What is the 'wingfoot' of the PCT?

[yappy]

25 is still young... good grief !.. Mowgli, sly and I double you dude... I would'nt be suprised if you were flying....that trail is special, enjoy.

[Sly]

The Kick Off is a great time, especially if the weather is nice which it usually is in southern California. I suggest starting a week before, hiking to Warner Springs and getting a ride back, which is no problem. That way you'll avoid "the herd". At the KO, you'll get the latest water report and meet all sorts of cool folks. Thru-hikers pay nothing.


You'll also have plenty of time to get to Kennedy Meadows and in good time to start the Sierra. Depending on snowpack, you may even be able to take plenty of zeroes as to not get there too early, if you're not familar with hiking over snow. It's a lot of work.

[Screech]

Im so glad this forum exists BTW. This trip would be near impossible to plan on a budget without it.

[Wolf - 23000]

I know all about Yogi's guide, but it seems like it would be impractical to carry it for the entirety of a PCT thru hike. Is there a smaller, bound book similar to the wingfoot book?

note:

I am ordering Yogi's book for planning purposes but want to know if its what I should be using for a day to day PCT guide.

A while back, I created my own PCT Handbook and used it on all 3 of my thru-hikes. As I went up the trail I made corrections as needed. I included forks in the trail, town information, water sources and tips. I used it still from time to time and except for some of the prices in towns it is still very actuate.

My copy is back in the states but I gave it out to several people. I just don't remember to whom.

Wolf

[Sly]

Hey Wolf you in Iraq yet? Be safe.

[A-Train]

You must not have had much snow or followed someone.

Basically no snow in 07' with the exception of a couple snowfields. We made up for it with the hot temps and extra dry sources.

Nafta had our maps and we hiked apart probably 70% of the time. Seemed there was either a sign or obvious footprints at the junctions.

[Mags]

Yogi's book was a joke. The big one with all the hiker interviews with no useful info to an experienced hiker. Her small town guide is ok I guess. The Data Book is a must I feel.

Full disclosure: I know Yogi pretty well and I am in both her books. I am also passionately loyal to my friends.

Glad you know everything there was about the PCT to start. But more and more people are doing the PCT as their first trail. Plus, not many ATers have desert or snow experience. The first part of the book was helpful in that regard.

You can certainly not like the book as an experienced hiker, but calling it a "joke" is not fair.

Her CDT book is much leaner and CDT specific. Hopefully only experienced hikers will do the CDT.

The only part that was a joke in both books was the very questionable advice from that Paul Magnanti fella...

[Mags]

Mags....as always.....thanks!

Glad I could help! As always, if you have questions..post away. I'll pretend to know the answer!

[handlebar]

Here are some thoughts on many of the items in this thread coming from an "old" hiker who did the PCT in 08:

1. Guidebooks: Don't bother with the data book or the official guidebooks. The guidebooks are full of extraneous information you really don't need and the data book is misleading in that it only contains the points listed in the guidebooks. Often there are higher highs and lower lows between the listed points. Instead, I'd combine Yogi's guide with Erik the Blacks books. I had Yogi's book, pages torn from the guidebooks and data books, and, for SoCal and Washington, also Erik the Blacks 1st edition books. I found that a combo of Erik's and Yogi's was all I needed during the SoCal section and I wound up sending the pages from the guidebook and data book home and relying solely on Erik's book for WA. Erik's book for WA was a major improvement over the SoCal book (better elevation profiles and more landmarks) and the new 2nd edition with color is yet better. I know they are pricey, but I think they are worth the money. If you have these books you will not need any maps.

2. Cost. I spent a lot more than you are proposing, but I had the complications of having to come back east for two family weddings, I'm old and enjoy sleeping between sheets now and then, and my budget permitted it. Groceries aren't a lot more expensive in CA than anywhere else in the US. I ate mostly Lipton's or MacNCheese with foil packs of tuna or spam respectively and a dollop of olive oil for the extra calories. Lunch was scrunched down bagels (300 calories each) slathered with peanut butter and most of the time a big chunk of cheese. Breakfast was pop tarts and oatmeal to go bars and the like. Snacks were bars, Snickers, handfuls of Fritos or shoestring potatoes (great hiking foods--salty, high calorie, and still good if scrunched), raisins, gorp, etc. I ate very few PowerBars or ClifBars as I just didn't like them. The only Ramen I ate was two packs I yogied from a section hiker. Late in the hike a friend introduced me to ProBars which I do like---pricey at $3 but at least they taste good and have 350-400 calories each. Eating this kind of diet, I purchased food for all of WA at Cascade Locks for about $200 and sent 4 mail drops ahead in Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes for about $13.50 each. So my food that I ate on the trail was costing about $10/day. That translates to about $1400 for the days I hiked. Where the $$$ added up was in towns on zero days. It's easy to spend $100/day even with a shared room between hotel and restaurants when zeroing in a town. If you remove the zeros I took that were associated with trips to the weddings, I had about 8 zeros--which translates to one every 3 weeks. Zeros usually involve two nights in a motel. I also took some neros in towns. For example, I hitched into S Lake Tahoe at 4pm just in time to get my bounce bucket from the post office, stayed at Motel 6 where I did laundry, resupplied for the next 5 days at a supermarket, found alcohol at a hardware store, and ate a good restaurant dinner and breakfast plus lots of extras from the supermarket in my room, sent my bounce bucket ahead to Pooh Corner, and was hitching back to the trail the following morning. One night in a hotel is a lot better than two and just about as refreshing. If you can avoid hotel nights in towns, you'll save a lot of $$$, but do plan for some town zeros and neros. Bottom line: you can probably get away with about $2000 for on trail expenses not counting equipment (especially shoes and socks) replacement. At $100 a pop, shoes alone could cost you $500. Five pair was not unusual. (I wore heavy hiking boots, the same as I did on the AT, and they made it the whole way. I got them used on Ebay for $75 and they might have had a total of 100 miles on them.)

For WA and OR and some remote locations in CA like the Sierra, it's far cheaper to shop in larger towns and send boxes ahead. I don't recall a lot of Walmarts, but there were large grocery stores within a reasonable hitch that had comparable prices to towns along the AT. I send boxes to myself from Ashland for all of OR and from Cascade Locks for all of WA. I also sent food ahead to Kennedy Meadows. Otherwise I resupplied by hiitching from the trail to nearby towns.

On top of this you have to add travel to and from the trail. By booking early, I flew from Pittsburgh to SanDiego for $120. I couldn't book the return early, but using one of the discounters, I got a flight back from Seattle for about $250. There are a number of trail angels who will help you get to the trail from SanDiego.

3. You might consider signing up for the PCT-L mail list for more info on the PCT. It's pretty active and has a lot of info.

4. PCT miles: For me, my PCT miles/hiking day were 1.4 x my AT miles/hiking day----and I'm 63 and not ultralight, though I did shave a few pounds off my AT pack weight.

5. Weather: I had fantastic weather: only 5 days of rain. (I did miss a 3 day storm in May on one of those trips to a wedding.) Much of the time I slept under the stars and used my tent mostly as a refuge from mosquitoes. A tarp should be fine, though for those 5 days, I was glad I had a tent.

You will love the PCT!

[RITBlake]

I spoke via email w/ Erik the Black today. Seems like a good dude, and he's passionate about the books, plus they look great. I think they'll do the trick.

What I like about his book especially is that he doesn't lay out the entire hike for you. He gives you 'just enough' info to get down the trail. I want my walk to be spontaneous as possible w/ help on water and trail junctions. Seems like Eriks book does just that.

Anyway, look forward to getting Yogi's book, and reading through some PCT journals tonight on TJ.

[Spirit Walker]

Re: Eric the Black's info - do the maps include alternate routes? Quite often the official trail is not the best route on the PCT. Every time we took it in lieu of alternatives, we were sorry.

Does he include enough town information to make Yogi's book unnecessary? i.e. which towns are usable for resupply and which need maildrops?

The online resources that I used in 2000 haven't been updated in a long while. Craig's PCT planner predates my hike and Weathercarrot's planning information dates from about 2003. The buy as you go list that was on the PCTA website was written about 1998. It's probable that some of the towns where I was able to buy groceries no longer have stores and I don't know any current town lists with services information that are freely available. I have an old version of Yogi's book, but it's also outdated and I'd rather not spend the money twice for the same thing, especially since I may not hike the PCT again in the near future.

