Following
the Route
The
previous
chapter discussed the types of navigational situations encountered
along the G.E.T. As a brief review, most of the time the way ahead
is fairly straightforward. Where map and compass skills are useful
or necessary, hikers would be well advised to have a competent base
of knowledge already in place to avoid being unduly slowed down or
disoriented. This goes for the use of GPS as well. Carry one, but
know its uses and limitations, and never let it be a substitute for
traditional and reliable methods of navigation. Remember that the
G.E.T. is primarily a wilderness route, and so demands a level of
responsibility and self-reliance beyond that of an Appalachian Trail
hike, for example. You will probably be in the company of few other
hikers, and in the event of trouble may be on your own. Cell phones
may or may not work. Ranger stations may be miles away. Such are the
risks and rewards of a wilderness experience.
The
Guidebook
The Grand Enchantment
Trail guidebook - a free online resource
for trail users - provides detailed descriptions for the entire route,
including mile-by-mile directions, GPS waypoints (named and keyed
to the map set - see "Maps" below), information on water
sources, camping spots, and summaries of key features and highlights
along the way. This guidebook will likely prove very helpful in understanding
and following the suggested Grand Enchantment Trail route (although
experienced thru-hikers can often navigate solely by map
in a pinch, such as for segments of the route not yet covered in the
guidebook). The guide has a printer-friendly web browser viewing option,
so you can easily print and carry just the pages you need into the
field. Refer to the guide at trail intersections, road crossings,
and any time the way ahead seems uncertain from map reference alone.
Use it to plan each day of hiking, to estimate how much water to carry,
to know the locations of potential campsites and the distance to the
next resupply point.
The guide defines
the route by segments - 39 in all - beginning in Phoenix and ending
at Albuquerque. Each segment covers a portion of the route, usually
between road crossings, most of which offer vehicle access to the
route for the benefit of section hikers or others with vehicle support.
(Many of these roads, where they approach the trail, do require a
high-clearance and/or 4WD vehicle.) Each segment description begins
with a summary of features and conditions, which you can use to quickly
assess its highlights, challenges, and overall level of difficulty.
Thru-hikers would consider the conditions in all segments between
a given resupply point in order to determine hiking
pace and how much food to carry. Thru-hikers and section hikers
alike may prefer to access the guidebook via the Route
Overview page, (aka Narrated Overview) which offers a brief synopsis
of the route between each town stop and provides links to specific
segment descriptions within each span.
Maps
Detailed topographic
maps are absolutely essential for navigation along the G.E.T. Not
only will such maps help you to visualize the route, your location
along it, and the terrain itself, but they can also be invaluable
in the event of a detour, whether voluntary or involuntary.
Topographic
Maps on CD-ROM
The Grand Enchantment
Trail topo map set
contains over 100 maps, covering the entire route from Phoenix to
Albuquerque. Each topographic map is based on USGS 7.5' quadrangle
data - the most detailed and accurate available - and features additional
information pertinent to the G.E.T.: the route line, alternate routes
and detours, mileage between features, GPS waypoints, locations of
potential water and campsites, navigational pointers, and other information
as helpful. For the most part, these maps are not intended to be used
in place of the guidebook, but to complement the guide and to offer
independent field reference at those times when only a basic confirmation
of the route is needed.
Please note: The GPS waypoints, as shown on
the topo map set, are named and keyed to a waypoints reference
file included with the map set. This is to say, the maps show
only the waypoint names, which are shorter than the actual waypoint
coordinates and so easier to display on the maps with clarity. The
waypoints reference file lists the actual GPS waypoints. Note also
that the online guidebook chapter descriptions reference waypoint
names and not actual GPS waypoints. To obtain actual GPS waypoints,
one must obtain the topo map set.
The G.E.T. topo
map set is available on CD-ROM through the Simblissity online store.
Click here for more
information and to order.
Other
Useful Maps
In addition to
detailed topo maps, you should also consider carrying broad overview
maps for each area along the route. Such maps will allow you to see
the proverbial big picture, providing the necessary information to
make extended detours off the suggested route, for example to avoid
snow, high water, or in an emergency. I also find such maps essential
to my understanding of the landscape, and in this sense they heighten
my connection to the natural world around me.
The US Forest
Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) each produce large-area
paper maps of the lands they manage, and collectively these maps cover
most of the G.E.T. route. Again, these are intended as overview maps,
and by themselves usually won't be adequate for navigation along the
suggested route. For example, the scale of these maps generally lacks
sufficient detail for trail hiking, (the exception being USFS Wilderness
maps) and none of these maps explicitly show the route line of the
G.E.T. (only the Topo Map Set does this). They can, however, be particularly
helpful in terms of their road detail and in showing the locations
of nearby towns and major travel roads.
