Map Updates

[cpresoz]

A good article:
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2014/jan/ ... -20140120/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[cpresoz]

For those unable to log onto NWA Online:

OZARK NATIONAL FOREST — Topographical maps, modernized for the first time in several decades, will soon be available for two of the most iconic outdoor recreational features in Northwest Arkansas.

Kristian Underwood, a professional cartographer living in Winslow, hopes to have maps for the Ozark Highlands Trail and the Mulberry River completed by Feb. 1, with a print publication goal of early March.

Underwood, owner of Underwood Geographics and president of the northwest chapter of the Arkansas Canoe Club, has nearly completed traversing both, typically hiking or canoeing 5-10 miles at a stretch. On Wednesday, as he approached the 59th-mile marker along the Ozark Highlands Trail, about 10 miles east of Cass, he said the day’s 7-mile journey would help him fill in one of the few remaining “holes in the data” for the decades-old trail system.

The most established portion of the trail runs for approximately 165 miles from Lake Fort Smith State Park to Woolum Campground along the Buffalo National River.

Hiking at a steady 2-mph pace, Underwood noted the readouts on the Trimble Global Positioning System device in his hand, which was set to record his position once a second. About every other minute, he paused to note a fallen tree across the trail, data points that Underwood would later send to the Ozark Highlands Trail Association, which frequently dispatches its volunteer members to maintain the trail with chain saws and other tools to clear large debris from the path.

“I have to keep moving, or the GPS starts to zigzag all over the place,” Underwood said.

Underwood has also nearly completed gathering GPS data for the 40-mile stretch of the Mulberry River typically traversed by canoeists and kayakers, from Wolf Pen Recreation Area to Mill Creek, one of the last “take-outs” before the river empties into the Arkansas River 5 miles below.

Underwood said that between the two projects, he had probably spent 30 eight-hour days physically gathering the GPS data - walking the trail, floating the river, and making field notes on active streams, rapids and vegetation. Back in his Winslow home office, a 300-square-foot room, Underwood spends as much time, or more, overlaying the GPS data on a base map built from existing data from theU.S. Geological Survey, the Arkansas Highway Transportation Department and other sources.

Existing maps of both systems, used by outdoor recreation groups such as theOzark Highlands Trail Association (OHTA) and river outfitters - including the Turner Bend Store - havenot been updated in decades. While the geography of neither system has changed significantly, repeated re-routesof the Ozark Highlands Trail and technological advances in GPS elevation mapping and high-resolution reproduction put existing maps far behind the times.

Brad Wimberly, owner and operator of Turner Bend, located along the southern bank of the Mulberry River about 20 miles north of Ozark, said he has been selling a hand-drawn map that he created in 1992, tracing U.S. Forest Service maps on a light table. Before that, the most common resource available to area river enthusiasts was a canoeing guide titled “The Mighty Mulberry,” published in 1974 by the OzarkSociety and containing several factual errors, Wimberly said.

After four printings of Wimberly’s map, which he estimated has sold about 6,000 copies, Wimberly hired Underwood to produce a modern map of the river, which Wimberly will sell at Turner Bend.

“Not that ours hadn’t served the purpose over the years, but the modern mapping technology will give you a better feel for topography that we just couldn’t do by hand,” Wimberly said.

John Pennington, vice president of the Ozark Trail Association, said the groupnow relies on a combination of resources, including 30-year-old U.S. Forest Service maps, U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps and photographer Tim Ernst’s popular “Ozark Highlands Trail Guide.”

“Almost all of those maps are out of date or on a scale that is insufficient with detail for our maintenance purposes,” Pennington said.

While the Mulberry River mapping project is under contract, Underwood’s efforts to map the Ozark Highlands Trail are not. Although the cost of having the map physically printed would be significant for a small business, Underwood said he would be willing to print and sell the map as an Underwood Geographics product.

“If the [Ozark Highlands Trail Association] wants to use the map, I’ll go that route,” Underwood said. “If not, Underwood Graphics will produce the map and sell it.”

Pennington said the association is interested in obtaining the map, and has been working to raise funds to purchase the printing and retail rights to the map, a cost Pennington put at about $76,000.

“OHTA has been raising money from local communities,” Pennington said. “It takes time, and good timing. For all practical purposes we are on our way.”

[kru1]

Hey I know that guy.

The digital version is almost complete. Should be a big improvement from the original, although the original served its purpose well. This map will concentrate a lot more on the landforms of the valley and ridges. A lot more rapids/shoals are named, almost all of which were gathered from local outfitters in the region who know the area well.

Here's a quick sample of the work in progress.

kru

[okieboater]

Good work Mr Kru

[SteveGabbard]

Very nice work!

[cpresoz]

Hey I know that guy.

The digital version is almost complete. Should be a big improvement from the original, although the original served its purpose well. This map will concentrate a lot more on the landforms of the valley and ridges. A lot more rapids/shoals are named, almost all of which were gathered from local outfitters in the region who know the area well.

Here's a quick sample of the work in progress.

kru

I can't wait! Great work, Kristian.