Hiking Trail Maps

[Caz]

I'm going to visit Yosemite for my first time next week

I am currently working on making my own personal cloth map for my trip. So far I have a great map of the whole National Park but I also wanted to make smaller and more detailed maps of different areas of the park (with hiking trails included). I also made a small map of the possible hiking trails to Half Dome (but I think I'll hold back on that hike this trip lol).

What do you guys use for your maps? Does anyone have any detailed section maps of Yosemite?

Here is a pic of how my main map came out (I pressed an image from my print with special paper onto the cloth).
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww23 ... g~original

[AlmostThere]

I use Tom Harrison maps, and printed maps that I use my topographical map software to scale as desired and put on 8.5x11 sheets. I like 1:24000 maps for cross country work, and use the less detailed maps for trail travel.

Cloth maps sounds like a lot of work for very little gain, and I doubt the fine details will replicate on fabric so well, but more power to you.

[Grzldvt]

You do realize that the high country is in essence closed... ie going to Half Dome is at best difficult with the cables down. Both Tioga and Glacier Point Roads are closed, so your best bet is out of the Valley or the Wawona/Hetch Hetchy areas.

I managed to pick some really cool detailed sectional small maps. I think they were from Wilderness Press.

[AlmostThere]

And then there is the weather....

How are you on snow and ice?

[Caz]

For those interested I did find a few sectional maps of Yosemite at this link. http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/brochures.htm

Cloth maps sounds like a lot of work for very little gain, and I doubt the fine details will replicate on fabric so well, but more power to you.

It is a lot of work but using Avery fabric transfer the images come out very clear on fine fabric. I'm also doing some painted artwork in the background of the scroll. It's more of an art project than a practical map.

You do realize that the high country is in essence closed... ie going to Half Dome is at best difficult with the cables down. Both Tioga and Glacier Point Roads are closed, so your best bet is out of the Valley or the Wawona/Hetch Hetchy areas..

Why do they close during winter? Half dome makes sense if its snowy/rainy.

[AlmostThere]

They close because you can't drive in deep snow. It's winter. People ski in on tioga road. Snow and ice require different gear and specific skills , so if you don't know what that means, don't go out in snow and ice.

[balzaccom]

You might also check out acmemapper.com

You can create your own topo maps of any regions, to the scale you want. We use these for hiking cross country all the time, and they are great.

Snow level in Yosemite during the winter can be anywhere from 4000 to 7500 feet...but most of the park is well above 6,000 feet, so most of the winter it is in deep snow.

As you would be if you tried to hike in the high country!

[AlmostThere]

And, it's typically winter as late as late June... with the drought it'll open in May. There have been years it's been closed til mid July. Keep an eye on the current conditions page on the Yosemite website for updates.

Since there is a storm on the way through this week, there'll be fresh snow.

[balzaccom]

And, it's typically winter as late as late June... with the drought it'll open in May. There have been years it's been closed til mid July. Keep an eye on the current conditions page on the Yosemite website for updates.

Since there is a storm on the way through this week, there'll be fresh snow.

God, I hope so!

[Grzldvt]

You do realize that the high country is in essence closed... ie going to Half Dome is at best difficult with the cables down. Both Tioga and Glacier Point Roads are closed, so your best bet is out of the Valley or the Wawona/Hetch Hetchy areas..

Why do they close during winter? Half dome makes sense if its snowy/rainy.[/quote]
So this is a concern, and I would recommend you not do this trip. You may be a good guy, but are obviously very unfamiliar with the park in the winter. This is the Sierra and weather can go to wonderful to horrific in less than an hour and if you are not prepared, you could end up in serious trouble. We have a serious storm coming in and while they are saying the snow level will be at 8000 feet, I would bet it will end up lower than that and could get quite deep based on this particular storm. You need to be prepared for deep snow if you had planned on camping. They close the roads to the high country because we can get feet of snow in several hours. The roads have some edges that drop several thousand feet, so for safety reasons, and there are others, they close off the roads so people don't kill themselves. Yes this is California, the land of 70 degrees and sunshine, but it is winter in the Sierra and can make the Midwest and Eastern snowstorms look like snow flurries.

[Dave_Ayers]

Many years ago I bought a tee-shirt at the TM store that had a map of TM on the front. It was my favorite tee and it generated the most comments of appreciation too. Looking at your cloth map reminds me of that. I think its a fantastic idea for fun clothing, throws, etc., if not so practical actual for use as a map.