Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

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hikerduane
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Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by hikerduane »

I am thinking of visiting the Wind River Range this summer and am not sure if the available commercial maps of the north and south would both be needed and looks like they are not the scale I like also. Can anyone print some nice ones out for me in 15 mintue size? I demand to pay of course, PayPal also if wanted. I posted this with the small CA group I go with too. If you can do this, leave a PM. Thinking of going in late July with a neighbor maybe who is taking his young son fishing and I could help with gas and driving if I go with him. After Alaska last summer, I feel like I still need to expand my horizons more and I still have a job. Kinda restless and I can't retire for 9 more years or so.
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Re: Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by Timberline »

Howdy hikerduane!

Can't help you with your map request, but I wanted to recommend you to discover Finis Mitchell, (if you haven't already) who self-published a trail guide to the Wind Rivers in the '70's. The guide is still available thru outlets such as amazon.com altho probably out of date except for its historical importance. Finis Mitchell was a legend in the Winds, his life was a fascinating drama, and his legacy compares to Muir's in the Sierra for its deep respect and intimate knowledge of those mountains. He almost single handedly established the bountiful cutthroat fishery in the high lakes and streams throughout the Wind Rivers. Beautiful mountains, too! If interested, try <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finis_Mitchell>

Happy trails! :)
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Re: Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by BSquared »

Where are you thinking of going? We're likely to be in the Titcomb Basin area shortly after the 4th of July, and it'd be fun to see some High Sierra folks up there. I agree about Finis Mitchell, but a slightly more current (but still classic) guide to the area is Kelsey's 1994, Climbing and Hiking in the Wind River Range .



I agree that the North and South maps are slightly small-scale, but they're fine for taking along, IMHO.

Great country!
—B²
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hikerduane
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Re: Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by hikerduane »

One of our new members here and who is contributing greatly, Nancy, has a book out on the Winds, mostly if not all on offtrail routes. I'm going to order it when I get the correct cost of shipping. I'll check out the other soon. There is at least one online source for a custom designed map, so I may have to go that way if no success here or on NorthCA Hiking or if her maps in the book are not sufficient for me. I'm going the last week of July, my neighbor was thinking of early July or last July, he is waiting to hear from his work and it is too early for me to put in for time off at my job.
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Re: Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by Wandering Daisy »

There is not complete coverage of the Wind Rivers in 15-min USGS maps. The best you can do is find the old Moccasin Lake and Mt. Bonneville maps. These do not completely cover the range.

I am not sure why you do not like the EarthWalk (2-maps) series. This is the best over-all map of the Wind Rivers at a size similar to 15-minute maps, but with 7.5-minute contours. Basically a stitched together series of 7.5-minute maps, reduced about 50% size. If you are staying on trails, these two maps should be all you need. If you want to do some off trail travel, 7.5-minute maps are better, however, some are old and trails shown may not be currently maintained. As for the Finis Mitchell book, it is great reading, but out-dated. Some of the trails he talks about have not been maintained in over 30 years. He only shows rough hand-drawn maps. Hand drawn maps are also in Kelsy's guide and the Falcon trailguide (both these guides are mid-90's vintage).

The best maps for current access roads and current location of maintained trails are the Forest Service Maps - Shoshone (south half) on east and Bridger on west. Each of these maps is $10. Unfortunately the scale is horrible and no contours. But I really rely on these maps for finding trailheads. The roads are tricky.

The best overall maps for trail travel are the two EarthWalk maps. I do not know what they now cost - probably $10-15 apiece. But I doubt anyone can print you out a better set of maps for much better price if the waterproof paper is used. These maps do not, however, cover much of the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The best maps for detailed topographic informaiton are the USGS 7.5 series. I personally always take 7.5-minute maps, however, I may delete the ones that are near the trailhead if all I do is walk down a major trail. The 7.5-minute maps are on the National Geographic TOPO series. I got the Wyoming maps free when I bought the California maps at full price ($100). You could also download USGS maps from internet sites for free.

The maps in my book use the 7.5-minute USGS topos as base maps and then I have drawn routes on these. As shown in the appendix in the book, the maps are quite small and are in black and white. A CD that comes wtih the book has these same maps in a color digital format (PDF's) that you can print out. There are 71 maps, each generally a quarter of each USGS 7.5-minute map. The maps are for the 48 routes described in the book. They are not intended to be full-coverage of the entire Wind River range, but come pretty close except for the lower elevations in areas that I do not decribe routes.

I personally like smaller pieces of paper to work with, so I actually have cut my Earth-Walk maps into smaller pieces.

And lastly, many use a GPS. I am not sure that the 7.5-minute detail maps are yet available for Wyoming - they are available for California.
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Re: Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by hikerduane »

Thank you Nancy. I had read the EarthWalk maps weren't too good, thank you for the good comments. I have a map from a business in WY ordered, kinda costly with only UPS shipping available added in. I'm getting that to get me oriented, then I can plan a route as I know nothing of which people talk. Thank you for the advise, I'll move on something soon. Set in my ways I guess, may have to get 7.5 minute maps. Just would need so many, but with the other map I have ordered, I can figure out what other maps I may need instead of going off blind.
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Re: Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by Wandering Daisy »

If you are near a REI store, you could use their TOPO software to look at 7.5-minute map coverage. I do not think you have to pay until you print the map. I also us Maptech (google into this site) to look at areas where I do not have 7.5-minute maps. I think you can also go to the USGS website and look at maps and maybe even download for free.

As for the EarthWalk maps - they have lots of detail but you may need a magnifying glass to see all the contour line lables. With my old eyes, I certainly need to do this! They are very similar to the 2-map series on the Sierra. I use these sets of maps to get the "big picture" and trip planning. I have actually cut up my Sierra maps and take the piece for the area I plan my trip, and then just a few 7.5-minute maps that usually cover 70% of my walking. I really need to buy another set of Sierra maps - my current ones are ragged, torn, cut-up bits and pieces now!

The Wind Rivers are a relatively small range. If you only get maps of the "core" of the range, you do not need that many.

Be careful with Google maps. I have found a lot of errors on these- mis-named lakes and roads.
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Re: Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by Wandering Daisy »

By the way, Earthwalk used to be located in Eureka CA-- maybe you could buy the set with less postage from them. I have this address (may be old - check the internet). But then you would have to pay CA tax. I have seen the Wind River series in REI store in Sacramento.

Earthwalk Press
2239 Union Street
Eureka CA 95501

Or (this is off the internet - current address)
Bored Feet Press
PO box 1832
Mendocino CA 95460
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Re: Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by hikerduane »

Due to work, I'm thru Reno every week, I can have them shipped to REI if they have anything I want to save shipping on. One year I only took a section of map of the area I was going thru. I could not make out any peaks in the distance when I wanted to.:( Since the Winds are new to me, I want to get the big picture then plan a trip off of that. May go by myself, my neighbor is talking about flying to WY now and have his brother pick him up. I'll have to take my old Toyota PU I guess the TH's are down dirt roads so I don't want to get the car dirty. Thank you for your interest, the check was mailed Saturday.
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Re: Can you print a series of maps for me of WY?

Post by BSquared »

hikerduane wrote:...One year I only took a section of map of the area I was going thru. I could not make out any peaks in the distance when I wanted to.:( ...
Slightly off-topic, I find that state-scale road maps are often handy for identifying really distant peaks. For example, you should easily be able to see the Tetons from several high points in the Winds (and maybe even the Ferris Mtns to the west? I know you can see the Winds from the Ferrises), and of course no hiking map you get would ever have that broad coverage.
—B²
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