Tag Archive for 'maps'

Giant Freakin’ Map!

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on October 30, 2008
in maps
. 0 Comments

Apparently, the National Geographic Society decided they would start touring around with a 26 x 34 foot map of North America without stopping by my apartment.

Lame.

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2007’s Giant Map of Asia

Instead, they’ll be taking this cartophile’s dream to schools, to teach kids about the physical and economic reasons for various city locations, and about where certain types of foods are produced on the continent — which is fantastic, because I’m pretty sure most people my age couldn’t tell you anything about either of those topics.

National Geographic says it’s for grades K-8, but if they could make an exception just for me, I promise not to get in the way of anyone — as long as I get to somersault from L.A. to New York without being interrupted.

Via Contours.

Online Map Jigsaw Puzzles

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on May 18, 2008
in Web Sites and Apps and maps
. 1 Comment

Personally, I’m not one for puzzles of any sort. If the solution doesn’t become apparent to me within a few minutes of starting, I end up just getting frustrated and angry. Maybe puzzles are supposed to teach me a life-lesson about dealing with that, but so far they’ve been unsuccessful.

However, I do have a lot of “puzzle people” in my life, and a puzzle that tests your knowledge of geography is ok in my book. Or, at least, as good as a puzzle is going to get.

See how well you know the planet at National Geographic.

Via Contours.

Now With Countours

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on April 8, 2008
in Web Sites and Apps and maps
. 1 Comment

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A few days ago, Google quietly added some fancy new contour lines to its “Terrain Mode” on Google Maps.

As noted before, most of the prominent peaks are labeled, as well as other geographic features. In National Parks, campgrounds, ranger stations, and a few trails show up, too — but our local National Forests are still missing this information … although honestly, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.

Now, when are we going to get to print these things out instead of having to buy topographical maps?

Via GOBlog, courtesy Team Geared Up.

NPS Map Update

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on February 11, 2008
in National Parks and Monuments, Web Sites and Apps and maps
. 1 Comment

The National Park Service has updated and upgraded the maps on individual parks’ web sites.

They’re basically high-res scans of those Park maps they hand out at Visitors’ Centers — so while they’re not really suitable for hiking, they are great at getting an overview of a specific area you’re planning on visiting … and will at least show you which trails are most likely to be crowded.

There’s a small green rectangular button beneath the banner image on each park, which will fire up the streaming, zoomable flash map. Previously, clicking on any map link on an NPS page would open up a PDF map, which would either display the same information or take down your entire computer with a browser crash.

So yeah, these flash maps are a marked improvement.

Via National Parks Traveler.

More L.A. Maps

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on January 12, 2008
in Web Sites and Apps and maps
. 0 Comments

After poking around Nikolas Schiller’s page from the last post, I stumbled upon an online collection of maps of Los Angeles from the turn of the century.

The Library of Congress Exhibition, called “Los Angeles Mapped,” documents the history of how people viewed L.A. — from its late 1600s existence as a theoretical island to its orchard & oil existence to the early freeways, it’s a fascinating little collection of images.

Even though they’re not exactly the easiest things to navigate around, they are still great to look at. Of particular interest is the full map of L.A. County’s rail system from 1912, when the SouthLand was covered in over 1000 miles of track.

I just got an email from someone asking how to get to some good long distance trails in L.A. without a car. Sadly, the easiest answer is “go back to 1912 and take the rail to Echo Mountain or Chantry Flats.”

But hey, in November we might be able to vote for an additional tax to fund that Subway to the Sea we’ve heard so much about …

Oil in L.A.

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on January 12, 2008
in City Life, Geek Stuff, Web Sites and Apps and maps
. 0 Comments

I remember one of the first (of many) things that freaked me out about L.A. when I first moved here was the post apocalyptic wasteland of oil derricks you see when you’re driving north out of LAX on La Cienega. Coming from New England, I always assumed that sort of thing was reserved for the more rural, wide-open west — not urban, world-class-city Los Angeles.

It was the first of many of my assumptions about L.A. that turned out to be very, very wrong. The city, as it turns out, used to be mostly farmland, orchards, and oil fields — fairly recently in its history, too.

While searching for an unrelated map, fellow map nerd Nikolas Schiller came upon an old map of downtown and West L.A. from 1905, showing the locations of all the oil wells and derricks that used to dot the landscape. He used the map to create a Google Earth Overlay, which is pretty fascinating.

Click through to see if you’re sitting on an old filled-in well. Then worry.

Then be sure to check out the rest of Nikolas’ site. Especially if you like maps, fractals, computer art, and small doses of radical progressive political thought.

Via Curbed L.A.

Free Garmin GPS Maps

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on December 7, 2007
in Geek Stuff, National Forests and Recreation Areas, Technology, Web Sites and Apps and maps
. 3 Comments

One of the most frustrating (and lame) things I learned when researching GPS units was their crippled map capabilities. I really liked the features and price of the Garmins, but National Geographic TOPO (which, in my opinion, has the most comprehensive and powerful mapping tools) aren’t able to be displayed on the GPS unit’s screen.

