Outdoor Adventure USA

MAPS

Even though I think everyone will be running some sort of electronic mapping system (for navigation) it is the wise traveler who plans ahead, especially in the event of a failure of one of our fancy electronic gizmos. Carrying paper maps is a must when you get as far from civilization, as we will be doing. Several options for maps exist, but there are a few standouts that you should consider.

1. Off the Beaten Path. Monte Wells has prepared a series of annotated topo maps, which in my opinion are the very best. Today I received the last two maps that will completely cover the remote areas we will visit. Monte has others that I have mentioned before and they should be part of your trip planning. These are the two that arrived today:


2. The US Forest Service. The map is huge when opened up, and is a good backup to the OTBP maps.


3. Auto Club (AAA) Indian Country map. A good reference and planning map. It also has more annotations than some of the others, and cheap too (for members.)


4. DTK Maps. As usual, I am using the Nat Geo Topo! program for all trip planning, and have prepared routes for all of the locations we will visit (well, almost all.) If anyone is also using Topo!, I can provide you with the map file. If not, Cholla and I are preparing a TPX file that you should be able to use.

NOTE It is recommended that you provide family and friends with our travel plans, and one of these maps should do. Suggestion: AAA Indian Country.

For Garmin users, a wide selection of free maps can be found here: https://www.gpsfiledepot.com/. I keep the topograpic maps of California, Arizona, Utah, and Desert Southwest loaded on the car Garmin GPS at all times.

The Desert Southwest map, in my opinion, is awesome, with a "small" version (https://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/518/) and a "big" version (https://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/701/). The small version covers our entire trip itinerary in good topographic detail, including back roads and points of interest.

The maps are a bit old, dated 2012 and 2013 respectively, but I suspect that back roads are probably still good. I'll check them against Dave's planned routes when I'm able for completeness and accuracy.

Here's an example of the detail around the Beef Basin area: A problem you might encounter if your Garmin software is up-to-date is that the latest version of the MapInstall application does not correctly install (non-Garmin?) maps. It will appear to work, but if you check the installed file size, it will be way too small to hold much of any map data. (Information: MapInstall 4.2.0 is broken!) You'll need to install MapInstall version 4.0.4, which is available here: http://www8.garmin.com/software/MapInstall_404.exe. I had to uninstall the latest version of MapInstall to make this installation work properly.

Monte Wells has shut down his web store. At least for now, he has some maps in stock and can still print others, although his stock of tear resistant and water resistant paper is about gone, and is now printing on slightly water resistant paper.

Monte can be reached at 435.587.2886. He'll take your order over the phone, email you an invoice, and then mail the maps once payment has been received.

Forest Service Maps are available from the National Forest Map Store: http://www.nationalforestmapstore.com/default.asp

USGS Maps and also Forest Service Maps and some really obscure maps are available from the USGS Store: https://store.usgs.gov/

Maps for Mobile Devices are available from Avenza: http://www.avenza.com/avenza-maps/

NOTICE

Cholla and I have created a map of the “expected” trails and camps for the entire trip, in the form of a GPX file. If you have a navigation set-up, it will be very helpful if you are able to install this file. Cholla or I would be happy to verify your maps, once installed on your system.

I don’t think that anyone is running NG Topo!, but in the event that there is someone, I can provide the file for the entire trip.

Bear in mind that these trails and camp spots are subject to change. To the extent possible, we will keep everyone advised if that happens.