[Cyclopath]

Anybody know if these are still available anywhere? I found plenty of info about them and lots of pictures of the maps online, but nowhere to buy any. I donated some furniture recently and didn't realize my North Cascades maps were in it. I've got other maps, but these are fun to look at and reminisce.

[RodF]

Metsker Maps https://www.metskers.com/239613/products/North-Central-Cascades-by-Pargeter.html

[Cyclopath]

Thanks! 🙂 I had it in my head somehow that these went out of print and there might be a few left in a warehouse somewhere. This is much better.

[Gwen]

Out of stock - no longer available. Pargeter family stopped producing them, so Metsker's can no longer get them. Sad. Sorry you missed out when I gave mine away.

[Dharmabum]

There is a North Cascade Pargeter on Ebay for a fair price: https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-PICTORIAL-RELIEF-MAP-NORTH-CENTRAL-CASCADES-BY-MARTIN-PARGETER-1964/124113355464?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

[InFlight]

Update to a old thread. I discovered that I have an R.A. Parageter map of the Olympics, 1988. Not sure home many different maps area were produced.

[Gwen]

[bk]

As Gwen said, they're no longer readily available. The recent history is:

• 2015, Pargeter's grandson, Lucas, and sister, Diane, had them reprinted for a short time in 2015. (Lucas cited his grandpa as being well, in Black Diamond, in 2015.)
• pargetermaps.com is now belly up (so Lucas' pargetermaps email probably does not work....? unless there's forwarding....?)
• The 2015 indiegogo listing is closed. The site still exists: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pargeter-maps--2
• Wayback shows a 2004 site preview: https://web.archive.org/web/20040612172328/http://pargetermaps.com/ with a photo of the artist (posted below).
• decent historical thumbnails are at http://www.panorama-map.com/pargeter/pargeter.html (and posted below)
• He (the artist) seems to have passed away in January, 2017 in Black Diamond with no obvious obit. other than a Seattle P.I. listing: https://www.seattlepi.com/local/obits/article/King-County-deaths-01-26-2017-10889021.php

North Cascades West

North Central Cascades

North Cascades East

Olympic Mountains

Olympic Peaks

Northwest Passage

Puget Sound

San Juan Islands

Gold (not oblique; flat...this map is the odd-one out)

WayBack screenshot showing his photo.

- - - - - - - - - The B.C.-based panorama-map.com site noted above has a nice (undated) biography, copied below. The rest of this post, below, is a copy of their bio, with some line breaks added. Richard Arnold Pargeter didn't formally study the precise art form of panoramic illustration. He somewhat fell into it and developed his own style. There were no classes for the craft in his Bremerton, Washington locale, or anywhere else known to him. Certainly not at the town's Olympic College where he was employed as assistant to the art department's director. But he knew how to draw and illustrate with good clarity. He was a distance runner in college: and hiked and climbed with friends in Washington's beautiful Olympic Mountains. It was at Olympic College that he met George W. Martin, college registrar and leader of the mountaineering and rescue and survival classes. Martin wanted a map for use in the mountain classes and asked Pargeter, a climber and artist, if he could produce such a map. Not knowing the first thing about map making, Pargeter said "Sure, I'll do it." As we all know, ignorance is bliss. But we all know that there have always been vast, but successful projects started with half-vast ideas. In six months the map(?) was done(for), as Pargeter was drafted into the U.S. army. Martin handled the printing coordination and marketing. Ugly as this map(?) was, it was an immediate best seller locally and proved to be the basis for Pargeter's life's work. Later, he went back and remade the map based an greater learning curve. Tens of thousands of these maps have been sold over the years. All Pargeter's maps are true oblique projections. No planimetrics. All, but the pre-color-separated Olympic map have been full-color halftone shaded relief illustrations rendered in acrylics and a very fine brush. The renderings are based on U.S.G.S. topo quads with mountain "facial features" derived from aerial oblique angle photos taken by Pargeter. His other obliques are:

• The North Central Cascades;
• North Cascades West;
• North Cascades East;
• San Juan Islands;
• Puget Sound Country and
• Washington's Northwest Passages.

Pargeter's maps are quite a bit more than attractive wall decorations. They are recognized backcountry travel aides showing roads that lead to trail heads, trail routes, mileages, elevations, lakes, peaks, et cetera. If "a picture is really worth a thousand words," then one should ponder the additional value of a picture with a thousand words imprinted upon it. The combination is a tremendous improvement. Isn't it? Richard A. Pargeter Illustrator and Publisher Specializing in unique and attractive pictorial relief maps, panoramas and cards.

[Gwen]

I had forgotten about the Northwest Passage, Puget Sound and San Juans. They weren't as popular as the mountain maps. When Richard died, as mentioned, the grandkids took over with a reprint. But Diane never really wanted to be in the map business, and Lucas seemed to struggle to keep it together. One day he'd be promising anther reprint and order fulfillment, then it would be months before any contact could be made. Eventually we (Metskers) just gave up and considered the Parageter maps out of print. So sad, they really were lovely maps, and useful to boot! Thanks for posting that bio!

[Sallie4jo]

I cherish the central cascades map...was great to pull together many a backpacking trip. Still have my torn and tattered map. I still love maps.