Cady Ridge to Kodak Peak
33 Frosty Mountain to Windy Joe Lookout
BEST HIKES FOR AN ESCAPE
MOST DIFFICULT HIKES
28 Rainbow Lake and McAlester Creek
EASIEST HIKES
11 Sheep Lake and Sourdough Gap
HIKES MOSTLY ON THE PCT
11 Sheep Lake and Sourdough Gap
Dewey Lake (see Hike 10)
INTRODUCTION
How to Use This Guidebook
THE FOLLOWING SECTION walks you through this book’s organization, making it easy and convenient to plan great hikes.
The Overview Map, Map Key, and Legend
Use the overview map on the inside front cover to assess the exact locations of each hike’s primary trailhead. Each hike’s number appears on the overview map, on the map key facing the overview map, in the table of contents, and at the beginning of each hike profile.
The book is organized into three regions. The hikes within each region are noted as out-and-back day hikes, loop and semiloop day hikes, and overnight hikes in the map key (pages i–ii) and the table of contents. A legend that details the symbols found on trail maps appears on the inside back cover.
Trail Maps
In addition to the overview map on the inside cover, a detailed map of each hike’s route appears with its profile. On each of these maps, symbols indicate the trailhead, the complete route, significant features, facilities, and topographic landmarks such as creeks, overlooks, and peaks.
To produce the highly accurate maps in this book, I used a Garmin eTrex GPS unit to gather data while hiking each route, then sent that data to Wilderness Press’s expert cartographers. Be aware, though, that your GPS device is no substitute for sound, sensible navigation that takes into account the conditions that you observe while hiking.
Further, despite the high quality of the maps in this guidebook, the publisher and myself strongly recommend that you always carry an additional map, such as the ones noted in each profile opener’s “Maps” entry.
Elevation Profiles
Each hike also contains a detailed elevation profile that augments the trail map. The elevation profile provides a quick look at the trail from the side, enabling you to visualize how the trail rises and falls. Key points along the way are labeled. Note the number of feet between each tick mark on the vertical axis, or height scale. The height scales provide an accurate assessment of each hike’s climbing difficulty, so that flat hikes don’t seem steep and vice versa.
GPS Trailhead Coordinates
As noted in “Trail Maps” on the previous page, I used a handheld GPS unit to obtain geographic data and sent the information to the publisher’s cartographers. In the opener for each hike profile, the coordinates—the intersection of latitude (north) and longitude (west)—will orient you from the trailhead. In some cases, you can drive within viewing distance of a trailhead. Other hiking routes require a short walk to the trailhead from a parking area.
This guidebook expresses GPS coordinates in degree–decimal minute format. The latitude–longitude grid system is likely quite familiar to you, but here’s a refresher, pertinent to visualizing the coordinates:
Imaginary lines of latitude—called parallels and approximately 69 miles apart from each other—run horizontally around the globe. The equator is established to be 0°, and each parallel is indicated by degrees from the equator: up to 90°N at the North Pole and down to 90°S at the South Pole.
Imaginary lines of longitude—called meridians—run perpendicular to latitude lines. Longitude lines are likewise indicated by degrees. Starting from 0° at the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England, they continue to the east and west until they meet 180° later at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. At the equator, longitude lines also are approximately 69 miles apart, but that distance narrows as the meridians converge toward the North and South Poles.
As an example, the
