Which maps are you packing?

[FarmerChef]

The available maps sold by the ATC and the trail clubs are quite a mess. They are best suited for section hikers. For thru hikers the only decent way to keep up with them is with mail drops. They lack any kind of consistancy from map to map, different colors, scales, features, etc. One map will cover 200 miles the next one will cover 17. Some will be so out dated that they are worthless. Most thru-hikers in retrospect view the 200 plus dollar map set as a waste of money. I notice that you posted this in the "General" section of WB. The thru-hiker section may be better. You need the opinion of thru-hikers. Section hikers get a different prospective because it's easy to keep up with one or two at a time. Most past thru- hikers will say "forget the maps" just go with one of the books. I like maps, I keep one in my right front pocket at all times. I refer to it frequently and I show it to any thru-hikers who want to see it.

Hey I resemble that remark!

Ok, seriously, as a section hiker I have done with and without the maps. Having covered a significant portion of the trail, I'll echo Moldy's comments about the ATC maps. The formats do change, some are one sided (why, oh why?), some are double sided, some cover large areas others cover so little that if you are lost it's almost impossible to orient yourself with a compass and the topo. Also, once you hit your stride and start pulling down larger miles you'll find yourself using a map for two or three days, then having to reach for another, then another and so on. Perhaps the most frustrating part, though, is that the elevation profile and map data can and (in my experience) have been very out of date rendering any planning for the day moot as the distance between shelters was longer/shorter/harder/easier. Trust the Companion or Guide for mileage distances and elevations, not the maps!

I always recommend having a map for safety but if you have the Companion or Guide you may find the maps more trouble than their worth. On my last big section (175 miles) I forgot the maps but had the Guide and Companion and didn't miss the maps. The elevation profile in the Guide is quite handy. That said, if, like others, you wind up in an emergency and need to get off trail, you'll be hard pressed without GPS or maps on a phone to find the shortest way to safety or help.

[wornoutboots]

I don't take any maps OK go ahead & roast me . I only carry a map if I'm in the Smokies or a place similar that has some connector trails to some cool sites or history to see along the way. I've only lollgagged about 650 miles of the AT so far, but those sections all had some of the tree painted with white stripes, so I just follow them : O )

[wornoutboots]

I do carry the "Appalachain Pages" guide book pages for the section I'm hiking.

[jakedatc]

In the Whites, are the trails not blazed with both the local trail name and the white blaze for the AT?

Not all of it. some of it has white blazes still. some portions, especially in designated wilderness areas do not. Losing *A* trail is not the issue, it is making sure you are on the correct one.

All of it DOES have great signage at trail junctions. so if you have the 4000'er map http://www.amazon.com/White-Mountain.../dp/1890060232
you're golden, cheap, waterproof, AT clearly labeled along with the real trail names. Plus once you are hooked on the views and awesome terrain you are set to come back

[RED-DOG]

You don't need maps for the AT their useless but makes great fire starters all you need is a Companion and follow the white blazes.

[Blissful]

It's tough when maps for hikers fall into the "optional" category. Or to make a senseless remark that they are no better than fire starters....

As far as Leave No Trace they are essential items.
But like essential items such as a sleeping, bag, food and a pack, you can certainly do without that too....

I blog on the map issue.

[Lauriep]

ATC maps are becoming more and more consistent over time. We have set map standards, and you'll notice that all the ones that are published by ATC are now becoming much more similar with the same features. With just a couple of exceptions, where local A.T.-maintaining clubs produce maps, those club-produced maps are considered the official A.T. maps. They may be quite different from ours and from each other. The Potomac A.T. Club publishes the official maps covering from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Susquehanna River in PA. Day use is particularly heavy in these areas, and the maps are made with those trail users in mind. PATC maps are the only ones that are one-sided , except for one of the maps produced by Keystone Trails Association (KTA). KTA produces maps from the Susquehanna to Delaware Water Gap, PA, and the Maine A.T. Club does all of Maine. ATC cannot force these very independent organizations to follow our standards (although we encourage them to). It doesn't make sense for us to make competing maps, either.

It's actually pretty remarkable that ATC's maps have become as similar as they are today, considering how different from one another they have been in the past. (Does anyone remember the old black-and-white PA maps? Or how about the early PATC map that covered from Roanoke to the North Carolina border?) Trail-maintaining clubs help us with field data for all the maps, and they sometimes have strong ideas about what should and shouldn't be included and what the format should be. The clubs know their sections of Trail, who uses their trail, and what their trail hikers are looking for better than we do, and have some influence on what the maps in their area will look like. WhiteBlaze.net (at least judging by those who post) has a disproportionate number long-distance hikers compared to people who use the A.T. and purchase the maps.

