Best maps?

[seano]

I spend quite a bit more time outside Colorado than in it, though apparently much less in Idaho and Montana than you do.

Popular is a relative term, especially when compared to the Colorado 14ers, but the following areas and ranges have a lot of peaks outside the 22 mile round trip range:

North Cascades
Olympic Mountains
...
Wind River Mountains

Agreed -- see above. Though it's painful to do so, I believe pretty much every significant peak is day-hikeable in the North Cascades, which are probably home to the most remote reasonably-well-known peaks in the lower 48, e.g. the Northern Pickets and Goode. Olympus is notoriously long, but many of the other significant or well-known Olympic peaks (e.g. Constance, Brothers) are close to the eastern shore so long a the access roads haven't been recently washed out. The Winds are also quite remote, with their own special breed of Rockies unfriendliness.

I don't know Idaho that well, but I do know that the Lost River Range is fairly narrow and steep, with roads through the valleys on both sides. Also, the FKT for all 9 of Idaho's 12ers (mostly Lost River) is just over a day, so none of them could be very remote.

There are indeed some awful-to-reach Sierra peaks, but few that are all that well-known except to people trying to complete the SPS list (Black Kaweah? Brewer? Tehipite Dome?).

[TallGrass]

For backcountry navigation, it's nice to have a map and compass with the same scale so a separate ruler isn't needed. Suunto compasses (M-3, MC-2) usually have one or more of the first three scales in km and or miles, even UTM, depending on variant and generation. The last two scales seem more popular with NatGeo Trails Illustrated maps.

Scale (map -- real world)
1:24,000 (1 in -- 2,000 ft) USGS 7.5min
1:25,000 (1 in -- 2,083 ft) USGS 7.5x15min
1:62,500 (1 in -- 0.986 mi) USGS 15min
1:63,360 (1 in -- 1 mi) USGS 15min Alaska maps
1:75,000 (1 in -- 6,250 ft ≈ 1.18 mi)
1 mile = 63,360 inches

When Suunto acquired the Swiss company Recta, they got their orange-white Global needle design (B) which uses a gimbal to keep the needle from sticking if not near level (easier to get a reading while hiking). These "G" models also have an inclinometer (C) and gear-adjustable declination (D, Colorado is 8-10 degrees East). The USGS versions of the MC-2 and MC-2 G also have topo slope scales (A) for the given contour interval.

SuuntoMC2G_USGS.JPG (54.73 KiB) Viewed 1728 times

[Scott P]

I don't know Idaho that well, but I do know that the Lost River Range is fairly narrow and steep, with roads through the valleys on both sides.

If you are interested, there are only a few areas in the Lost River Range with peaks that would have peaks fit the criteria of requiring 22 miles RT, all of them on the north and east sides (i.e. in the Dry Creek Basin or the upper Long Lost Creek Basin). Unfortunately, some formerly isolated areas, such as the Shadow Lake area now have ATV tracks part way up the drainages on the former hiking trails. As the crow flies, the shortest way into the isolated areas is from the west (the 12ers are all along the western front of the range), but crossing the main crest from the west side to the east side would be formidable.

[seano]

Thanks for the tip, Scott P. I haven't made my July plans yet, so I'll poke around that area online and on Caltopo. I remember the area being sort of chossy, but it would fit with the rest of my summer plans. Too bad the Sawtooths are probably mosquito hell around then...

[Scott P]

I remember the area being sort of chossy

For sure!

Too bad the Sawtooths are probably mosquito hell around then...

For sure as well. Any of the ranges with a lot of lakes (Tetons, Wind Rivers, White Clouds, Sawtooths, Whiteclouds, Uintas, Yellowstone, Beartooths, etc.) will be mosquito hell in July!

The Lemhis, Lost Rivers, Boulders, and Pioneers might have a little less mosquitoes (especially the first two), but this is only a guess since they have fewer lakes. I have only been to those places in late August and September and the mosquitoes are gone or mostly gone by then.

[seano]

For sure as well. Any of the ranges with a lot of lakes (Tetons, Wind Rivers, White Clouds, Sawtooths, Whiteclouds, Uintas, Yellowstone, Beartooths, etc.) will be mosquito hell in July!

I've been to the Winds in July, and the key is not to stop moving. Mosquitos aren't very fast...

I've only been to the Sawtooths briefly, in a massive snow year (2010 or 2011), and the mosquitos were unreal, worse than anything I've experienced in the Sierra, Tetons, or even North Cascades (though they have biting flies, too). And since a lot of the range is below treeline, there's no wind to distract the creatures. I did Borah on my way up to the Sawtooths that same year, I believe, and had little to no trouble. The Lost Rivers felt like a nicer desert range.