Hello all. I am planning on starting a north bound PCT hike after I retire in April 09. I am asking for Yogi’s book for my birthday, are there any other books that are recommended? Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
s
Sean
PCT Apr 09 - Pacific Crest Trail
system
#1
system
#3
Forgot to include the address for aforementioned DVD’s.
Major Congrats on your retirement and Happy Happy Trails to you.
Smack
system
#4
I agree Squatch has the best hiking dvd’s , mostly because he focus on the people not just the trail. I cant wait till # 4 is finished.
the hobo
system
#6
My name is also Sean and I will be hiking in 2009. I’m thinking of April 1st as a good starting date. I had originally planned to hike this year and was prepared but decided to delay it.
This is what I think you need for planning and hiking the trail:
-You need the official Guidebooks from Wilderness press. The Southern Cal and North Cal volumes are due for a new release in Dec 2008 while Oregon/Washington volume is due to have a new edition at the end of this year. If you don’t want to wait for the new editions, you can buy the current ones and download the pdf updates which should be accurate enough for your hike.
- You need the PCT Data Book as well.
- Yogi’s book is usefull though not required to do a successful hike; but I’d recommend buying it.
If you want to know what hiking the trail is like:
DVD Documentaries (I recommend all of these):
-Walking the West (http://www.walkingthewest.com/) is a 1997 thru-hike and the best one told of a single thru hike from end to end.
-Resouled on the PCT ((http://www.resouled.com/) is a 2002 thru hike from end to end (not as good as Walking the West but I still liked it).
-Squatch’s Walk, Still Walking, Even More Walking trilogy is a very entertaining watch. He interviews various hikers along the trail and gets their best/funniest hiking stories.
Extra Books/Novels:
- The Pacfic Crest Trail: Hiker’s Companion - published in 2000 and a bit out of date. It does have extra information on what you will see in each section such as plants and animals. This is definitely not need for a hike, but if you have extra money, it might be interesting to read.
- Dances With Marmots by George Spearing is a self published novel of his 1990 journey. It is a funny read. George had never heard of lightweight backpacking and it shows with his 60lb+ pack weight.
There are other novels about people’s thru hikes but I haven’t read them yet.
Miner
system
#7
I have been hiking with the Guidebook, Yogi’s pages and water reports for the first 700 miles. The data book would be nice but I saved myself the money and decided to read a little deeper into my guidebook for reference points, water data, grade, ect. The Yogi’s pages were a great help through SOCAL but they fizzled out after Kennedy Meadows (Mile 700?). It would be helpful if there were elevation data for water and passes in the Sierras. The handbook just assumes you can find water and do all your logistics yourself because the water is so “easy” to come across when in actuality there have been quite a few 5-10 mile stretches between water in the sierrras (maybe just because of the extreme low snow this year). I thought that Squatches movies were great! I saw them at the Saufleys Hiker Haven and they got me pumped to get into the Sierras/Oregon/Washington. Plus Squatch seemed like a great guy when I met him at VVR. If I were to hike again next year, I would buy just the Guide books $60+ for (3 books) and get your self a water report and keep updating it, free. I think personally that the data book and the yogi’s pages are to make you feel comforted and to help out with planning. Everybody has different resupply stategies and my strategy is to buy when and where I can as I go and send a few boxes ahead when I reach big towns in N. CA, OR and WA. There have been quite a few people that send maildrops and have to wait in that town until the P.O. opens the next business day and they have to watch their friends head north. This could had been prevented if you had Yogi’s pages, Data book, and guides. Me, I will continue to go frugally north and spend my money on beer and ice cream instead of books. (something I learned in college is that “books are expensive and kill trees” and you problaby won’t get your money’s worth.):boy
Ohioan