Mapology

MAP NOTE
Those squares breaking the USGS maps up into grids are the Universal Transverse Mercator / Military Grid Reference System, otherwise commonly known as UTM.

What's important for our general reference purpose is that each side of a square is 1000 meters, or a Kilometer.

From my point of view that is 1093.6 yards or .62 of a mile.

Diagonal: 1414.22 meters, if my trig is correct.

That converts the diagonal distance into 4,639.8 feet or .88 of a mile.

Mapping, Mileage,
and
National Forest Information

Above we have a backpacking Trail map of the John Muir Trail from its trail head at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley to a point approaching Cathedral Pass under Tresidder Peak.

This trail map covers the John Muir Trail from its starting trailhead to Nevada Falls and on to Little Yosemite Valley, where we decide between continuing up the John Muir Trail, or we can continue up the Merced River Canyon from Little Yosemite Valley to Merced Lake.

Our topo hiking map shows us that continuing up the John Muir Trail from Little Yosemite Valley opens up the options of turning off at Half Dome, Clouds Rest, or further up the mountain at Sunrise High Sierra Camp to Sunrise Lakes and on to Tenaya Lake alongside Highway 120.

If we continued up along the floor of the Merced River Canyon above Little Yosemite Valley to Merced Lake we are going to face the climb over the Cathedral Range via either Vogelsang Pass or Vogelsang High Sierra Camp to resume our Southbound hike on the JMT.

We can hike through Vogelsang to Lyell Canyon 5.6 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows, or hike directly to Tuolumne Meadows via Tuolumne Pass.

I typically use the topo hiking map above as part of a loop around Central Yosemite on the way down the Sierra Crest from Tahoe to Whitney.

This topo maps shows our detour off the Sierra Crest down to Yosemite Valley and back again.

The red dots link to the trail guide entries.

The labels link to adjacent Trail Maps.

Northwestern Map
Tamarack Flat, Calif, 1997, 7.5 minute USGS Topographic Map

North Map
Yosemite Falls, Calif, 1997, 7.5 minute USGS Topographic Map

Northeastern Map
Tenaya Lake, Calif, 1992, 7.5 minute USGS Topographic Map

Southwestern Map
El Capitan, Calif, 2004, 7.5 minute USGS Topographic Map

South Map
Half Dome, Calif, 1997, 7.5 minute USGS Topographic Map

Southeastern Map
Merced Peak, Calif, 1992, 7.5 minute USGS Topographic Map

Compass Offset
True North is 16 degrees 4 seconds West of Magnetic North

scale
1:24 000

Contours
40 feet

Backpacking permitting authority

National Park
Yosemite

Wilderness Area
Yosemite

Physical location
Yosemite

Cathedral Pass
9720 feet

Yosemite Valley
4035 feet

Little
Yosemite Valley
6120 feet

Merced Lake
7212 feet

Vogelsang
High Sierra Camp
10,180 feet

Trail Guide, Section:

Trail Guide, Segment:

Google Map:

Map Credit

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior
The
USGS

USGS MAP LOCATOR

I love the USGS, as you can see from the Tahoe to Whitney Maps.

I also dig the NWS, as you can see from our Weather Page.

We gotta know the terrain under our feet, and the weather in the sky. These are the basics. In that spirit, let's set you up with the USGS maps sufficient to plan and execute your High Sierra Backpacking Trip with a set of custom backpacking maps.

In fact, we can use the USGS to set us up to plan and hike anywhere in the US of A.

Move the Map to the Sierras. Or your favorite backpacking spot in the US of A. Navigate the map to the area you wish to locate maps. Click "Mark Point" in the options to see the USGS map grid of the various scaled maps.

Select the maps that will help you plan and execute your backpacking trip, set up a directory on your computer named for the trip or location of the maps, and begin downloading those suckers.

Open your USGS maps with Adobe Reader.

But first, we have to "unzip" the maps.

I use 7zip.

Custom Maps
Once we get the maps downloaded, unzipped, and running on Adobe Reader we can cut and paste the pieces of the maps we need together, and mark our selected hiking routes to create our own customized maps using MS Paint, Photoshop, or some other image software.

Printing
If we want to print up our maps for field use we need some printer technology and knowledge. I understand Inkjet printers, special inks, and the proper paper are necessary to print up servicable maps.

At least one reader of Tahoe to Whitney has copied and printed out Tahoe to Whitney Maps with success.

Online
and
Trail Maps

That is totally cool for personal and non-profit uses.