Navigating the trail in 2018

[LDog]

Paper maps and compass?
Awol book or electronic PDF?
To guthook or not to guthook?
Any other resources?

I carry a smart phone and a Casio Pathfinder watch that has a compass. The smart phone also has a compass. Neither are superbly accurate, but should be proficient on the AT.

Knowing what I have with me, what resources would you recommend to bring on trail? Is AWOLs guide worth carrying?

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I bought AWOL's guide in loosleaf. Kept the next 6 days worth in a pint size freezer baggie in my pocket. Kept notes on it. The rest of the pages were in a bounce box. I didn't burn the pages, I saved them all. Five sections over four years, using four versions, all recombined and bound. I refer to it frequently.

I also had ALDHA's guide in PDF, and JR Tate's "Walking With The Ghost Whisperers" in Kindle as a historical reference. Both highly reccomended, and they don't weigh nothin'.

I also carried Guthook, and like it for all the reasons mentioned. Plus, if you really need to get off the trail, you can zoom out and see the whole region.

Sometimes, sitting on a ridge with a view, I really wished I had carried a map and compass. Just to get a better sense of place.

I'm doing the LT e2e this fall. I'll be carrying their guidebook, guthook, map and compass.

L Dog

[Linesman]

I'm doing the LT e2e this fall. I'll be carrying their guidebook, guthook, map and compass.

L Dog

If you have an iPhone, check out my free app for the AT and the long trail.

http://bighike.net/t/lt

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/big-...176209283?mt=8

The next update will include every single LT side trail, which I don't think gut hooks has.

[Bubblehead]

Guthooks and loose leaf AWOL guide. I refer to Guthooks as I'm hiking, and usually the AWOL guide when I'm in camp or town. For AWOL, I take only pages I need, and put each page in my trash ziplock when done with it, emptying at next trash can...Even though I have a LIFEPROOF case on my i phone, there have been a few really rainy days when I cannot use my phone; good to have the AWOL guide as a backup. Also, I've gotten off the trail a few times, and the Guthooks will get you back to the trail.

[LazyLightning]

to me Guthooks just took away every little bit of adventure there is left to hiking the trail so I never considered...

would of been a few instances it's nice to see other peoples comments on how dry the water sources were, but I wouldn't consider it in the future either...

people were looking at their guthooks like "we only have 235 more feet elevation to climb and it's .2 from the shelter" …. this is the kind of stuff I mean by taking away any bit of adventure left, people looking at their guthooks every 5 minutes to see where they are. Of course there isn't to much adventure left to take away with the endless slackpacking and catering to hikers anyway anyone can make a buck off it.... but of course HYOH

[Dogwood]

to me Guthooks just took away every little bit of adventure there is left to hiking the trail so I never considered...

would of been a few instances it's nice to see other peoples comments on how dry the water sources were, but I wouldn't consider it in the future either...

people were looking at their guthooks like "we only have 235 more feet elevation to climb and it's .2 from the shelter" …. this is the kind of stuff I mean by taking away any bit of adventure left, people looking at their guthooks every 5 minutes to see where they are. Of course there isn't to much adventure left to take away with the endless slackpacking and catering to hikers anyway anyone can make a buck off it.... but of course HYOH

to me Guthooks just took away every little bit of adventure there is left to hiking the trail so I never considered...

would of been a few instances it's nice to see other peoples comments on how dry the water sources were, but I wouldn't consider it in the future either...

people were looking at their guthooks like "we only have 235 more feet elevation to climb and it's .2 from the shelter" …. this is the kind of stuff I mean by taking away any bit of adventure left, people looking at their guthooks every 5 minutes to see where they are. Of course there isn't to much adventure left to take away with the endless slackpacking and catering to hikers anyway anyone can make a buck off it.... but of course HYOH


Yup. Adventure is minimized to the pt of becoming virtually non existent. Data overload. Then again it's the AT with mega infrastructure.

[perrymk]

Yup. Adventure is minimized to the pt of becoming virtually non existent. Data overload. Then again it's the AT with mega infrastructure.

I watched Alone Across Alaska recently. Perhaps this off trail adventure would be more to your liking. Personally, I think I would enjoy both the AT and Alaska, but I'm flexible that way.