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Guide Books

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    • Guide Books

      Which guide do you use to plan your next hike?
      In the mail today I received "WhiteBlaze Pages 2021". I figured it was a good time to order a new guide. I've been using one that is ten years old, or so. I figured with Covid there must have been a few changes and closures.
      I liked the way Appalacian Pages was laid out, and the WB2021 looks to be about the same.
      I had the first edition and liked and disliked the profile. The water sources and shelters weren't lined up right. The WB guide seems to do really good at putting them in the right places on the profile.
      The Data book is another great resource for water and road crossings.
      My book shelf is getting fuller. Does that mean I'm getting smarter? ?(
    • Back in the day I used the Philosophers Guide and the AT Data Book.(Back then we didn't have a choice; the PG was the only guidebook available. I had a Data Book from the start when I did my thru, but didn't get a Philosophers Guide until Damascus.) When Daryl Maret decided he was done with writing guidebooks, Wingfoot took it over and called it the The Thru-Hikers Handbook. He was the first to incorporate the AT Data Book mileage info into a guidebook which was a significant upgrade. Of course the Wingfoot haters bitched about that for awhile.

      Currently...

      I use The Companion because the proceeds flow back to the ATC and the ALDHA. (Actual book not a digital version on my phone.)

      I don't use AWOL becasue the proceeds flow to a individuals bank account.

      I would never use WhiteBlaze Pages for obvious reasons.
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 1 time, last by max.patch ().

    • I purchased the official guidebooks from the ATC and used to pick up a new ATC data book every other year.

      For each section hike, I create a mileage and landmark summary in Excel, noting anything interesting I've picked up from other hiker's trail journals or on-line sources. Color code things like shelters, campsites, water sources and road crossings. Fold it up and keep it in a Zip-Lok in my pocket. The map(s) for the section are in my pack.

      Example.pdf

      I have the Guthook app on my phone and purchased the maps for the sections that I have yet to hike. Informative, but there's no way I'm going to hike with my phone in my pocket or worry about battery charge.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • Been buying AWOL for the past 10 years. Lately bound for planning and leave with my wife, take loose bound pages with me, and have his pdf as backup on my phone. Bought NH & ME Guthooks. Also carry ATC maps for VT, NH & ME. Did same for GA & NC. No maps in between (never needed, only bought GA & NC because I was a newbie and didn't realize not needed for first 12 states).

      Used the Companion when I started in Thanksgiving 2010. Tried another 5 years or so ago (at least for planning). Personally found it severely lacking in functionality compared to AWOL.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • When I have done section hikes, I just copy a table of data from one of the on-line sources, such as this one:

      summitpost.org/appalachian-trail-mileage-chart/593282

      Then I paste that into a spreadsheet and edit to make my own Data book for the section I am hiking. Of course as a section hiker, I don't really need the resupply info, but the water sources, road crossings, etc. are nice to have. I also use something like Caltopo or Open Cycle Maps to make my own custom maps.

      All free to support my favorite non-profit "dis-organization" (me).
    • LIhikers wrote:

      Does anybody here use the Guthook app as their guide? I'm torn about using it because when we're out hiking I just want to put the phone away and leave it out of sight and mind. I'm considering trying the app this summer when we hike NY and NJ as a section NH before going to Maine.
      I had the app on my lat section hike in SNP. But in the NP, I really didn't find it necessary. I occasionally would look up my location, but it just confirmed what I already knew with my map. I agree I don't really want to be bothered with my phone.
    • I'll offer the PCT perspective...

      Almost every hiker on the PCT is using GutHook; I do not. This most definitely causes me not to have the most up-to-date information. Other hikers seem to know about new water caches, what restaurants are just off a road crossing, and so on. I do get jealous sometimes when they show up at a trailhead with pizza and beer and say 'that's tough, the place just closed.'

      But so many of them also seem to be hiking the exact same hike as a result of the app. I have seen hikers just staring at their phones as they hike. They never seem to get lost, but they never have any surprises either.

      What I use are the 'HalfMile' Maps. Halfmile no longer updates his maps. They are copies from a few years ago archived on the internet that I print out in color for whatever section I am doing next. As time goes on these maps will become more out-of-date, but for now I can deal with a few changes.

      The 'official' PCT trail maps are now produced by National Geographic. I do not like them as much, the are at a larger scale. The maps allow me to know things that Guthook does not show, like the names of the surrounding geography and other points of interest. And escape routes if needed.

      I also have an old copy of 'Yogies' guide that I use for town information. I probably should buy a new one, but mostly what I want is just a general map of the town and an idea of the amenities.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Mountain-Mike wrote:

      Still addicted to printed maps. Most hikers I deal with at the Hostel use guthook. Most of the ones I take out are reviewing the elevation profiles during the drive. A few still use a paper guide & even seen a few older people using paper maps. I do notice a high percentage of garmin minis hanging off peoples packs
      I like Guthook, but still always have a guidebook and usually maps. When I did Ouachita Trail is was just the Tim Ernst guidebook. Now with Ozark Highland Trail I have Guthook, guidebook, and maps. Most of AT just AWOL, but now in NH & ME all three. Same with Colorado Trail except "Data Book" instead of the colorful guidebook which I leave on nightstand for my wife. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • LIhikers wrote:

      Kathy and I still use paper maps and guide books. While I'm out hiking I like to leave my phone put away.
      Me too! If my phone wasn't also my camera it'd be buried in the pack.

      I believe in Murphys law -- so I believe that when you need to access your phone the most that's when it will probably fail for whatever reason.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      Kathy and I still use paper maps and guide books. While I'm out hiking I like to leave my phone put away.
      Me too! If my phone wasn't also my camera it'd be buried in the pack.
      I believe in Murphys law -- so I believe that when you need to access your phone the most that's when it will probably fail for whatever reason.
      Sounds like a good plan - after all, how many reports show up on these types of hiking forums of rescues being needed due to some type of electronic that malfunctions?