AT guide by AWOL or Thru-hiker's Companion?
Any opinions on either guidebook? Would either of these be beneficial for section hikes? Thanks!
I find the ATC Thru hiker's companion has better info for handling the logistics of planning section hikes. AWOL's guide really is a streamlined book geared towards thru hiking.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Awols has all you need.
The companion has more interesting information
I prefer Awols format
A.W.O.L.'s book is the one
Either can be used for either purpose, but I agree with Sarcasm.Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf
Both are good. I prefer AWOL's. For my up coming section hike. I copied the pages I need front and back then laminated the sheets so I hang them on my waist belt. I prefer the format of AWOLS cause it's strait forward for what section you are on.
As a long time section hiker I concur with this statement. I have both because I wanted to try them out, and I find the Companion to be a little easier to use for planning section hikes. If I were going to be out there for a while I'd be using AWOLs (as do like 99% of the thrus from my observations).
AT: 2007-2019 (45 sections)
JMT: 2013
Both are good, you can have the other in digital format on the phone, you may want both in digital form as sometimes the phone is easier to use then the paper.
Why not both? I carry the loose leaf pages from Awol's A.T. Guide. I pay the extra $2 to ALDHA to get their digital version, extract the pages for my section, and put it on my smartphone.
I'd say 90% of thru-hikers have Awol's guide.
[I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35
[url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]
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Yeah, same here, I carried the physical AWOL (torn into sections, of course) and the digital AT guide on my phone. Perfect duo.
My $0.02? AWOL's Guide. Lighter in weight (2013 Awol vs 2015 Companion books that I own). More data points. Easier to determine shelter distances (up to 3 shelters to the north & south of current shelter location are included; Companion only shows 1 shelter distance). Both will work, though.
2013 AT Thru-hike: 3/21 to 8/19
Schedule: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...t1M/edit#gid=0
I have used both. I prefer AWOLs.
I just find it interesting that as a section hiker you are only considering those two options. Much of the information in both is mostly irrelevant to an on-trail section hiker unless you do LONG sections ... in which case you are more like a thru hiker. I have used, at one time or other, just about every option available. And while I'm currently mostly using AWOL ... I do not think it is my first choice ... it just keeps me "in sync" with some friends that are currently on the trail.
I find it an excellent guide for day hikes also (AT Guide) and will use it for my go to first resource for planning a day hike on the AT. Perhaps it is because I have used it as a thru and know it so well. But it does have parking, distance and elevation all at a glance, as well as lunch stops. Town info is good for after hike food and drink stops.
Starchild ... I was in no way disparaging either the AWOL or Companion. I have and use both of them. What I was suggesting is that for a section hiker (short sections, not long) there are a lot more resources that are practical than just those two options. More often than not I have copied the relevant sections out of the Official Guide Books (the 11 volume set). I always have a somewhat recent copy for the sections I'm working on. Other times I just use the AT Data Book since it often gives me all the information I need. I use ALL of the resources when I'm planning my trip, but as a section hiker I don't need anything very comprehensive on the trail with me so I go with minimal weight. As for town maps and resources ... I will use a online map before I ever leave home and printout the information I need related to getting to/from the trail, and any town information I might need. THAT material stays in the car.....
Anyway, I was NOT suggesting that they aren't great resources ... they are ... but as a SECTION Hiker, I just found it curious that no-one was even acknowledging that there are other resources available to the section hiker that might not be as practical to the thru hiker.....
When I did the AT 1996-2003, mostly as a LASHER before that term was even born, I bought what was then available: Wingfoot's guide, the Companion, the Data Book, and the Official Guide for the section I was doing (part of the 11-book set). I always carried the map(s) for the section, and I recommend always carrying real contour maps with elevation profiles.
I photocopied the relevant entries of each book, pasted the columns of text on letter-size paper, and photocopied my handiwork. As much as possible, I tried to guess where each day would begin and end so I could usually emerge with just one sheet of paper (printed two sides) for each day. As I refined the process, I even photocopied the elevation profiles from the maps (reduced to about a 50% zoom) and included those on the day's sheet.
Each resource has much of the same basic info. Each resource has info the others don't have. Combining all of the available info onto one sheet per day was both time consuming and efficient. Not sure I'd have had the patience to do it as a thru-hiker all at once, but over eight years as a section hiker it was enjoyable. Over those years, I met many hikers who saw my sheets and had that forehead-slapping "I could have had a V-8" reaction.
+1 This is what I will use for sections, and the publication directly supports the ATC.
I used AWOL's guidebook last year. Next time I might download a PDF version though as I was already carrying my phone. I'm sure the "others" have pdf as well? I did however miss an awesome waterfall a little off trail with AWOL's guide just after Springer, but it does tend to gear more towards thru hiking. My brother had maps and a different guide on a recent section and it showed the waterfall and a few other things we found interesting enough to check out. The guidebook did help me a lot though and was really easy to use and follow.
- Trail name: Thumper
This year, I had AWOLs guide, my partner had the Guthook APP on his smart phone. Next year, I'll have both cause there were times I had info he did not, & verse vice. AND, you can get PDF for a smart phone of AWOLs guide, so kill 2 birds with one stone. I think though that I'll carry the paper version of AWOLs guide just in case.
The nice thing about the Guthook app, we always knew where we were in relation to "stuff" on the AT. Want to know haw far to water, the app will (usually) tell you, It's getting dark, how far to the shelter? Gut hook will tell you. But as I said, there were a few occasions where info in AWOL* was not on Guthook.
* a few springs, some campsites & a few things in towns.
Curse you Perry the Platypus!
Just a tip. GUTHOOKS is user input, if you see it and it isn't listed on the gps in Guthooks add it yourself in the "Trail Info". GH updates their maps every year.
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