Indexing the DeLorme and Ley Maps

After finally printing the Ley CDT maps, I took Yogi's advice and began indexing the Ley maps with the DeLorme Atlas pages. I marked the corresponding Ley map numbers in the margins of the DeLorme pages and vice-versa.

I ordered the DeLorme Atlases for New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Yep, these are the same oversized books of maps that you might keep in your car for road trips. Once I figured out which DeLorme pages I needed from each atlas, I cut them out and discarded the rest. (Actually, I kept the rest in anticipation of more hiking and road-tripping.)

While the Ley maps are detailed topos confined to small areas, the DeLorme maps offer a broader view. After studying the DeLorme maps, I would hazard to say that they offer a very optimistic view of the CDT -- one that is populated by distinct and well-maintained Forest Service roads and hamlets identified in bold letters. Maybe these hamlets have gas stations with ice cream freezers!

Or maybe not. As I followed the Ley maps and traced the Ley routes onto the DeLorme atlas pages with a highlighter, I noticed that the bold-lettered hamlet names on the DeLorme maps didn't always appear on the Ley maps. Nor did many of the Forest Service roads.

What does that mean? Probably not much hope for ice cream, and probably only a slightly higher chance of the Forest Service roads being recognizable.

What it means for sure is that we'll just see when we get there. And if we do come across ice cream, well, I won't turn up my nose!

Cross-referencing the DeLorme and Ley maps took the better part of a very long day and was exciting but exhausting. I feel like I've had a dress rehearsal - though my index hike was sobo (southbound). It was not always easy to align the small area topos with the broader areas on the DeLormes. Fortunately, each Ley map features a compass rose with the latitude and longitude marking the center of the rose. I compared these coordinates with the grids on the DeLormes, and voila!

I'm glad to have both sets of maps. I think the DeLormes will be very handy for hitchhiking to towns and for potential alternate routes in the case of bad weather, etc. If we need to walk around a fire or snow storm, we should be able to find a road on the DeLorme maps.

The Ley maps will help us pinpoint our position and stay on course. One thing I did notice about the Ley maps, however, is that due to their small-area focus, the names of prominent features are often truncated to the point of being illegible or unintelligible. And some features on the DeLorme maps don't seem to appear on the Ley maps - like many of those bold-lettered hamlets with the ice cream freezers.

The Ley maps are also a bit hard to read. This may be a side-affect of the particular printing arrangement that we chose. Regardless, I happen to have a very nifty business card-sized plastic magnifying glass as a token of my art appraisal days. This .25 ounce gizmo will be perfect as long as it doesn't blow away. Many of the elevation numbers would be hard to read without it.

I'm not complaining, however. Jonathan Ley puts much time and effort into producing these free maps which he updates annually. The Ley maps replace scores of heavy maps that could cost hundreds of dollars. Thank you, Jonathan!

There is no official map of the CDT, by the way. The trail is only about 70% complete - the rest is choose-your-own-adventure!

Here is a list of how the DeLorme pages correspond with the Ley maps. You can stop reading now. I just like to make lists and organize things. And I like to have back-ups in case I need to get this info while in a trail town.

DeLorme map page and Ley map cross-reference for 2009

New Mexico

DeLorme (Ley)
overview
public lands

15 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

21 (18, 19, 20)

22 (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 14A, 15, 16, 17, 18)

23 (10)

29 (20, 20A, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)

36 (28, 29, 30, 30A, 31, 32)

37 (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 30A-30-G, 31, 32, 33, 34)

44 (27A, 38A-B, 39, 39A-C)

45 (30G-L, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 37A, 38A, 39; Columbus route 1-8)

46 (Columbus route 4, 5, 6)

52 (39C-F, 40A, 41)

53 (39F, 40, 40A-B, 41, 41A-B; Columbus 8, 10, 11)

54 (Columbus 8, 9, 10)


Colorado

DeLorme (Ley)
overview
public lands

16 (1,2,3)

17 (2,3,4)

27 (5,6,7,8)

28 (8,9,10, 10A, 11)

29 (12)

38 (14, 15, 15A-D, 16, 17, 18)

39 (13, 14)

47 (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)

48 (15C-D, 18, 19)

59 (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)

68 (32, 33)

69 (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)

77 (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)

78 (33, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42)

88 (42)

89 (43, 44, 45, 46, NM1)

Wyoming

DeLorme (Ley)
overview
public lands
Yelowstone

10 (1)

20 (2, 3, 4, 5)

21 (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 7A)

31 (10, 10A, 11, 12, 13, 12A-D, 14, 15)

32 (16)

44 (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)

45 (22, 23, 24, 25)

46 (26, 27, 28, 29, 28A, 30)

47 (30, 31)

56 (28A-C)

57 (28C-D, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 37A-B, 38)

67 (37B, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)

68 (CO1)

Montana

DeLorme (Ley)
overview
public lands
Glacier Park

20 (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)

21 (63, 64, 65, 66, 67)

22 (68, 69, 70, 71, 70A-D, 72)

23 (WY1, WY2, WY3, WY4)

24 (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)

36 (46, 47, 48, 49)

37 (46)

38 (31C-E, 40, 41, 42, 43, 42A, 44, 45)

39 (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 31A-C, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)

55 (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)

68 (11, 12, 13, 13A, 14, 15, 16, 17, 17A, 18)

69 (17, 17A, 18)

83 (1, 2, 3)

84 (2A-B, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 10A)