WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 34
  1. #1
    Registered User gdwelker's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-16-2005
    Location
    maryland
    Age
    63
    Posts
    76

    Default AWOL guide to the AT for 2015 or other reference?

    What are people recommending for a 2015 guide/data book, and does anyone know when the AWOL 2015 version will come out and how to get it?
    GDW

  2. #2
    GA-ME 2011
    Join Date
    03-17-2007
    Location
    Baltimore, MD
    Age
    66
    Posts
    3,069
    Images
    9

    Default

    AWOL's AT Guide comes out in January. I'll be buying my 3rd copy, I buy a new one every 2 or 3 years.
    More info here: http://www.theatguide.com
    "Chainsaw" GA-ME 2011

  3. #3

    Default

    I have always used the AT Compannion on both my NOBO's and the Data Book on my 96 flip-flop the AT Compannion has never failed me, I order a Compannion every year, i got a collection of them.
    I would suggest any body that does any kind of Hiking on the AT to use the AT Compannion.

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-14-2013
    Location
    Manchester, CT
    Age
    40
    Posts
    145

    Default

    I think I'm going with the PDF version of AWOL's guide loaded onto my phone

  5. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-12-2009
    Location
    Spring Lake, MI
    Age
    58
    Posts
    1,470

    Default

    I have gotten both, and I prefer the AT Guide. It has more of the specific hiking location/map information that I like to see.

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-09-2010
    Location
    Northern Virginia
    Age
    38
    Posts
    448

    Default

    Another vote for the AT Guide by AWOL. There are tons of useful guides out there, but in my experience the AT Guide has been the go to on the trail for its ease of use/plentiful information. I haven't tried using the .pdf version, as I like to mark up the guide as I go.
    The one who follows the crowd, will usually get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone, is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.
    -Albert Einstein

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    11-20-2002
    Location
    Damascus, Virginia
    Age
    65
    Posts
    31,349

    Default

    Awol's guide is smaller and lighter than the Companion. and a better guide

  8. #8
    Registered User Old Hiker's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-10-2009
    Location
    Tampa, Florida
    Posts
    2,593
    Images
    5

    Default

    AWOL's guide + official ATC maps for me. Just seemed to really nail locations: springs, shelters, roads, etc. The maps helped to visualize bail points, if needed. I didn't/don't mind those few ounces.

    I'm getting 3 for 2016 - one for me, one for the wife and one for my dad to follow along. I cut mine into about 3-4 sections and my wife mails the sections and state maps as needed.
    Old Hiker
    AT Hike 2012 - 497 Miles of 2184
    AT Thru Hiker - 29 FEB - 03 OCT 2016 2189.1 miles
    Just because my teeth are showing, does NOT mean I'm smiling.
    Hányszor lennél inkább máshol?

  9. #9
    T-Rx T-Rx's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-18-2012
    Location
    Cocoa Beach, Fla.
    Posts
    576
    Images
    4

    Default

    Another +1 for the AWOL guide. IMO more info and a better format than the companion.

  10. #10
    Registered User Lyle's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-25-2006
    Location
    Croswell, MI
    Age
    70
    Posts
    3,934
    Images
    68

    Default

    AWOL gets my vote.

  11. #11
    Registered User jjozgrunt's Avatar
    Join Date
    06-22-2014
    Location
    Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
    Age
    65
    Posts
    489

    Default

    I have the 2014 Awol Guide which I used for the very limited planning I've made but for the walk. But since I don't have the luxury of having family handy to post things to me, I would have to either carry it or use a bounce box, so I'm using the AT App from Guthook on my Samsung phone.

    http://www.guthookhikes.com/apps .

    It's gotten pretty good reviews and the demo looks good.
    "He was a wise man who invented beer." Plato

  12. #12
    double d's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-10-2007
    Location
    Chicagoland, Illinois
    Age
    55
    Posts
    1,257

    Default

    AWOL is the standard for guides and a very good one. I always liked Wingfoot's as well, back in the day.
    "I told my Ma's and Pa's I was coming to them mountains and they acted as if they was gutshot. Ma, I sez's, them mountains is the marrow of the world and by God, I was right". Del Gue

  13. #13
    Registered User dudeijuststarted's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-15-2008
    Location
    Saint Petersburg, FL
    Age
    44
    Posts
    558
    Images
    33

    Default

    AWOL is an excellent guidebook, primarily in terms of services. There were a few spots along trail where I felt the ATC guide would have provided more solid data on specifying where I was at any given moment. For instance, there was a slice of PA where AWOL denotes "crosses forest service road several times." I swear I crossed that service road a dozen times over the course of an hour, eventually questioning whether I was in purgatory.