Garmin has its own map software, but it’s overpriced, out of date, and missing giant chunks of hikers’ territories in the 1:24k resolution that’s best for the trail. Garmin’s MapSource TOPO West, for instance, covers the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Bernardino National Forest, but not the Angeles, Cleveland, or Los Padres. Until they update their data and give me more detailed maps, I ain’t handin’ over any hard-earned cash.

It’s not easy, but a temporary solution is here — free, user-created, Garmin-compatible GPS maps.

The gearheads over at GPS Tracklog have put together a comprehensive list of sources and instructions on how to get some free 24k maps from the internets into your Garmin GPS. It requires a bunch of different web sites and a Windows freeware download, but hey — that’s what we hax0rs have to do when The Man doesn’t give us what we need, right?

Some of the map sites they link to have great, detailed maps of Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and Lassen — but still no Angeles National Forest. So we’ve still got a ways to go.

Still, it’s free. So don’t complain.

Google Maps Terrain Mode

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on November 28, 2007
in Web Sites and Apps and maps
. 1 Comment

Yesterday, Google pulled back the curtain on Google Maps’ new “Terrain Mode.”

It takes everyone’s favorite driving directions / traffic advice / stalking tool and gives it a fresh new layer for us outdoorspeople.

Terrain Mode will basically take the underlying topographical data and render a 3-d shaded image that looks pretty dang close to those fancy shaded trail maps you can pick up at your local REI for 9 bucks. I was surprised (and pleased) to see that prominent peaks and features are clearly labeled, as are Forest Service roads. No trails, though.

It’s definitely not a replacement for actual topo maps … but given Google’s track record of adding features and the internet’s track record of coming up with great Maps mashups and hacks, it’s probably not too far off.

Via Google Earth Blog.

Better GPS On The Way?

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on May 23, 2007
in Gadgets and Gear, Technology and maps
. 0 Comments

I love my GPS receiver, but one of my big gripes about my little electronic pathfinder is the lack of on-device map detail.

When I first started shopping around for a GPS, I assumed I’d be able to run some of the superdetailed National Geographic TOPO maps on screen.

Turned out, no.

It seems like no matter what brand of GPS you go with, on-unit maps are pretty much limited to first-party software - most of which are extremely lacking. Garmin’s got a nation-wide 1:100k offering, which is fine for driving to the trailhead, but not all that great once you actually get on the trail.

They also have a much more detailed 1:24k version, but that one’s limited to specific national parks and forests and can leave some big chunks of map off your screen. Their “Western” edition has the Santa Monica Mountains and San Bernardino National Forest, for instance, but leaves out the Cleveland and Angeles National Forests.

Frustrating.

But GPS Tracklog thinks this era might be coming to an end.

The site reports the Italian cartography company Navionics wants to have comprehensive U.S. GPS maps available by the end of the year, and they’re pretty sure they’re going to at least have a 1:24k version offered. Maybe even one that’s so fancy it will require me to purchase a new GPS receiver.

Not that I really need any more encouragement to spend money on electronics…

Google Earth Hiking Trails

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on April 16, 2007
in Geek Stuff, Web Sites and Apps, hiking and maps
. 4 Comments

Well, it figures.

Google Earth comes out with a brand new viewing layer devoted entirely to hiking trails, and my company’s IT department decides to completely cripple my work machine, removing all the programs I use for this site and limiting my internet access to Internet Explorer 6. Blech.

That said, I probably shouldn’t be doing this stuff at work in the first place, but I don’t go on smoke breaks - or leave for lunch most of the time - so I should be allowed this.

Anyway.

Google Earth has a brand new layer, courtesy of Trimble Outdoors and the venerable Backpacker Magazine.

It looks pretty robust, too. Clicking on trailhead icons will get you a detailed map, GPS coordinates and - if you’re lucky - some pictures and a paragraph description. If you’ve got a GPS phone, you can even have the maps sent straight to your gadget. Although if you’re going on the trail solely trusting a phone as your guide, then I hope you won’t be straying too far from civilization.

That said, it looks like it could be pretty cool, eventually. I don’t know about your home area, but right now the map’s Los Angeles hiking trail map looks pretty dang barren.

The trail difficulties seem a bit arbitrary, too. A boulder-hop down the Arroyo Seco is rated the same difficulty as a 12 mile trip up Mount Baldy with almost 4000 feet of elevation gain.

OK. I’m a little jealous. But know that - at least for now - Modern Hiker is your number one source for all things hiking in Los Angeles. Maybe not all. But some. And my write-ups are longer than a paragraph.

So go fool around with Google Earth, but make sure you come back ’round here, alright?

via Besthike.com, via Lifehacker.