[A-Train]

Re: Eric the Black's info - do the maps include alternate routes? Quite often the official trail is not the best route on the PCT. Every time we took it in lieu of alternatives, we were sorry.

Does he include enough town information to make Yogi's book unnecessary? i.e. which towns are usable for resupply and which need maildrops?

The online resources that I used in 2000 haven't been updated in a long while. Craig's PCT planner predates my hike and Weathercarrot's planning information dates from about 2003. The buy as you go list that was on the PCTA website was written about 1998. It's probable that some of the towns where I was able to buy groceries no longer have stores and I don't know any current town lists with services information that are freely available. I have an old version of Yogi's book, but it's also outdated and I'd rather not spend the money twice for the same thing, especially since I may not hike the PCT again in the near future.

Good point. Almost everytime I took an alternate on the PCT I was happier than sticking to the original. I got my own set of maps in Oregon and was really pleased with the prettier alternates that often had a lot more water than the viewless PCT.

[ARambler]

Here are some thoughts on many of the items in this thread coming from an "old" hiker who did the PCT in 08:

1. ...

4. PCT miles: For me, my PCT miles/hiking day were 1.4 x my AT miles/hiking day----and I'm 63 and not ultralight, though I did shave a few pounds off my AT pack weight.
...
You will love the PCT!

1.4 x because you were not an ultralight fast packer.

I think the pct is only about 15% faster per day than the AT. Al was 13% faster at ages 66 and 70.

That said, most AT hikers can do what it takes to the pct done. Some of us just take more than 30 years.
Rambler

[RITBlake]

Re: Eric the Black's info - do the maps include alternate routes? Quite often the official trail is not the best route on the PCT. Every time we took it in lieu of alternatives, we were sorry.

I would suggest signing up on Erik's website and getting the demonstration chapter. It only takes a few minutes. He uses full maps, just does a nice job of trimming the fat and condensing them for book size. Like I said, I'm still picking up Yogi's guide and will supplement Erik's book w/ info found in Yogis.

[sarbar]

Erik's books are sweet indeed.

My copy of this past summers edition of Washington was well used. For me it is all about finding water sources, road crossings and good spots for sleeping.

[Desert Reprobate]

I did parts of the SoCal PCT in 84. Came across a guy packing with two packs. All his food was in cans. He'd carry one pack up the trail and then come back and get the other. I thought I was packing heavy but he sure had me beat. There are a lot of great fishing spots along the trail.

[RITBlake]

I did parts of the SoCal PCT in 84. Came across a guy packing with two packs. All his food was in cans. He'd carry one pack up the trail and then come back and get the other. I thought I was packing heavy but he sure had me beat. There are a lot of great fishing spots along the trail.

I didn't realize Lonewolf was on the PCT in 84?

[neighbor dave]

I did parts of the SoCal PCT in 84. Came across a guy packing with two packs. All his food was in cans. He'd carry one pack up the trail and then come back and get the other. I thought I was packing heavy but he sure had me beat. There are a lot of great fishing spots along the trail.

mmmmm.... i wonder if it was billygoat, he's been know to do the 2 pack hike as recently as this year?

speaking of carying alot of stuff, we ran into a guy just out of cascade locks this year carrying 6 pieces of lugguge, yes luggage. here's a photo of him from years past doing the same thing, since this photo, he's updated his gear a bit, but it's still all luggage. had i known he was a trail legend i'd have grabbed a photo of him myself.
http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/downl...0da54&p=406109

[Mags]

Like I said, I'm still picking up Yogi's guide and will supplement Erik's book w/ info found in Yogis.

If I did the PCT again, that's what I'd do FWIW. When I did the PCT back in the dark ages of 2002, I found I used the data book and maps more for navigation than the guidebooks. Erik's basically sums up the databook and maps in one package. Throw in Yogi's guide for a little more in depth beta, and you are good to go. Again, some people prefer more verbose descriptions, so that is where the guidebooks are useful.

Like most things, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

[sarbar]

Hopefully not treading on toes - I do have a couple copies left of the 2008 version of Erik's South Cal book. I have them priced to move at $15.00 (were 25.00). So....if you don't care about all the flashy extras and want a good deal come by:
http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/bargainbin.htm