Digital Maps of Baja
I love maps and have a large collection of the 1:50,000 scale paper topographic maps of Baja.
Before each trip to Baja I have tried to aquire the maps for the areas I was about to paddle. This turns out to be a difficult task
since the INEGI (the Mexican equivalent of the USGS) does not keep every map in print and is slow at supplying the distributors
with copies of the maps they do have. Maps of Isla Angel de la Guarda, for example, are listed as perminently unavalable but I
finally manged to find copies of them. Maps of Isla Tiburon are also listed as perminently unavaiable and I never found copies
of those. I had to rely on 1:250,000 scale maps of that island when I paddled around Isla Tiburon. The 1:50,000 scale maps are much better
for kayakers, you can use them to better guess where the arroyos and sandy beaches will be.
The 1:250,000 scale paper maps are much easier to find, but for Baja this is no longer necessary since
Baja Almanac Publishers has combinded all
of the Baja maps into a single book. Higly recomended, but currently out of print!
Several companies are starting to make digital maps of Baja Available now. Memory Map is one
company that has digital maps of Mexico in a very nice package. Unfortunately, their product only comes with the 1:250,000 scale data.
I still beleive that there is a need for the higher resolution versions of the maps.
Rather than bring the large, cumbersome, delicate and rare maps with me on an expedition I started scaning them into 8x10" pieces
in digital files. I would only bring printouts of these on my trips. Over the years I have scaned most of the coast of
the northern Baja shore of the Sea of Cortez from Isla Willard down to Santa Rosalia. All from the 1:50,000 scale maps scanned
at 300 dpi. This results in excelent copies on modern color printers.
I would like to find a way to share these maps with other kayakers. You can try downloading one set using the link below.
Unfortunately even as a zip file, on a high speed cable modem it takes several hours to download.
(At 300dpi one 8x10" map is 24 megabytes). My plan is to offer them free to download and charge
a small amount to burn a CDROM and mail it out.
Isla Angel de la Guarda and Bahia de Los Angeles in a zip file.
(17 maps plus an index map showing where each detail map is from).
Index map of Isla Angel del la Guarda and Bahia de Los Angeles.
(Uncompressed, large and slow to download).
Below is a sample of a corner of Isla Angel de la Guarda at 1:50,000. The topo lines are every 20 meters, the blue grid lines are one kilometer squares.
Left is a sample of the same area scanned off the 1:250,000 scale maps.
The topo lines on the newest maps are every 100 meters,
there are 10 kilometer grid lines, none of which fell inside this small area.
Contact sales@OceanKayaker.net for information.
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