Hiking in Northern California

July 24, 2007 9:29 AM

I'm planning a week-long hike in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, CA. What resources should I look at for planning?

I've got a couple guide books (the ones by Bob Lorentzen) and a large regional recreational map, and have been to coastwalk.org and the websites for the various redwood parks. I'd rather not carry the dozen USGS maps it would take to cover the route. Are there any other good books, topo or trail maps, websites, &c. that would help me plan a route? The tentative plan is to do much of the CCT between Eureka and Crescent City, with some detours into the interior of the state & national parks.

posted by sonofslim to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

Best answer: Use Topo software to make a map of your route. REI has kiosks with such topo software if you're not an avid backpacker and don't want to invest in the software yourself. Their "Map Machine" kiosks will print out a 13"x18" map centered on your route so you wouldn't need a dozen maps. The quality isn't as good as the paper USGS maps, though, and it costs a bit more ($8, I think). You can also purchase custom maps online from sites like Offroute.com if you don't have an REI store near you.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 1:39 PM on July 24, 2007

Last time I hiked in Del Norte, I forgot DEET and regretted it.
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:54 PM on July 24, 2007

Response by poster: Offroute is great, thanks!
posted by sonofslim at 6:19 PM on July 24, 2007