[pct-l] Which book?

[elee at microsoft.com (Eric Lee (GAMES))]

Gren wrote:
>
1) For the most part, it is obvious where the trail
goes.

2) AsABat provided a printed water report for southern
Cal at last years ADZPCTKOP gathering.

3) The best re-supply list is off of the PCTA web site
because it will allow you to print out shipping labels

http://www.pcta.org/planning/before_trip/labels.asp 

4) Almost all hikers have way too much trail
information and are glad to share it.
>

I guess it depends on exactly how high Maurice's "adventure tolerance"
is.  Maurice, I can't tell you what you need for your desired hiking
style, but I can tell you that I wouldn't go without the PCTA guidebooks
myself.

Yeah, the trail is obvious in most places, but it's not as well-marked
as the AT and in those places where it's not obvious, if you don't have
a guidebook to give you expected landmarks you could walk *quite* a ways
in the wrong direction before you figured out that you weren't on the
PCT any more.

Detailed water reports exist for Southern California, but water can be
an issue anywhere along the trail and knowing in advance where to look
for signs of a spring, etc. can be a huge help.  It's no fun to
accidentally wander into a 20-mile waterless stretch without preparing
for it, and those stretches exist in places other than southern Cal.

Resupply points are generally not as close together or obvious as they
are on the AT and often require some knowledge of what roads lead where.
The guidebooks are invaluable here as well.

This is just a personal peeve of mine, but I dislike the idea of
thinking, "Well, other hikers will have the info I need; I'll just get
it from them."  To me, a thru-hike is about self-reliance (among other
things) and mooching off other people can get annoying (for both the
moocher and the moochee).  That's just my personal opinion.

So, all of that to say that if it were *my* hike, I'd at least carry the
PCTA guidebook sections with me.  I wouldn't have to read them unless I
wanted to, but if I got stuck at least I'd have a way to help myself.

Eric