Irritating! - Appalachian Trail

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#1

I have been hiking for a month now and it is really anoying and irritating, I use like all of us the Data book and it’s useless!!! mileage is wrong sometimes and more then that, many if not MOST of the names of places, gaps, balds, knobs etc are only in the data book, they are not out there, you really don’t know where you are at a certain point on the hike, you want to plan ahead but you can’t,. if it’s misty you might miss the campsite or gap because there is no sign at most places!!!
What’s the use of writing names of geographical locations if they don’t exist!!!
if you want to sleep at a campong you might not find it, if you want to plan hiking cose to darkness, watch out! you’ll not find the spot.
Really annoying.

zammy - french connection

#2

Time to go home kid.

wolf

#3

Here’s a solution. Next road crossing, take the blue blaze to the yellow trail, follow it to NY subway blue-blaze line. Hike it to the side trail “JFK,” then spread your sleeping bag out in Air France # 2810. Those irritating problems will be gone by morning. :lol :bawling :lol

Lost and Found

#4

Hate to break this to you my friend but it is hard to see anything in mist and fog; in a car, in a plane, on foot or whatever. This post is so pathetic it has to be a troll.

Jesus!

#5

Zam, I think you’re trying to hard. After I saw the pics of where you hike back east I’d be lost going from one brown rock to another…they all look the same to me. I’ll lone you Wingnuts book if you like. It’s a little more discriptive. Part of this whole hiking the AT or any other long trail is living with it and existing with it. If it were all signs it’d be to easy my friend. I thought the data book was a little weak but then we also had maps for reference. Shoot me an e-mail if you want the book.

Bushwhack

#6

Dudes, I thru-hiked in '01 and used nothing but the data book, and I am the first to admit its shortcomings. However, last year did ME-VA with nuthin but Wingnut to guide me, and trust me, I’ll take the data book anyday. Wingnut’s guidebook is ultra-weak, both in “facts” and content.

zen master poncho

#7

the AT is one of the best marked trails on Earth. If you can’t find your way around on the AT, you’d have a hell of a time on any other long trail. I’ll add this to Bushwhack’s comments - that part of hiking “any” long trail is learning from it. So learn something - and stop expecting everything to be handed to you. If you want to know where you are, maybe you should learn to use a map?

Can’t you just see it - Lewis and Clark headed out across the US, wondering where all the signs were to tell them where they were? :lol

Jim

#8

Zen, Zammy’s problem is he’s from another country and is trying to “adjust” to how we write, or don’t write, trail guides. We hooked him up with a sponsor of sorts when he got here a while ago but I haven’t talked to him in a month to see how its going. Sounds like he needs some encoragement. Yeah, Wingding is…Wingding, but I thought his '01 book was cake, a few errors, but we mostly used the maps from the ATC since I like to wander and the book for shelter and town info. Must be that apples and oranges thing.

Bushwhack

#9

I didnt have all of thoses problems. Try reading the book right side up!

Virginian

#10

One of the best lessons the trail has to teach is to let expectations go. I understand that the data book can be hard to understand. It took me a while to get the hang of it. I would take Bushwack up on his offer or get the ALDHA companion. The written paragraphs explain the landmarks and their locations in a much easier way to digest.

I think you’ll find that once you let go of worries, you’ll feel a lot better about your hike, and that will greatly improve your chances of making it the whole way. Remember that there’s nothing wrong with asking help interpreting the book from other people out there.

Good luck, we’re all wishing the best for you!

Tha Wookie

#11

Thanks TW. Zams’ e-mailless and solo so I don’t know if he’ll even see any of this.

BW

#12

I used the data book (often by itself) while hiking the trail. Every now and then I had pieces from Wingfoot’s book or a map of the section, but when I didn’t I relied on the data book alone. You just have to know about how fast you hike. I kept track of the time so I’d know about how far I’d hiked. This system and the book gave me a rough idea of when to expect shelters, water sources, etc. Also, I would use the book to jot down where I stayed each night and other little details. I thought it was fine, for the weight - certainly better than nothing! :slight_smile:

Jukebox

#13

That’s how I sometimes keep track of where I am. Works rather accurately, too except in the Whites and Western Main where you don’t take steps, you climb on all fours. :slight_smile:

YMMV, literally.

“Skyline”

#14

That’s how I sometimes keep track of where I am. Works rather accurately, too except in the Whites and Western Maine where you don’t take steps, you climb on all fours. :slight_smile:

YMMV, literally.

“Skyline”

#15

Can’t we, Can’t we all just get along

jsut plain mel

#16

We cannot get along, Rodney. TAKE THAT!:mad

earatating

#17

In addition to some of the suggestions above, I’d carry Trail maps as well as the Data Book or Handbook. Most significant locations, landmarks, etc. are listed on the maps; if you carry the maps and know how to use them, you’ll always have a good idea where you are.

Likewise, Zammy, if you’re afraid of missing campsites or shelters after dusk, there’s a simple remedy: Either don’t hike that late into the evening, or stop earlier: If you insist on hiking after dark, it’s inevitable that you’ll miss some places, regardless of how attentive you are.

BaltimoreJack

#18

man, just walk. and chill the heck out. i see folks every morning looking at those maps and books and worried about this and worst of all expecting a section to be flat. and at the end of the day all they do is whine like you. the best way to know where you are is to time yourself. you get pretty accurate, you know when your doing 2 miles an hour, 2.5, 3. but really, just toss a liter in the pack and freekin walk. there will be climbs, descents, and more water. if you got out of your head trip, you might realize that its a pretty stunning walk you are doing and a pretty special trip you are on.

for dusk hiking, the idea is to cook at a water source between 5 and 7, and then hike on to a campsite without water. like spot says there is one of these every mile on the trail. not pounded down dirt tentsites but far better a leafy needly flat soft bed nestled in trees. they dont have names, so you could name them “irritation knob” “road rage flats” “hot air hollow” and “whining wind gap.”

seriously chill or get back on the boston roads where you must come from. or maybe you could just get a backpackers horn.

milo

#19

You guys think you know it all, have seen all sort of hikers, you just didn’t happen to meet the lost hikers, trying to locate a gap with water or camping site. Not all hikers, cam manage SO well like you, think about others instaed of sending them home. This is not the army special forces here on the trail. just simple people trying to enjoy the trail.
I don’t need your “lovely” comments. I can manage quite well but there are other walking with us too.Think “big” not “small” and egocentered.
I paid for the Data book and I expect it to deliver the goods, if the info is useless don’t print it or sell it.

zammy french connection

#20

If you want detailed trail information, buy the guidebooks. That’s what they are there for. They’ll tell you everything you need to know. The data book is not intended to be a detailed guidebook, just a quick glimpse of the trail to assist in planning distances between resupplies, road crossings and water sources. ATC sells the guidebooks.

Ginny