[pct-l] Data Book Discrepancies

[Walljito ... as in mojito]

My on-trail experience with the guidebooks, maps, apps, etc, only goes back
to April 2013, so I have no idea what the quality of any of it was years
ago. And my smartphone is VERY recent vintage and top-of-the-line, so the
GPS is probably "different" as well.

For the current Yogi materials, Halfmile's maps, and Halfmile's app on
high-quality equipment, I can report that in every single instance for the
month+ I was on-trail this spring, where a water source or a campsite or a
trail junction or everything else was supposed to be, I found it exactly ...
exactly ... were the materials said it would be.

And where I was not sure I had taken the PCT side of a fork in the trail, or
was otherwise confused about being on the PCT, Halfmile's app would not only
tell me how far off-trail I was, if I took the next step to have it "point"
to where the tail was, it would do that ... correctly ... every time I
tested it ... and within 100 ft. or so of being off-trail.

For the sections I hiked, the current/2014 elevation gains/losses info in
the Halfmile app is -NOT- accurate, it seemed to me, except for a
general/gross indication of the nature of the trail ahead. I talked with
Halfmile about this issue at Cajon Pass. He's working on it.

I never noticed any conflicts in these materials over place names ... may be
some, but not that I noticed.

In terms of staying "found" and anticipating water, food and other trail
issues just ahead, I don't know how the info could be better than that
provided by Yogi and Halfmile.

-Walljito

==========================
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:21:24 -0700 From: Tortoise
<tortoise73 at charter.net>

It has been a couple of years since I did much with any of the guides. I
used Wilderness Press guides as well as half-mile's and Postholer's  info. I
found water where none of the guides indicated there was water. Same for
campsites and couldn't find sites where a guide(s) said there was, even with
a GPS.

I thought Postholer's elevation changes were more realistic and I used those
in planning. My gripe is that they use different landmarks or at least
different names making it difficult to correlate the data.

My $.02.


 info.

Tortoise