[at-l] guide books and maps - must have???

[icw39@ncfreedom.net (Clark Wright)]

Excellent points; I always craved the tidbits contained in the ATC Trail
guidebooks on general history/culture/etc. - and I REALLY believe that
this is an area the ATC could get into much, much more deeply.  The
results could be the beginnings of a unique, historical record spanning
centuries, and geographically spanning all the way from ME to GA (or
vice-versa!) and focusing on a swath of mankind's knowledge defined by
the winding routes of the Trail.  

Here is an interesting, contemporary example:  This past summer I hiked
for a bit with a fellow who was a member of the British Airbone - Ian
Hamilton was his name.  Ian was hiking (and filming) the AT in part
based on a BBC grant to document the Trail from the perspective of,
among other things, British troop movements during the 1700's and
1800's.  What an interesting perspective that NEVER would have occurred
to me otherwise.  How many other interesting perspectives are there out
there?  The Cherokee Trail of Tears?  Frontiersman trails?  The obvious
military history?  Game trails?  Isolated pockets of early settlers? 
The geologic path of the Appalachians?  There is SO much history, local
culture, geology, flora and fauna that we need to better collect,
organize, RECORD, and then make available to hikers and others in
readable formats!  The Trail could become even more of a wonderful, 2168
mile long thread that ties so many things together . . . let's get the
ATC to think BIG - beyond its more narrowly defined present missions,
and find some ways to act LOCALLY to locate, document, preserve and
publish all this wonderful history.  I bet a number of universities
would be willing to coordinate and communicate on various projects, but
there needs to be a loose, overarching organizational aspect [ATC?} as
well - could be a neat thing!

thru-thinker

DataBook97@aol.com wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 1/17/02 4:01:35 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> papa_bear_nyc@yahoo.com writes:
> 
> > The current Guide has no such detailed trail descriptions but it has vastly
> > more information on general information, geography, glaciation, road
> > access,
> > supply points, history, points of interest, etc.
> 
>        As a member of the Publications Committee of ATC, I can say that there
> seems to be a general consensus among the committee that this is the
> direction that our guidebooks should be moving in.  The comment has been made
> that, given the generally excellent blazing of the Trail today, there is
> really no need to have a very detailed description that reads something like:
> 
>        0.1  Turn right.  Then, in another 100 feet, turn left and pass large
> rock to right of Trail.  Trail ascends briefly, then descends gradually.
> 
> The feeling is that hikers don't need that level of detail, since (1) the
> blazes make it clear where you are going, and (2) comments that the trail
> ascends, then descends, are pretty much useless, since you generally can't
> pinpoint exactly where you are anyway.   (I might add that this is confirmed
> by the many comments on this list advising thru-hikers not to carry the added
> weight of guidebooks, since you don't really need them anyway.)  Instead, it
> is felt that what potential purchasers of guidebooks really want is
> information on the general nature of the hike, and background information
> about the things that they will be seeing along the Trail.  We are trying to
> rewrite the guidebooks with this in mind.
> 
>        As to the north-south orientation of the guidebooks, I guess you could
> call that a "political" question.  All I can say is that the AT is supposed
> to run "from Maine to Georgia" -- right?  Actually, though, since it seems
> that relatively few thru-hikers use the guidebooks anyway, it should not
> really matter to them which way the quidebooks are written.  It seems that
> most guidebooks are purchased by "casual" hikers, who have no intention of
> hiking the entire Trail -- or even an entire section of the Trail, as
> represented by the guidebook -- but just want to try out a few selection
> portions.
> 
>        Some of your other suggestions sound good, and we will take them into
> consideration when publishing new editions of the guidebooks.
> 
>                    Daniel Chazin
> 
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