Forum Index > Trail Talk > Pratt TH to Talapus TH - distance?
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Cyclopath
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Cyclopath
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PostSat Apr 13, 2019 9:00 am 
Having done plenty of hikes in both valleys, I feel like it would be neat to hike from one to the other. I'm trying to figure out the distance, so I know how to plan. I have an older paper map that doesn't have this trail, so my normal method is out the window. WTA doesn't have a listing for the full hike. Google maps navigation feature told me to walk I90. Before I go out and buy a new map, I wonder if anyone in here has done the hike and can tell me how long it was?

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fourteen410
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PostSat Apr 13, 2019 3:03 pm 
Are you familiar with CalTopo? You can measure mileage on these maps. Looks like it's about 5.5 miles one way. https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=47.40442,-121.49199&z=14&b=t&o=f16a%2Cr&n=1,0.25

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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostSat Apr 13, 2019 5:58 pm 
Second the CalTopo map. If you use the MapBuilder Topo layer it has mileage labels on trail sections.

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bk
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PostSat Apr 13, 2019 9:49 pm 
Garmin: Garmin Basecamp w/purchased Topo US 24K West map shows about 5.1 miles. (The Garmin topo map purchase, along w/ free Basecamp, has many nice features . . . but sometimes trail locations are wrong.) Google Maps: [shows 4.5 miles] This works (w/no I-90 suggestions) if you click the hiker-icon (instead of the car-icon) in the upper-left, blue menu area. It shows 4.5 miles. CalTopo: To me, this has the biggest learning curve, maybe for even some of the basics. And it looks like one has to sign-in before sharing the results of one's learned path-drawing efforts. Here's the area. That url shows my drawn-path effort on the computer in front of me, but sharing the link, my path doesn't show, since there's no sign-in, probably; my guess is fourteen410's link shows a path [of 5.5 miles] on her own computer, but no path shows up on mine, after clicking her link.) Does CalTopo have a snap-to-route feature for line drawing?: Yes, but it's not perfect because it forces the path loop around the north end of Olallie Lake, making the distance a reported 6.69 miles (w/Olallie loop). It required a googling effort to find how to turn on the "snap-to" feature. [Shown here.] (Fourteen410 probably had "snap" turned off, in order to force the path south of Olallie, via hand-click-sketch, to get the more reasonable 5.5-mile estimate.) Clicking "CalTopo" in the upper-left has some help tips. Or Google help. • Main support page. • Official (and 3rd-Party) YouTube tutorials. . . . like this overview tutorial which saves a lot of trial-and-error clickin' around. Hillmap: ...shows about 4.44 miles. These are great because drawn paths can be shared w/o requiring a log-in. Here's the 4.44-mile path. But there's no (or doesn't seem to be any) snap-to-route feature for path drawing (all point-and-click sketches), so it takes ten-times longer to sketch. Maybe three guys with distance measuring wheels would show a closer average.

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fourteen410
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PostSat Apr 13, 2019 10:12 pm 
To measure on CalTopo, go to the top bar and select "Measure", click on "Measure Distance", then measure away. The Forest Service map or MapBuilder Topo map (select from the preset list on the left hand side) is pretty user friendly. I don't believe you have to log in unless you want to save your maps.

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Cyclopath
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Cyclopath
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PostSun Apr 14, 2019 8:13 am 
Thanks everybody! smile.gif I different realize there were so many options available for this! biggrin.gif I must have phrased the question poorly, what I'm wanting to do is start in the MFK at the trailhead sorry the bridge, where you'd go left for the (closed) MFK trail, or right for the Pratt Trail, and end at I90. I've been looking more closely and it looks like that isn't really possibly without some bush whacking.

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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostMon Apr 15, 2019 5:25 am 
I've done that route a couple times before there was a trail from the Middle Fork bridge. In the old days you would either follow the natural railroad grade as is disintegrated into woods and pop out at Lower Tuscohatchie. The last time I did it I dropped down into the Pratt valley and found the old connector trail that took me (Steeply) up to Pratt lake. So, I think the distance from the new Middle fork bridge to Pratt lake is close to Ten miles. It was around Seven miles if you simply wadded across the Middle Fork river and started at the point where the trail hit the river. What ever the distance is from Pratt to the Talapus or Granite Mountain trail heads are you can figure out.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



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puzzlr
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PostTue Apr 16, 2019 11:14 pm 
A few of us did a key exchange hike going both ways on that route. With a GPS it's not hard to do the very short off trail connection between the Pratt RR grade and the old unmaintained trail up to Pratt Lake. This time of year crossing the Pratt might be a problem. Once you're on either trail they're no problem to follow. I included a hike up Pratt Mountain on my way with GPS mileage of 19.1 miles. The Pratt Mountain side trip was 2.5 miles, so the straight traverse would be about 16.6. But that's with a ford of the Middle Fork at the Pratt River bar. Add the 2.5 miles back in to start at the Middle Fork trailhead, so 19 miles it is.

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Randito
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Randito
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PostFri Apr 19, 2019 10:44 am 
I think an interesting variation of this idea would be a loop ish hike from the Middle Fork trailhead up the Pratt valley to Pratt lake, then to Island Lake, Mt Defiance, down to Thompson Lake and the out the Granite Creek trail to the Middle Fork Road. A bike shuttle would take about a half hour between the two trailheads.

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Navy salad
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Navy salad
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PostSun Apr 28, 2019 11:50 am 
puzzlr wrote:
Second the CalTopo map. If you use the MapBuilder Topo layer it has mileage labels on trail sections.
I didn't know about the Mapbuilder layer showing mileage. Thanks for the great tip!

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