Hello and  welcome. I  hope all  is well  with you.  Ups and
       downs here - I suppose it's the natural course of life.
       
       Tomasino mentioned that a part of emergency preparedness are
       maps  [1]. This  was followed  by slugmax's  [2] point  that
       paper maps  are underappreciated.  I concur with  both these
       points. Paper  is a  fantastic medium  that is  reliable and
       doesn't require electricity  to use. This is  great in times
       when electricity is a scarce resource.
       
       That being  said, electronic  maps can  be useful  too. Much
       like an  ebook reader  vs. paperbacks,  digital maps  can be
       stored far  more compactly  than detailed  paper maps  for a
       large  area or  areas. For  example, my  current and  former
       personal  devices  (phones/tablets)  have APRSdroid  [3]  on
       them, particularly  the offline OSM version.  KS9N created a
       map  of the  USA  [4]  that is  loaded  onto  each of  these
       devices.  This provides  me a  general lay  of the  land and
       paper maps obtained from the  local ranger station renders a
       detailed view.  Now that  I know  about the  availability of
       USGS maps, I will add those too.
       
       It's also important to stress familiarity with the area too.
       The best map is the one  that can't be separated from you or
       destroyed.
       
       On another note,  it's cyclocross season! I went  to a local
       cyclocross race with  a friend and we had a  great time. The
       community is friendly and inviting, so I can't wait to start
       racing this  weekend. There was  also a rodeocross  event on
       Wednesdays  that  looks fantastic  too.  They  light up  the
       course at night  using generators and string  lights for the
       remote, dark  areas and  the course  looks really  fun! I've
       convinced a  friend to race with  me and we'll bring  up the
       rear and have a good time. As kvothe noted [5], just get out
       there and have fun!
       
       Tags: #maps #aprs #osm #bicycling #cyclocross
       
 (TXT) [0] Text-only version
 (DIR) [1] gopher://gopher.black/1/phlog/20181007-maps
 (DIR) [2] gopher://circumlunar.space/1/~slugmax/cgi-bin/slerm?maps-and-bugout.post
 (HTM) [3] https://aprsdroid.org/
 (HTM) [4] https://aprsdroid.org/osm/
 (DIR) [5] gopher://circumlunar.space/1/~kvothe/phlog/2018-10-03-mediocrity