[pct-l] Hiking without the guide book??

[Len Glassner]

On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 3:15 PM, Brett Cosner <brettcosner at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Anyone try hiking the PCT without the guide book?  I plan to hike this summer sobo and don't want to do many resupply boxes or mail drops.  I would start with some of the guide for Washington, but rely on maps and the data book after that.  I also plan to carry some pages of Yogi's guide.  I have people who will meet me in Washington, Northern and Central California so I will send them parts of the guide as well.
>
> How necessary are the official guides for all three states?
>
I used the official guides for some of the trail in '08, none of the
trail in '09. (I'll omit a discussion of the other trail info sources
I used, as you didn't ask about other sources.)  It was a great relief
this year not to have to hunt through the guide commentary to find the
map appropriate to my location.  The commentary was sometimes an
interesting read, but a constant impediment to just figuring out where
I was.

I carried Yogi's pages both times.  I highly valued the discussions of
water sources - they tell you how likely you are to find water, the
quality of the water, sometimes how to find the water. I used that
information in conjunction with the data book to decide where to get
water.  (Of course, for the fist 700 miles - last 700 in your case -
the only water source description that matters is Asabat's water
report.)