which one

[hh3f]

I'm contemplating doing the long trail this summer and want to purchase a guide book. Can someone tell me do I get the end to ender,s guide or the long trail guide. Wouldn't think I would need both. Thanks for your help.

[Jeff]

End to Enders Guide is most important. It includes town services as well as shelter & trail mileage info. They only publish every other year so some things may be out of date...but still very useful.

[nehiker]

I'd suggest getting the E-to-E guide and the LT map. The 2011 E-to-E had a lot of stuff, like full addresses of all USFS ranger stations in huge print, which one does not really need on the trail, so I carried just Sections 2-4 and trimmed the margins to fit 1/4 ziploc, though barely (what was GMC thinking?!) Unfortunately, the E-to-E guide does not contain phone numbers for outdoor retails/manufacturers (the two AT guide do), does not give remotely accurate elevation gains between some shelters, and could have saved some space by combining Sections 2 (major mileage points) and 4 (shelters). In the case of at least one shelter (Cooley Glen), it gives no indication where the water source is; unlike at the other shelters, the location of the water source (which is way down on a side trail) is not obvious and is not indicated at the shelter.

The LT guide is a nice guidebook to have, but if you are E-to-Eing, I do not think it is worth carrying.

[Spokes]

I agree with Jeff and nehiker. Get the End-to-End guide and a map.

Only spend money on the Long Trail Guide if you want to read all the fluffy stuff about the trail.

[on_the_GOEZ]

Get the End-to-End guide and a map.

+1 Carried both and had more info than probably necessary.

[hh3f]

thanks everyone. I sent for the end to ender and the map today. Even if I don't go I can sit and fantasize.

[StubbleJumper]

Unfortunately, the E-to-E guide does not contain phone numbers for outdoor retails/manufacturers (the two AT guide do), does not give remotely accurate elevation gains between some shelters, and could have saved some space by combining Sections 2 (major mileage points) and 4 (shelters). In the case of at least one shelter (Cooley Glen), it gives no indication where the water source is; unlike at the other shelters, the location of the water source (which is way down on a side trail) is not obvious and is not indicated at the shelter.

Yeah, a little more precision about the location of the water would have been good for Cooley Glen and for Spruce Ledge. In both cases, a NOBO hiker basically walks right by the water source about 300 or 400 yards of climbing before reaching the actual shelter. It's a bit of a let-down to look at the shelter map and discover that you need to descend back down the 300 or 400 yards, get your water, and then re-climb the 300 or 400 yards.

The GMC map of the LT is really nice and only costs like $10. The whole 273 miles are laid out on a single map that's about 36 inches wide and weighs only a couple ounces.

[stranger]

The Long Trail Guide is redundant for the thru-hiker, the end-to-end guide is better for thru-hiking and the map is good for elevation profiles. I've hiked the LT before and doing it again in August, I won't be taking the LT Guide, and will probably only take about half of the end-to-end guide + map.

[Spokes]

I added all the various telephone numbers for resources (hostels, shuttles, outfitters, GMC, etc...) to my iPhone and even scribbled some inside the margins of the e2e guidebook. Didn't take long with some basic research on Google. The Hertz Rental and AmTrak apps helped too.

Cheers!