Guide and Companion Updates

[FarmerChef]

So I was on a hike in southern VA (VA42 at Blacksburg down to Partnership) and I heard a comment from a local trail enthusiast (names omitted to protect the innocent ;) ) who said there was a "missing mile" in a particular section of trail and that it "had been missing for awhile."

This got me to thinking. How are the Guide and Companion updated with regard to distances/elevations as well as updates on services, towns, shelters, etc. I'm guessing the former is the annual trail data book (which would then lead me to wonder how THAT gets updated) and the latter is from hiker updates.

For instance, the guide suggested there was a grocery store in Bland, VA but when I got there all I could find was a now defunct A&P and the gas station clerk knew of no grocery store. I'm guessing that closed since the 2012 guide was released, right?

This is not intended to be a guide-bashing thread. I like both guides for different reasons and purchase them both every year. I'm just curious as to how the guides get updated.

[RED-DOG]

Some of the trail maintaining clubs does relocations and they don't tell the ATC until that years compannion and data book has already been published so those mile changes don't get added or subtracted until the next year, I witnessed a couple missing miles on my thru-hike this year, it basically happens every year at nobody's fault and some stores opens and closes and they just don't tell the ATC, i also noticed a couple of new stores this year that wasn't in my compannion. RED-DOG ( Flip-Flop 96 & GA-ME 06 & GA-ME 2012 ).