A list of pertinent
"paper maps" for the entire route is provided in a handy,
at-a-glance format here. Overview maps
for each segment of the route are also listed among the summary information
within each chapter of the online guide. You can generally order these
maps online from the Public
Lands Information Center.
Other useful overview
maps include those found in the DeLorme
state atlases (Arizona and New Mexico), as well as state highway
maps.
Flagging,
Cairns, and Other In-the-Field Markings
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|
Flagging
& Improvised Cairn, Black Range NM
|
Since the Grand
Enchantment Trail is a free (suggested) route, it is not marked with
permanent and official "G.E.T." trail signs, blazes, or
posts like the AT or PCT. The individual trails and tracks that it
uses, however, do often feature various marking conventions,
which differ from place to place in terms of style and frequency.
This signage may help in following portions of the G.E.T. route, but
it is the guidebook and maps that will keep you informed of each twist
and turn in the route. Use the guide and maps as your "virtual
trail blazes."
Visual confirmation
of the route is certainly helpful, though, and so efforts are ongoing
to mark the G.E.T. with flagging ribbon. At last check, the route
had been marked in this manner, where necessary, the full distance
from the western terminus near Phoenix to the eastern terminus at
Albuquerque NM.
"Where necessary" is obviously subject to interpretation,
but generally refers to
trail or road junctions, along sections of vague treadway, and other
areas of possible confusion.
This blazing  convention
is intended only to provide occasional confirmation and reassurance,
and in most cases does not occur with enough frequency to be followed
from mark to mark. Nor does plastic flagging tape seem to have a lifespan
of more than a year or two. Yet with the guidebook and map in hand,
frequent route marking should be unnecessary anyway, and the current
approach is notable for its impermanence on the land. To help in distinguishing
G.E.T. flagging ribbon from other types, ours is often marked with
the Grand Enchantment Trail monogram, or logo, as shown at left.
 |
| Rectangular
Tree Cuts, or "i-Blazes," CDT/GET |
Cairns - piles
of rocks that serve as markers - are sometimes encountered along the
route. Some of these have been erected specifically to mark the G.E.T.,
such as at road or trail junctions in open terrain. Most, however,
are part of an existing trail's blazing convention, and may have been
enhanced for the benefit of G.E.T. hikers. As with other types of
marking, use cairns primarily to confirm that you're on the route
detailed in the guide.
A common method
of marking trees on Forest Service trails is a pair of rectangles,
one atop the other,  cut
from the tree's outer bark. The upper cut is smaller than the lower,
so that the mark resembles a lower case letter "i.". Older
marks tend to become less conspicuous as the tree heals over, but
any evidence of these "i-blazes" is a sure sign that you're
on trail.  Whether
or not it's the right trail is, again, a matter resolveable through
guidebook and map.
The Arizona Trail
and Continental Divide Trail each have their own blazing conventions
and emblems. Look for such blazes on the portions of the G.E.T. that
use these trails.
A
Word About Mileages
Please be aware
that all mileage figures listed in the guidebook and on maps are estimates
only. The mileage breakdown by surface type described earlier, mileage
per segment and between town stops, and total miles for the route
have all been determined via map measurement, and have not been verified
in the field (wheel method, etc.) Trail and road signs encountered
along the way may sometimes conflict with stated mileages in the guide
and on maps, and generally it is impossible to determine which is
most accurate, other than by gut feeling after walking it.
The G.E.T. 7.5'
topo map set was developed using National
Geographic's TOPO! mapping software for Arizona and New Mexico.
This software allows for a fairly high level of precision in determining
distances along a plotted route, however it can only measure the route
line itself, which can never be drawn with the same detail as the
actual roads and trails that it represents. In a sense, all map features
are artistic representations of their real-world counterparts, and
thus the herculean efforts sometimes undertaken to measure and "wheel"
long-distance hiking trails in-the-field - up and over every rock,
around every turn, and between each tree.
Having hiked the
entire route several times, it is my considered opinion that the map-derived
mileages, though imperfect, follow a predictable pattern. And it is
this predictability that allows for reliable planning and assessment throughout the day of hiking. The rule of thumb is that
mileages along singletrack trail sections of the route almost always
tend to feel a little underestimated, while distances along roaded
sections seem to ring true. What this means is that once you get a sense of what "5 miles" means on trailed
portions of the G.E.T., you will be able to trust your "mileage
instinct" for the duration of the hike, particularly when factoring
in local conditions and terrain as detailed in the guide.
How off the mark might the singletrack mileage figures be? My sense
is that they may under-represent actual mileages by as much as 5%,
or in a few segments up to 10%. But again, due to the consistency
of this potential inaccuracy, the additional mileage - which may add
up to 25 or 30 miles above the G.E.T.'s stated ~730 mile length -
is spread over the length of the entire route, so has considerably
less consequence for daily mileage estimates.
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| Cairn
& autumn grama grass, Blue Range AZ |
|
