So my maps & booklet finally arrived for a trail trip I'm planning on doing sometime in the future. I thought I'd share some of the quirks of the package, which I think they are just forcing people to really look at things & plan.

What came in the package was 2 maps, 2 tide tables and the booklet.

Not sure why 2 tide tables came with it, probably for people to choose which one to use. Only need 1 (there are crossings that can only be made at low tide).

The maps are nice. Topo of the trail showing camp sites and distances, and alternate access points. The other map shows other trails at one end that can be accessed, plus emergency routes and possible helicopter landing sites; all with waypoint coordinates! Nice maps on waterproof paper.

Now the quirks. The trail is listed at 41km long, which they point out is horizontal distance, and that actual distance is 49.3km. Then the topo map shows the trail with distance points that show the trail to be 37.5km which they say is map distance (isn't that horizontal distance?). So, 3.5km isn't that big of a deal but I would have thought that the map would have shown the 41kms they claim the trail to be. I like things to be coordinated.

The book is pretty nice. The first half is general backpacking knowledge, good info to remember, and general trail info that is found on the website. The second half of the book gives a km by km detailed information trip through the trail. The side trails and what they encompass are all included, which is great in planning whether you can, or want to, do one. But then there is this quirk. I would have thought that the booklet would have been written according to the map that they give out... but alas, no. It starts out okay, with the km distance at 0 on the trail head, but I noticed that the reverse distance measurement was only something like 24 instead of 41. For some reason, they measured the distance to a river around the middle of the trail, then started back again at 0. I have no idea why. So now I'm gonna have to do math to figure out where I'm at: Map says I should be at km 30, but I started back at 0, minus the 24 so I should be at book km 6, which is the 2nd 6... I know, easy, but why?

And to top it all off, there is this tidbit that I found out from the book. In order to get to the trail head, there is a 7.9km trail to follow first! Good info to know when planning your trip, especially when having to coordinate with the tides. At this point things start to come together as they have a little chart with distances, and that chart shows that the 7.9km section is included in the 49.3 distance, which means that the 41km would not be map distance, but trail distance! Figuring that all out takes reading the book! Oh, and the trail was made in 2 sections, each section is looked after by different organizations, so that could explain the river split.

They did have one excellent addition to their main trail map. They have an elevation graph showing the whole trail. The area does have lots of ups and downs, but the graph is like the CUDS have CUDS! It almost looks like a seismograph during a quake. Guess they want to pound home that it's not a beginner trail. Not that the 4-days for 40km recommended plan hinted at it.

I'm getting a chuckle out of it all.