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

Trail Map of Central Yosemite

Backpacking trail map of the Heart of Yosemite.

We examine the broad outlines of route from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley on the John Muir Trail.

The trails from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley including the trail up the Merced River to Merced Lake and over Vogelsang to pick up the JMT in Lyell Canyon are also covered, and these routes are all linked to detailed trail maps depicting their routes.

Examine the map with your cursor to find the Links to these 3 underlying maps covering the Heart of Yosemite in greater detail.

The trail down Lyell Canyon to our exit out the South end of Yosemite through Donohue Pass is also covered.

After clicking from the big map above to the detailed maps we will find that the red dots on these detailed maps are linked to trail guide pages picturing and describing each of those red-dotted locations.

Well, most of them...

Map
Yosemite, Calif, 1975, 30x60 minute
USGS Topographic Map

Compass Offset
True North is 16.5 degrees
West of Magnetic North

scale
1:100 000

Contours
50 meters

Backpacking permitting authority

National Park
Yosemite

Wilderness Area
Yosemite

Physical location
Yosemite

Glen Aulin
High Sierra Camp
7850 feet

Tuolumne Falls
8160 feet

Tuolumne Meadows
8591 feet

Cathedral Pass
9720 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.