[pct-l] Bring Guidebooks or Maps?

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

On Feb 16, 2011, at 7:44 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> I always used to bring King Lear, another "poem" I can read over  
> and over,
> and never get bored with.  But it was too heavy for my attempt at   
> UL.  I
> loved reading it all hunkered down in my tent on a stormy night.  Now
> there's someone who understood the beat in our language.

I do not relate to this much. I'm sorry. I was surrounded by beauty  
and poetry all day long. When I hunkered down in my tent, I wanted a  
trashy novel. That's what I brought with me. I traded my novel up the  
trail. I was surprised the places I was able to get a new one, such  
as at a couple of post offices. I only had to buy two. All the rest I  
traded. I would often choose them by weight, upping my odds of  
getting something extra bad. I read some good ones, some trashy ones,  
and a few really awful ones (I really dislike the whole vampire  
genre.) I don't usually read novels, but it was fun to do while  
hiking the PCT by myself.