If you really want to have fun, you should use the 1930s era 15 minute quadrangles that were the only USGS maps available in the mid 50s when I first started using topo maps. They were drawn by teams traveling by pack trains, using a plane table and alidade. Sometimes they goofed on terrain contours, but the trails were absolutely spot on. By contrast, when the new generation of 7 1/2 minute quads came out a few years later, the topography was right on, but trails were erratic, sometimes quite fanciful.
Actually I have used a few of those old maps. When I was a lad growing up in the Pacific Northwest, and starting to climb in the Cascades, those were the only maps available for some of the peaks. But since I am but a mere youngster (at least when compared to geezers like you
) it was in the mid '60s for me.
I think the reason trails were spot on on those old maps is because the only way those old guys could map was to hike up the trails to the ridgetops, carrying the plane table and alidade on their backs. They probably stopped at every few switchbacks, and plotted them in while catching their breath. But since there would always be some portions of the terrain hidden from any vantage point, they had to sometimes use a little "artistic license" with the contours.
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