    AWOL combined with vigilance in not getting yourself turned around are an excellent combination to navigate a thru-hike

  14. #14
    Registered User MikeN's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-30-2013
    Location
    Chicago metropolis
    Posts
    25

    Default

    I'd like to go against the tide and, along with RED-DOG, recommend the ATC's Thru-Hiker Companion. I have recent copies of both AWOL's guide (2013) and the Thru-Hiker Companion (2014) and I have found the later to be FAR more informative. One major difference is that AWOL's guide uses icons to denote things along the trail, whereas the Thru-Hiker Companion uses [admittedly less-intuitive] letter abbreviations to do so, but in well-organized tables at the beginning of each trail section.

    Once you get used to the abbreviations, however, you find that there is an enormous amount of information compressed into the guide, including a lot of historical info and more info about the hostels and services than AWOL's guide has.

    Also, because the Thru-hiker Companion is still the only such guide written by [more that 3 dozen thru-hiker] volunteers each year, for which all the proceeds are returned to the Trail by the two nonprofits that produce the guide (The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association), you are supporting these non-profits by purchasing their guide. And, in case you haven't checked out the latest edition, the Thru-hiker Companion has much better elevation profiles than AWOL's guide.
    "In proportion as [man] ...simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness." – Thoreau

  15. #15
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-25-2014
    Location
    Portsmouth, New Hampshire
    Age
    45
    Posts
    50

    Default

    I've put both on my Kindle and will decide which I like more on the trail ... Also can't hurt to have a second opinion in tricky spots.

  16. #16

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by RED-DOG View Post
    I have always used the AT Compannion on both my NOBO's and the Data Book on my 96 flip-flop the AT Compannion has never failed me, I order a Compannion every year, i got a collection of them.
    I would suggest any body that does any kind of Hiking on the AT to use the AT Compannion.
    Thanks Red Dog.

    It seems many don't realize the Thru-Hikers' Companion now has elevation profiles (which were professionally drafted at great expense) which for the past few years, has been, the number one reason hikers have said the used the AT Guide.

    Other than that, the 2015 Companion will have completely restyled tables with more data points and added features (however, we won't list every seasonal water source that's bound to be dry when you arrive). It will also have new town maps, and more of them, for towns hikers are likely to resupply.

    True, it is a bit bigger and heavier than the AT Guide, however, it will also be constructed so each major section (south, Virginia, mid-Atlantic and New England) will be a book within itself, so carrying each will only be a matter of 50 pages. There's also a way each that each booklet stays intact and can be rebound. (more on that later)

    AT hikers should keep in mind that all proceeds of the Thru-Hikers' Companion goes to the ATC, and with government funding the way it is, they need all the cash they can get.

    Added: I see MikeN has covered many of the bases I just mentioned. Thank you!

    BTW, the ATC is accepting pre-orders for the 2015 Thru-Hikers' Companion of 20% off until they become available in mid-December.

    https://www.atctrailstore.org/catalo...d=791&compid=1

  17. #17

    Default

    Is there a ebook version of the Companion?

  18. #18

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by overthinker View Post
    Is there a ebook version of the Companion?
    There's a PDF available. ALDHA members ($10) get it for free. So if you join now (membership good through 2015) you can get the 2014 edition, and the 2015 PDF when it becomes available late December or early January. Non-member price is $8 but you'll get 2014 now and have to pay again for the 2015 edition.

    See the link in my sig.

  19. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    09-20-2014
    Location
    Lawrence, KS
    Age
    37
    Posts
    49

    Default

    So I bought a NOBO version of AWOL's but now I've decided to go SOBO and was wondering if I should bother buying a SOBO version is worth it or do I just start in the back of the book?

  20. #20
    Registered User
    Join Date
    01-13-2012
    Location
    Mid Atlantic
    Posts
    1,047
    Images
    9

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Frank_the_cat View Post
    So I bought a NOBO version of AWOL's but now I've decided to go SOBO and was wondering if I should bother buying a SOBO version is worth it or do I just start in the back of the book?
    I section hike the trail in both directions and have no problem when I need to read the guide "backwards". You just start at the bottom of the pages and read to the top. I found it didn't take long at all to get used to it.

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •