I’m planning to make the AT next spring and am starting to plan to big trip.
My question is: what are the books that you’ve found NECESSARY in your trips on the trail.
Also, here’s another question: do any of you ever read the book(s) (soap or something)that you carry in your backpack?? =)
Sord
Before I left, I found Larry Luxemburg’s “Walking the Appalachina Trail” to be the most realistic documentary of the trail.
While hiking, I carried ATC’s Data Book and Wingfoot’s Handbook. Data Book gives you mileages, road crossing info, where to find water info. The handbook is more of travel guide giving you maps and services of towns. I ripped out pages of the handbook for each section rather than carrying the whole thing. i wouldn’t say they are necessary, just helpful.
I didn’t read other books on the trail through other people do. I was always too tired at camp to do anything more than eat and sleep.
Grimace
I think we all found that not every book had everything. Learning to read a map for possible water was first. Read as many journals as possible and make notes in your book about what we saw. Ours, Bramble and Bushwhack, Yogi’s, lets see?..Hammock Hanger’s are some good choices to get the tid bits on trail function. I think we told a lot of what we saw. For that matter read them all. :>) And for the love of a burger don’t use Montabello for a mail drop. Unless you like walking down and up a mountain. Nice store though. Best advice is to send mail drops or what ever to the closest place to the trail to save head aches.
No time to read; walk, eat, sleep, town stop. Repeat.
Bushwhack
While not very technical, a very good AT book is "Walking Home: A Woman’s Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail"
by Kelly Winters. Very, very well written.
wombat
You really need 2 sets of books. First, if you are going to do some serious planning, then before hand, read at least one memoir. Larry Luxemburg’s is a good one, but there are several, (and I have several). Also, read Trail Journals. Your other planning books include the AT Data Book, Companion or Wingfoot’s Handbook, and Chris Whalen’s Workbook for planning thru-hikes.
While on the trail, I carried maps and pages from Wingfoot. The only place I saw guidebooks was discarded in hiker boxes along the way. I didn’t carry the data book because Wingfoot has the mileages in his publication.
I used maildrops to get new maps and additional pages from Wingfoot, and to send back old maps.
One word of note on Wingfoot and the Companion. Unless you want to see the same mistakes published again next year, take the time to send corrections to Wingfoot or to ALDHA.
Peaks