In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, National Geographic does a really good map which shows all the side trails.

It's complicated, but that's true about everything related to the A.T. when you look close. There are almost a hundred different federal, states, and local agencies that have some piece of the A.T., 31 affiliated but independent volunteer clubs with formal management responsibilities, and 40,000+ WhiteBlazers all with their own vision of what the A.T. should look like.

Laurie P.
ATC

[melaniebk]

ATC maps are becoming more and more consistent over time. We have set map standards, and you'll notice that all the ones that are published by ATC are now becoming much more similar with the same features. With just a couple of exceptions, where local A.T.-maintaining clubs produce maps, those club-produced maps are considered the official A.T. maps. They may be quite different from ours and from each other. The Potomac A.T. Club publishes the official maps covering from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Susquehanna River in PA. Day use is particularly heavy in these areas, and the maps are made with those trail users in mind. PATC maps are the only ones that are one-sided , except for one of the maps produced by Keystone Trails Association (KTA). KTA produces maps from the Susquehanna to Delaware Water Gap, PA, and the Maine A.T. Club does all of Maine. ATC cannot force these very independent organizations to follow our standards (although we encourage them to). It doesn't make sense for us to make competing maps, either.

It's actually pretty remarkable that ATC's maps have become as similar as they are today, considering how different from one another they have been in the past. (Does anyone remember the old black-and-white PA maps? Or how about the early PATC map that covered from Roanoke to the North Carolina border?) Trail-maintaining clubs help us with field data for all the maps, and they sometimes have strong ideas about what should and shouldn't be included and what the format should be. The clubs know their sections of Trail, who uses their trail, and what their trail hikers are looking for better than we do, and have some influence on what the maps in their area will look like. WhiteBlaze.net (at least judging by those who post) has a disproportionate number long-distance hikers compared to people who use the A.T. and purchase the maps.

In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, National Geographic does a really good map which shows all the side trails.

It's complicated, but that's true about everything related to the A.T. when you look close. There are almost a hundred different federal, states, and local agencies that have some piece of the A.T., 31 affiliated but independent volunteer clubs with formal management responsibilities, and 40,000+ WhiteBlazers all with their own vision of what the A.T. should look like.

Laurie P.
ATC

So, if you were thru hiking in 2013, and had no maps whatsoever, and knowing what you know- which would you buy- the entire set from the ATC, or assemble your own bits and pieces? Either way it's going to be costly and weighty, right?

[FarmerChef]

It's $225 for the whole map set (no books, except for Maine) at the ATC store. So it is a bit of expense. As for the weight that's completely manageable. Depending on your distance between resupply points you'd have to carry 2, possibly 3 but the weight for those 2 or 3 is only a few ounces (roast me now ULers ). If you care about the grams, you might be able to trim them down a bit. When you hit the next stop throw it in your bump or leave it in a hiker box for someone else to use. Alternatively, you could mail them home. Not sure how expensive that becomes. For what it's worth, you have this very same problem with the AT guide or companion. You'll only want to take the pages for the section between each resupply. So you'll probably want to find a way to mail certain pages to yourself. The main difference between that and the maps is that once you're done with a page, you're done with it - permanently. Since they're updated annually anyway and low cost, we use ours to start a fire with or leave it in a hiker box along the way.

On a side note, I love taking out a map from a section I've already completed. It's covered in a thin patina of grime and still smells like the trail (or more accurately "I") did during the week I hiked that section.

[melaniebk]

Yeah, FarmerChef, I just threw that weight comment in for a lark. I tend to pack a little heavier than a lot of these other hikers. I'm really thinking of writing on the back of the maps as I go; use it for a journal, in other words. I asked Heulwen (my daughter) to have a look at the map choices for me. We'll decide together on which ones to use.

[FarmerChef]

Hey I resemble that remark!

Ok, seriously, as a section hiker I have done with and without the maps. Having covered a significant portion of the trail, I'll echo Moldy's comments about the ATC maps. The formats do change, some are one sided (why, oh why?), some are double sided, some cover large areas others cover so little that if you are lost it's almost impossible to orient yourself with a compass and the topo. Also, once you hit your stride and start pulling down larger miles you'll find yourself using a map for two or three days, then having to reach for another, then another and so on. Perhaps the most frustrating part, though, is that the elevation profile and map data can and (in my experience) have been very out of date rendering any planning for the day moot as the distance between shelters was longer/shorter/harder/easier. Trust the Companion or Guide for mileage distances and elevations, not the maps!

