[OSM-newbies] Offline map viewing with topo info?

[Akkana Peck]

What's the best way to view OSM maps offline on a Linux machine,
with topographic contours and (ideally) shading?

OSM online is great and I've been contributing road and trail
info, but I want to be able to load data onto my Linux laptop
and view maps when I'm travelling.  I'd also like to be able to
turn it into a .IMG to put on my Garmin.  And since I'm a hiker
and biker, I really want topographic data (so I want something
more than the Cloudmade Garmin maps).

I've looked at
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/HikingBikingMaps
and http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Contours
and have started downloading required software and data, but
I'm not clear how the actual rendering would happen. Do I have to
set up an OSM server on my laptop and view a slippy map on a
browser pointed at localhost?

Are there any simpler applications for viewing map data offline?
I looked at gpsdrive but it didn't look like the answer.
Do any of the OSM editing programs (JOSM, merkaartor) work
in offline mode? If so, what sort of data would they need?
Is there something better?  I can do a little hacking if need be,
but at this point I'm not sure of a good place to start.

If it matters, I'm mostly interested in the southwestern US
(California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah) though being able to extend
it to other places would be nice too.

	...Akkana