Grand Gulch Plateau

David Whitford - San Juan College OLER Student

Recently, we took a trip to Grand Gulch Canyon in Utah. The backpacking trip was a part of a Wilderness Pursuits class being offered by San Juan College. The class is an introductory level course with a focus on developing skills related to planning, organizing and executing a backcountry outing. Some of the topics covered in the class included trip planning and organization, low impact camping and permitting, menu planning, and introductory route finding and navigation.

For the navigation piece of the course we were lucky enough to have the Trails Illustrated Map of the Grand Gulch Plateau. There were so many things about the map that came in handy, but the one that stood out to me was that so many of the ruins and springs were well marked. Not only were they marked but the mileage from our starting point to each spring and ruin was given also.

As I have discovered, hiking in the Utah canyons requires a good amount of preparation. You can’t prepare too much when it comes to knowing where water sources are in a place where water is scarce.

Wilderness Pursuits students enjoying Jailhouse Ruin

San Juan College :: 'Leave No Trace' Training

Last weekend my class and I headed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park for a Leave No Trace Trainer Course. The training was a part of a Wilderness Ethics class being offered by San Juan College. We were all super pumped to be headed to a beautiful place like the Black Canyon for a “class”.

If you have ever been on a Leave No Trace Trainer Course, then you will know that the first topic talked about is Plan Ahead and Prepare. Our instructor mentioned that it might be the most important principle as it will set you up for success for your next outdoor adventure. Included in the discussion were the hiking/backpacking 10 Essentials, in which a map is one of those ten. As a self-proclaimed “map geek”, I was pretty excited to see our instructor pull out the Trails Illustrated Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti NRA Map.

The map was a vital resource for planning our hikes for the weekend. By studying the contour lines and trail distances on the map we were able to determine which trails were the most suited to our group’s physical abilities and the class’ educational purposes. The map provided basic details like restroom locations, but was also detailed enough to show us what areas of the park required a backcountry permit. The map made several appearances during our hikes and quite a few more back at camp while students planned a return trip later this fall.

David Whitford – Student, San Juan College

Great write up by The Oregonian on our new Washington Cascades trail maps...

Five new National Geographic maps complete coverage of Washington Cascades

Published: Tuesday, September 07, 2010, 3:15 AM
Terry Richard, The Oregonian
Washington's Cacades are covered.

With the release of five new maps this summer by National Geographic, the rugged mountains of Washington are covered from the British Columbia border to Oregon.

The maps are sold under the Trails Illustrated brand.

New titles this year area Mount St. Helens/Mount Adams, Goat Rocks/Norse Peak/William O. Douglas Wilderness Areas, Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Glacier Peak Wilderness and Mount Baker/Boulder River Wilderness Areas.

They go along with several other titles already in print to complete the coverage: North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

The full-color maps are printed on hefty water-proof, tear resistant paper. National Geographic is one of the best mapmakers in the business, so the maps meet the highest standards.

The maps are topographical, but they cover such a large area that the contour interval is 50 feet. This is a little too big for serious off-trail mountain navigation, but National Geographic also sells state map series on CD Roms under the Topo brand with 20-foot contour intervals.

The new printed maps maps are excellent for hiking and driving. They show most of the trails and most of the roadside amenities, in easy-to-read formats.

Your map files may already contain U.S. Forest Service maps of the areas, but these maps often go 15 years or more between updates. The new Nat Geo maps are the best new maps at this time for the areas they cover.

Look for them at stores that sell maps, though getting this many new titles in any particular store may be difficult.

One place that does have them all is the Nature of the Northwest in Portland, at 800 N.E. Oregon St., Suite 965. Phone number is 971-673-2331.

You can also order them from National Geographic. Cover price is $11.95. For more information visit Trails Illustrated Washington maps.

-- Terry Richard

Adventure Planning :: with globe trekker, Justin Lichter

With summer starting to wind down, the mosquitoes and black flies are fading. Winter will come soon. It is a great time of year to get outside and also start dreaming of trips that you want to do for next summer. I mentioned in a previous blog post how I go about looking into the routes that I am going to embark on, so naturally I want to transition to how you all can set out on a long hike.

Here would be a few pointers that I would recommend.

1. Plan, Plan, Plan.
You haven’t planned enough if you haven’t thought about a lot of things for your trip. The route is one thing and the most obvious. However you should also be looking into how frequent and reliable the water sources are, how often you might be able to get more food or purchase food at a store, the weather for the area during that time of year, and fine tuning your gear. No doubt you will have some nerves at the start of a trip, but if you plan well and are comfortable with your gear going into the trip then that should ease the nerves a little.

