Is it just me or are the Jonathan Ley Maps extremely hard to match up with the CDT Alliance Guidebooks? They don’t seem too compatable. If I can’t figure this out in my own home, I probably won’t do too well trying to use them on a snowy icy pass in Montana! Anyone has any words of encouragement?
Blisterbuster
Yeah, at least that was the problem 6 years ago… take a GPS & area maps of a larger scale than Ley’s with latitude/longitude so you can figure out where you are & where you need to be (my wrist GPS worked ok but you might prefer one with downloadable whatzits etc…) GPS may not work in heavy forest; practice at home in a park or state park to figure it out. On a snowy icy pass, survival might be your biggest problem… bear in mind, getting a trail permit depends on where the bears are & when the campsites melt out & the temporary bridges may not be put in til late june; from E. Glacier town, you can probably take one of their famous jitney buses for about $6 each way, or you can day hike over to 2 Medicine, which has a steep snowfield on the way til early July & which I was glad to have my Austria Alpin semi-crampons & ice axe; which also would have been useful for the grass grazing grizzly yearling I saw a few meters from trail along the way (one in your party maybe could carry the pepper spray for bears, not allowed in Canada though). In 2003, Mid- June, they would not issue me a permit for above reasons; in 2004, I started in Butte area, hiked North, then flipflopped & took a shortcut trail arrow south to Yellowstone, so I didn’t do the CDT but the RMT or rocky mtn trail.
gingerbreadman
I took the Delorme maps of each state and traced out the small squares of each of Ley’s maps on them with a high-lite marker and wrote the number of Ley’s map in each of those high-lited squares. (example; CO-7) I then took the pages of the Delorme map out of each of those books and carried those “big picture” map pages also.
That helped me see the “big picture” of where I was at and how far I had to the next resupply. I would only use those Delormes at night to see how many days I had left to the next cheeseburger. 
I think it does seem a bit over whelming with all those maps sitting around, but it all comes together. Believe me…Ley’s maps are VERY valuable on Trail!! I used them all the time and I always knew where I was on Ley’s map.
I also had Wolf’s guidebook and a GPS along with me. All three came in very handy at times, but I used Ley’s maps all the time to help stay found.
Common sense is the fourth thing you need a lot of. Sometimes I would get to a point where not one of the other three made sense by itself. Sitting down and studying the other three for a few minutes and using a little common sense can save you from heading up the wrong canyon, or taking the wrong two-track, or any of the other things that could easily send you off on a wrong course.
I hope you enjoy your walk.
Stumpknocker
Stumpknocker has the right idea, or at least the same one I had. Get the DeLorme book for each state and trace the route on that. Then cut the pages out and carry them with–the bigger picture can be very valuable.
Get to know the survey system of sections, range and township. Most of the Ley maps and the DeLorme maps show the same mile-square sections, numbered 1 to 36. (Be aware, some areas, usually National Parks, use a kilometer grid which will mess you up.) You often see yellow metal “bearing tags” on trees along old roads, which are etched or punched with the section number and which quarter of the section you’re in (NW corner of the NW corner, for example). In open range country, fence lines often follow section lines, and you can use them to navigate very effectively. Look at fence corners and at cattle guards for survey markers and bearing posts. They always tell you exactly where you are, like a free GPS that doesn’t need batteries.
If you use all these tricks, a GPS is not required, but definitely can be helpful if you know how to use it.
Garlic
Ley’s maps came in very handy for Special K, J.B., Mr. D, and myself. The rose compass on it allows you to triangulate your position so you can see where you are in relation to the ROUTE. I say route, because there is often no trail where the route goes.
I think the best method I have seen was used by Ellie, San Gabriel, and Out-of-Order. They had very nice GPS units which allowed them to download all the needed Topo maps onto the units. They then put as many waypoints from Ley’s maps as they felt they needed to stay on course. They could then tell right away if they started to stray from the route, and were able to immediately correct and keep moving in the direction they should.
Not coincidentally, they were the fastest hikers we met on the trail. These units are getting cheaper all the time and I think are worth their cost a dozen times over.
Robocop
Robocop
Hey, can we get a statue of Ley built, perhaps at the midpoint of the CDT for his angelity? (not affiliated with Ken Lay of Enron fame). Awesum info by Stump & Garl… I used a wrist GPS that worked best when I was at least a half mile off trail to tell me which direction to bushwhack in to return to trail… my favorite was climbing over 2 horsehigh barbwire fences at the Strawberry mine to find a dirt road going back to the CDT trode. Happy trodes on the CD!
gingerbreadman
I agree on the Ley statue–when you look at the amount of work done on the maps. Then no charge except what you want in terms of a donation?!
Amazing, thanks.
Not to discount the work of Wolf, the CDTA, Yogi and a bunch of others.
David
ha ha ha , i agree with jonathan.
it’s why i carry a compass with a mirror, if i ever get lost i open it up, look in the mirror and i know i’m there. i’m not lost anymore.
p.s. i think j. leys maps are the bomb! the work he put into them is priceless, he helps make peoples dreams come true, and for that i say thnk you jonathan.:cheers
neighbor