or for shorter hikes. We're so fortunate now to have people like Half Mile and Guthook and Yogi, if you use their work please support them any way you can.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

It was in the Sierra's that I met people with really nice landscape scale maps, so they definitely exist. I suggest maps around 1:80,000 in the standard map size.

We started off with physical maps for SoCal, which weighed close to 2 lbs since there's so many pages (printed double sided of course). In SoCal the PCT is so well signed and dominant that it's pretty tough to go wrong aside from a few spots where it uses short sections of road. If you go wrong it'll be at a junction, but for the most part PCT hikers block side trails with logs and draw arrows in the sand so junctions are pretty obvious. In SoCal your main concern won't be following the trail, but rather planning and finding the water sources. You want to know how many miles to the next source, and to be sure you haven't missed it. The phone apps are by far the best for this. I think it's fair to call Halfmiles maps an inferior substitute or backup for a phone app. It does all the same stuff but less well and more reliably. This could save your life if your phone conks out and you'd otherwise miss a water source. However, the PCT is so well travelled this time of year that you almost certain could just relax for a while and someone would come along with the info you need. Your call. We carried Yogi's pages that described the water sources and mostly just used those, but 1 or 2 times per day we'd pull out the maps on the iPad mini for a cross-reference. Having these two redundant systems plus a huge network of other hikers seemed pretty safe.

[Miner]

Clearly my opinion and experience is different then Dans. I wouldn't rehike the PCT without paper maps and would prefer using them over a phone app. I checked my maps frequently and as a result always knew where I was in the terrain I was seeing. I can think of several different times when hikers would get off the PCT because they couldn't be bothered to look at their maps and just assumed which direction to go at the last junction. Some of those hikers in front of us clearly were not doing their job in drawing lines in the sands or arrows for us to follow all the time; those lazy bastards. :p But then again, some people are just more directionally challenged then others. YMMV

However,the idea of purposely relying on other hikers for anything other then an emergency just doesn't sit well with me. Then again, I spent most of the trail hiking alone during the day.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Sean, did you use Halfmile's maps?

I can understand wanting physical maps as a safety net. On any trip besides the PCT I carry them. I just don't think Halfmile's maps are that helpful for situations where you actually need physical maps. They're seemingly designed for staying on course and looking ahead to the next water or campsite, but if you're actually in a situation where you're truly lost and needing to triangulate from the landscape, or a situation where you've got a medical issue and need to bail, then I don't think Halfmile's maps would be much help. Obviously plan A should always be to "stay found", but if plan A fails then I'd want some good macro maps with a lay of the land.

So my ideal PCT setup would be 1:80,000 maps for macro issues, and a PCT app for monitoring my position and finding water.

[D M]

For different folks. I was so darn early on the PCT there were no arrows and sticks, just a few ealy bird tracks like mine. And I like it that way.
Later on it became like a highway (yea I'm slow and got passed a lot), it is difficult to get off trail for long for the most part. Snow and ice…..that's an entirely different thing when the trail is underneath and you have never been there. That's where I love paper. The apps are nice too. But not everyone's cup o tea.

[Author]

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