I always recommend having a map for safety but if you have the Companion or Guide you may find the maps more trouble than their worth. On my last big section (175 miles) I forgot the maps but had the Guide and Companion and didn't miss the maps. The elevation profile in the Guide is quite handy. That said, if, like others, you wind up in an emergency and need to get off trail, you'll be hard pressed without GPS or maps on a phone to find the shortest way to safety or help.

I realize in reading the responses I may not have typed this quite in the manner in which I intended it. The ATC does a GREAT service in having all of the maps available. And, in practice, I do hike with them 80% of the time. Like Moldy I keep mine in my front pocket and refer it to it frequently, though mostly for the elevation profile which I can now get from the Guide.

In all fairness to the ATC, I don't expect them to update the maps annually such that they are consistently in line with trail reroutes. I imagine that would be much too cost prohibitive. That said, I think folks unfamiliar with the maps should be aware that, in some cases, changes to the trail within the last few years may not have made it onto the map yet. If you're using the map as your primary planning tool, make sure to cross reference distance and location data with either of the updated guides or the Trail Data Book. And I understand the sensitivity to satisfying the needs of the local trail clubs and local consumers' preferences in order to help pay for the costs involved in producing the maps.

Laurie - I do hope that over time the maps become more and more consistent though I don't find the inconsistencies (except for one sided maps) that terrible. And as for those one sided PATC maps...I guess as a PATC member I'll have to take my sore spot up with them :P

[fredmugs]

As a section hiker I take the ATC maps and before I leave I take whatever info I think is relevant from the thru hikers guide and condense it into a single page Excel sheet. During the day I try hike for 50 - 60 minutes before taking a break so I really only use the map to pick out some spot to hike to and then take a break when I get there. I can only think of one time in the whites where I really needed to break out a map to figure out which way to go.

[cliffordbarnabus]

my maps are the white rectangles on the trees. i hate to know up down and flat or anything. anticipation isn't bliss. ignorance is.

[rwaeger]

I also don't plan to carry maps. Will use my guidebook and follow the blazes.

[brooklynkayak]

You can hike the AT without maps. You can also hike it without a compass, or a knife, or duct tape, or a shelter.

I highly advise against it.

Following the blazes only works when everything is fine, but there are too many times when the blazes are no help.

I run into a lot of people who took the wrong fork when they weren't paying attention and don't have a map. A lot of time can be wasted guessing where you are.

There are many cases where you willneed to get to water, resupply or emergency treatment off the trail, but don't know how to get there when you don't have a map.
You can't always rely on others and need to be self sufficient at times. You can't just follow blazes.

You can gamble and not take a map, but it you will have some times when you did have one and it's definitely not as safe.
And a GPS or smartphone are not a substitute. They can work, but not reliable.

[Prime Time]

I can't imagine hiking anywhere that I'm not 100% familiar with without a map. I have hiked in the White Mountains for over 40 years and still carry maps so that, for example, I can show all of the lost thru hikers where they need to go.

[brooklynkayak]

I run into lots of hikers lost without map or compass. My cabin is 10 miles from the AT and I am often shuttling people back to a trailhead or parking lot.
People are usually very upset and desperate at this point and don't understand how it was possible for them to get lost.

It can happen to anyone, no matter how sharp you think you are.

I will admit that I have become seperated from the trail many times. Once, even turned around going the wrong direction, but never was it a big deal as I almost always carry a map and compass.
I would have walked extra miles if I didn't have map or compass.

Sometimes looking at the white blazes can be hard in blowing rain or snow or when you have to watch the trail closely to avoid rocks and such. It can make it easy to miss your turn.

I remeber a few times in dry summers, being able to bushwack to water sources that I wouldn't have been able to find without a map. It sucks hiking in heat with no water for long distances because you don't know where your next water source is.

I once had to get off the trail long before the next road crossing when I sprained my ankle and was able to hobble to nearby road and hitch to a town. It could have been a distaster without a map.

Anyway, not many experienced hikers hike without a map. Some do, but that is part of the adventure for them.

[rhw]

Someone should make a tarp or ground cover with a detailed map of the trail...no added weight.

It would be great until it wears off.

[MyName1sMud]

AWOL's guide book pages

This is all you really need.

[swjohnsey]

My guess is that less than 10% of thru-hikers carry maps.