The 2015 edition of Yogi's guidebook is officially out

[SCRUB HIKER]

I got an e-mail from Yogi today saying that the 2015 edition of her book is ready to go at her website (link). This is a major revision, because the last cast of contributors were all writing before 2011, and a lot has changed since then in regards to gear, technology, and numbers of people on the trail.

For those who haven't used it before, the book has two parts, the planning guide and the trail-and-town guide. The planning-guide part is in the format of: ask a good PCT-specific question (e.g. "What gear did you add for the Sierra sections?"), print detailed answers from 10 or so different hikers. There's a big discussion of resupply strategy, gear, hiking philosophy, and almost anything else you might be asking yourself prior to a long hike on the PCT. Often the answers are wildly divergent--you pick who you want to listen to--and that's a great thing, in my opinion. You don't want to have to rely on just one person's advice, but on the other hand you don't want to have the clusterf*** that is asking a question on Facebook, PCT-L, or what have you, and getting 200 bickering answers.

The trail-and-town-guide part of the book is just that: a bunch of notes for the trail and towns, with full information about the town businesses. There can be some spice to the opinions about trail-town establishments. Again, you decide if some of it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Full disclosure: I'm a contributor to her book, that's why she was e-mailing me. I contributed to it after my 2013 thru-hike because I thought it was such an awesome resource.

[Coffee]

Excellent news! Now I have to decide whether to order just the book or the combined book/map set deal...

[Miner]

Noooo! That means I'm no longer published. I'll loose my popularity on the trail!

Yeah, Yogi choose me for the last edition because I was one of the few hikers who bothered to send her any updates after I hiked. I found her book useful and wanted to contribute to keeping it updated. I hope she picked someone who used a tarp to replace me as I still think a tarp/bivy combo is the way to go on the PCT.

When I was on the TRT this spring and the TYT this fall, both which include part of the PCT in the Sierra Nevada, a few of the current thru-hikers actually recognized my trailname from Yogi's book. I felt almost famous for a minute. Scrub Hiker, you have that to look forward to if you are out on the trail during hiker season.

[SCRUB HIKER]

When I was on the TRT this spring and the TYT this fall, both which include part of the PCT in the Sierra Nevada, a few of the current thru-hikers actually recognized my trailname from Yogi's book. I felt almost famous for a minute. Scrub Hiker, you have that to look forward to if you are out on the trail during hiker season.

Funny you should say that. I recognized you at Kickoff this year based off the Yogi book and WhiteBlaze, and mentioned that when I introduced myself; alas, "Scrub" didn't ring any bells for you. I don't know how much hiking I'll get to do next summer, but I'll at least keep an eye on the 2015 PCT Facebook page and see if my name is being cursed.

[Mags]

Congrats Scrub!

Be good to have some fresh faces in the book rather than old farts like me.

Being serious, it is cool to contribute to something you love and I've sure you'll have some good advice!

[quasarr]

Wow I should have emailed her! I had some contrary opinions too - I think I was the only person who liked Hikertown and hated Deep Creek. (the hot springs were crawling with sketch townies and the bushes were littered with trash and used toilet paper ... Gross! I didn't even get water there.)

You should be trail-famous soon, Scrub!

[SCRUB HIKER]

Wow I should have emailed her! I had some contrary opinions too - I think I was the only person who liked Hikertown and hated Deep Creek. (the hot springs were crawling with sketch townies and the bushes were littered with trash and used toilet paper ... Gross! I didn't even get water there.)

You should be trail-famous soon, Scrub!

Oh, you were not the only person who didn't like Deep Creek. It was one of the three places I treated water on the whole trail. I tried not to be negative in the notes I sent to Yogi, but one of the more grumbly ones was about that place. If I remember correctly, I said that it was "the opposite of good wholesome family fun." I was there on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Quite a scene.

[levibarry]

My copy shipped earlier today.

For Coffee: don't order the maps yet as Half-Mile hiked the whole trail this year. He was using a gps system that he and another hiker developed. The new maps should be awesome like his old ones and up to date. I don't know the details of what will change.
You can order them when they come, if you can't wait get the book now.

my $.02.

levibarry

[Coffee]

I read about the updates to the maps on Facebook and was able to change my order to just the book which shipped yesterday! For planning purposes, I downloaded the current maps which I can refer to on my computer or iPad.

[TornadoJay]

Wish I would have seen your post earlier Levibarry, ordered the maps a week ago. Order the book then as well.