2. Train
As your trip begins top take shape you will ideally start to train for the experience beforehand. This will help make your trip as enjoyable as possible as well as getting you used to your equipment. This will help your feet get ready, and if need be callused, for you shoes and to break in your shoes and help your hips and shoulders get used to wearing a backpack. If you prepare beforehand then you’ll be ready to hit the trail when the time comes and the mileage that you planned for the trip won’t be daunting. The training will also help in your planning because it will let you know what distances and terrain are obtainable for the trip in the time that you have.

3. Gear Up, But Not Too Much
Research the gear that you would like to use on the trip. Do as much research as possible looking online and asking questions of shop employees, but definitely do NOT just ask shop employees. Some store employees are great, but each has their own personal opinion and they might not even have done the activity or been to the terrain you are looking at doing. My typical gear list has many recurring pieces of gear, but there are also many things that change depending on location and time of year. This helps to keep your pack light by taking only what you will need. For example, there is no reason to carry a 3lb. -20 degree sleeping bag if you are heading out to the High Sierras in the summer. Chances are you can probably get away with a sub 2lb. 30 degree sleeping bag, especially if you plan on sleeping in a tent because that will add about 10 degrees to your sleep system. Get your system streamlined and dialed beforehand and then only take what you think you’ll need. If you don’t use it every day then generally you don’t need it. Also, try to make things have multiple uses. For example I use a half length sleeping pad and then use my backpack for the lower half of my sleeping pad. This saves about 8oz on my sleeping pad and makes it more packable since my backpack won’t be needed for anything else while I am sleeping.

4. GO!!!! And Have Fun!
Set off on the trip and have a blast. Remember that if you are setting out on a longer trip and you think you might need a piece of gear, want to swap out a piece of gear, or find out shortly into the hike that you aren’t using something that you are carrying then you can always mail something that you are carrying back home when you get to a town to resupply. On the other hand you could also mail something to yourself by General Delivery to the post office in a town. If you mail it priority and decide you don’t need the gear, then don’t open it and you can usually forward it elsewhere for no charge! This is also a great trick so that you only need to carry the maps that you need for each section and not add weight by carrying maps for the entire trip. Use these tools to keep your pack light.

For more info about Justin Lichter, follow him @ http://www.justinlichter.com/.

Pre-Adventure Planning 101 :: with guest blogger Justin Lichter

Hi everybody! I was honored when I was asked to write a blog entry for National Geographic Maps so hopefully this is informative and entertaining.

For the first blog entry we thought it would be a good intro for me to talk about the planning stages, training, and of course map work that takes place prior to an expedition or adventure. If you want to find out more on my personal adventures you can check out my website at http://www.justinlichter.com/. A quick recap of a few of the main adventures would entail hiking unsupported 1800 miles through Africa, hiking across Iceland, hiking south to north across the South Island of New Zealand, swimming unsupported around Lake Tahoe, and hiking over 10,000 miles in one year.

All of these trips start with a dream and a desire to see these landscapes. I feel that you see and get to know the terrain, scenery, and culture on a personal level when you undertake a trip under your own power with no support and no aid from motorized equipment. Many of these trips followed my own route that I devised and made up trying to connect existing hiking trails, little used dirt roads and jeep roads, and cross country travel in order to stay off of paved roads and highly traveled roads as much as possible. Initially I research what areas I would like to see and what hiking trails are in the area. Then I try to get an overview atlas map or road map and a slightly more in depth overview map (like something in the range of 1:250,000 to 1:500,000). The overview maps help me locate potential places to connect and areas with few roads that I would want to go through. After I have a good idea of the route on those maps, I then put a number of potential routes down onto smaller scale maps (1:24000 to 1:100,000). I then tweak it from there, but in a few places I usually keep a number of route choices on the map in case I think certain areas need alternates in case of high water fords, technical spots, potential cliff areas, or anything else tricky the landscape may throw my way.

I’ll then go through the maps and figure out what roads I cross and towns that I come near. I’ll figure out distances between these points and use these towns to resupply from and get more food.

During these planning stages I am also training for the hike so that when I set out I am ready to do 25-30 miles per day from the start. Usually for training I end up doing a lot of cross training since it is usually the winter when I am training to set out on a hike starting in the spring. As a result I normally do a lot of skate skiing, classic skiing, backcountry touring, telemark skiing, snowshoeing, and some short walks on the road. After so many hikes I think that my body is pretty used to that type of work so if I can maintain my fitness level then that helps in the break in period on the hike. However, I usually try to carry a loaded backpack a little bit so that my shoulders and hips get used to the weight on them prior to the hike.

I think that is a little recap of the initial stages of the pre-adventure planning. Hope that helps and was interesting. I’ll be blogging more on the site about some adventures, tricks and tips, and many other things, so come back and check it out!

Blogger Bio—

Meet our guest blogger, Justin Lichter

I grew up about an hour north of NewYork City and have since lived in Santa Barbara, CA, southern VT, Dillon, CO, and I am currently living in Truckee, CA. When not hiking, I am a ski patroller and enjoy backcountry skiing, nordic skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, and pretty much anything else relaxing. Since 2002, I have hiked over 20,000 miles. In 2002 doing a cross-country map and compass trip through the canyon country of southern utah, in 2003 hiking from Georgia to Cap Gaspe, Quebec following the Appalachian Trail and International AT, 2004 hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada and then the Pacific Northwest Trail to the Washington coast, 2005 the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada then continuing on the Great Divide Trail from the Canadian border up into northern Alberta, 11/1/05 to 10/23/06 completing the Eastern Continental Trail (cap gaspe, qc to key west, florida, incorporating the AT), Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail in under a year, a total of over 10,000 miles, and in 2007 a traverse of the Southern Alps and the south island of New Zealand. As well as amazing trips each year after. You can check out my website at http://www.justinlichter.com/ for more info.

Maps of the News - March 2010

For those actively following the World's news, here is our monthly quick reference to National Geographic maps which add perspective to today's news stories.

WORLD

The 8.8 Magnitude earthquake in Chile, has left substantial devastation to the port town on Concepcion and left thousands homeless in the Capital city of Santiago. Our recently updated South America Wall Map contains place names for most major and secondary cities, plus physical features, and major transportation networks.



When I first heard about the Tsunami threat for the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, Japan and the islands of the Pacific on Saturday, I turned to our World Pacific Centered wall map. Unlike the wall map you likely had hanging in your classroom, which was Atlantic Ocean centered, our Pacific Centered edition provides a seamless view of the entire Ocean. This different perspective made it easier to understand the path of the Tsunami waves and helped clarify why places such as the California, Oregon and Washington coasts were under the warning as well.

Beyond the Chilean earthquake, this winter seems especially harsh, and on Sunday, France and four other countries were battered by a deadly storm named "Xynthia". In its wake the storm left 51 dead, millions without power, and generated extensive property damage throughout the region. Winds in excess of 130MPH were recorded over the Pyrenees with 100 MPH gusts along the Atlantic coast. National Geographic has a collection of up-to-date reference maps for most of the countries in Europe including: France, Belgium & The Netherlands, Spain & Portugal, and Germany. Additionally we recently revised our Europe wall map, which is available in several styles.


US

Here on the home front, winter weather continued to make headlines last week with the Northeast receiving another record breaking snowfall. National Geographic publishes a wide variety of United States Wall Maps, varying in style, size, and format that will assist with following nearly any US based news story.

The Tsunami warning for the Hawaiian Islands last Saturday had me turning to one of our most beautiful wall maps, The Hawaiian Islands, which exposes the dramatic terrain of the ocean floor around the island chain.




SPORTS

Now that the Winter Olympics have concluded, it's time to turn our eyes south to Arizona and Florida as MLB Spring Training kicks off today. If you're heading to watch any of the games, we have two useful maps for your glovebox, the Florida State Guide Map and the Arizona State Guide Map. Both maps have up-to-date road networks for the State, plus detailed inset maps for the major cities, like the Spring Training hubs of Tampa, Ft. Myers, Scottsdale and Tucson. While I'm a big fan of GPS for turn-by-turn directions, sometimes its just a little faster to use a real map, and you certainly get a better perspective of what's ahead when on a road trip.



As always - we love to hear your comments, questions and ideas for future posts.

Maps of the News - January Edition

January has been a big month for global news. From the devastating earthquake in Haiti to the damaging storms throughout the US which brought mudslides to California and snow to Florida.

On a more positive side, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver start in just 16 days, with opening ceremonies taking place on February 12th.

To illustrate these stories and more - here are this month's suggested National Geographic Maps:

Haiti::
West Indies Two-Sided Wall Map:: Has a political map of the Caribbean, including Haiti. For a historical perspective on the region, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC published three different supplement maps in 1913, 1922, and 1947 which specifically detailed the Caribbean region. These maps are available via our NG Map Collection Website - simply search for "caribbean".

US Weather::
National Geographic has a wide variety of US wall maps. Our most popular two titles are our US Clasic and US Executive editions. Both maps come in a variety of sizes and formats including enlarged and laminated. Additionally we started publishing a new series of State specific wall maps last year, and have released 8 States so far, including California.

Winter Olympics::
For those lucky enough to be heading to Vancouver to attend the 2010 Winter Olympics, be sure to carry along our Destination Vancouver city travel map. Updated in 2009, the Vancouver city map contains a detailed and easy to read street map with the locations of points of interest, hotels, public transportation and more.

Check back in a few weeks for our February installment of "Maps of the News". Additionally, we love your questions and comments. If you have a place or news story that you're looking for a map of, feel free to post a comment below, or connect with us on twitter @NatGeoMaps.

National Geographic Launches World Atlas App for iPhone & iPod Touch!

Now Available!

Easy-to-use, feature packed, and containing the world’s best maps, the National Geographic World Atlas enables you to browse, search, and zoom detailed maps of the globe.

Unlike other atlas applications, the National Geographic World Atlas utilizes our highest resolution, “press-ready” images, providing you the same rich detail, accuracy, and artistic beauty found in our award-winning wall maps and bound atlases.

The National Geographic World Atlas contains 7 different levels of National Geographic cartography, plus through our unique partnership with Microsoft, 7 bonus levels of Microsoft Bing maps enabling you to zoom in close enough to see your home! Learn more...

Now available in the iTunes App Store! Click here to buy now...

Learn more...

Now available in the iTunes App Store! Click here to buy now...

Maps of the News - December 2009 Edition -

Since our inception as a division of the National Geographic Society in 1915, National Geographic Maps (originally the Cartographic Division) has routinely published maps that illustrate the news of the world. Our first supplement map, which appeared in the May 1918 issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, titled the Western Theatre of War, served as a useful reference for overseas military personnel and soldier's families alike. Similarly our February 1967 map of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and recently, our Iraq and the Heart of the Middle East titles filled similar roles.

Maps are an excellent tool for the newshound, providing an accurate sense of place to issues local and abroad. To assist those that are interested in further understanding global news stories through good maps - we're pleased to announce a new monthly feature here on Contours that will highlight maps pertinent to today's news stories.

:: December 2009, Maps of the News ::

Afghanistan and Pakistan. Revised in Fall of 2009, this political map of the region contains thousands of place names, ideal for following news stories and deployed family members. Like all National Geographic cartography, our new Afghanistan and Pakistan map was carefully researched and edited and contains thousands of place names.

Iraq, Iran and the Middle East. This region dominates daily news stories. Our Middle East wall map covers over 18 nations in the region including: Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and more.

Philippines. Follow the recent eruption of the Mayon volcano in the Philippines, with our Asia classic and executive style wall maps for the continent.

Vancouver and the Winter Olympics. A detailed city guide, perfect for global travelers attending the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Brazil and the Summer Olympics. As Brazil enters the limelight and begins preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympic games in Rio, our Brazil wall map makes an ideal addition to your map collection. Completed in the summer of 2009, this large 41" x 41" wall map is one of the most detailed maps available for the country.

Our National Parks, Part II

With the kickoff of Ken Burn's documentary series, "The National Parks, America's Best Idea," we continue our highlight of a few of our nation's topographic treasures.


This week: Grand Canyon National Park (Courtesy of nationalgeographic.com)
The road to the Grand Canyon from the south crosses a gently rising plateau that gives no hint at what is about to unfold. You wonder if you have made a wrong turn. All at once an immense gorge a mile deep and up to 18 miles wide opens up. The scale is so vast that even from the best vantage point only a fraction of the canyon's 277 miles can be seen.

Nearly five million people travel here each year; 90 percent first see the canyon from the South Rim with its dramatic views into the deep inner gorge of the Colorado River. So many feet have stepped cautiously to the edge of major overlooks that in places the rock has been polished smooth. But most of the park's 1,904 square miles are maintained as wilderness. You can avoid crowds by hiking the park's many trails or driving to the cool evergreen forests of the North Rim where people are fewer and viewing is more leisurely.

The Grand Canyon boasts some of the nation's cleanest air, with visibility averaging 90 to 110 miles. Increasingly, though, air pollution blurs vistas that once were sharp and rich hued. Hazy days have become more common, with visibility dropping as low as 40 miles. Haze from forest fires and pollen has always been present, but the recent increase is traced to sources outside the park, like copper smelters and urban areas in Arizona, southern California, and even Mexico.

read more ...

Coming Soon! Explore the wondrous Grand Canyon National Park with our new Trails Illustrated trail maps.