Customer Reviews

Pacific Crest Trail: Oregon and Washington

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I used this guide to hike the Oregon section of the PCT in 1993 and found it very user-friendly, highly practical while on the trail and full of interesting background information. Among the most important aspect of the guide for me was the quality and reliability of the topographic maps, thoughtfully place by the Publishers so I could take the pages out and use them in a waterproof cover for each stage as I walked it. The hints on water supplies and campsites were essential and I was able to plan my route, timings, food drops and campsites for the entire trail; this was especially important for me as my budget and time free were limited. As far as I remember, the only thing that was incorrect was that there was no longer a bus from Bridge of the Gods into Portland. Not bad. I would recommend this guide to anybody planning to hike the PCT.

I through-hiked the PCT in 2002 and like the vast of majority of other hikers, used this guide to navigate my way through Oregon and Washington. Though this book is the source for the data points found in the PCT Data Book, you'd never suspect such a succinct, useful guide like the Data Book could from such a disorganized mess as the PCT: Oregon-Washington guide book.

The principal problem with this book is organization. The book, like it's companion guides for California, are organized into reasonable sections starting and stopping at well-used re-supply points (or end points for section hikers). The problem is each section contains a mixture of editorial and trail-following instructions in the main body of text. So, when you are lost and the need the guide the most, you must re-trace the trail guide instructions while editing out long editorial comments (frequently commenting on where the trail should have gone, but did not) and this frustrates. Why weren't the trail following instructions separated?

This edition did try to make strides forward in readibility by using icons to denote when the text is talking about water access or re-supply. Though this allows you to skim ahead for where water is (useful!), placing such information in sidebars of the trail following instructions would have been best. Again, the current placement of the re-supply and water information fragments the trail follow tips.

On the plus side, when the authors are not complaining about where the trail should have gone, there is a wealth of information on a variety of topics (e.g. geology, botany, biology, politics and the trail among other topics) all of which help you to enjoy the trail more. Sadly, though, each topic is also interspersed with the main body text. Again making the trail following instructions hard to read as the text changes gears from "how to follow the trail" to "PCT story-time."

Unfortunately, the maps are not 100% accurate. A few of the maps suffer printing errors. On these maps, the trails - which are overlaid on old, out-of-date USGS maps - are placed incorrectly. Switchbacks not going with the grades of the landscape easily identify these maps or perhaps you?ll come a trail junction before a river, when the maps show the junction after the river. Also, the trail is disastrously colored blue, making it hard to distinguish from the all the streams and rivers (also in blue).

That said, these trail guides are the best there is for the PCT, but they are far from perfect.

I have not hiked the PCT yet, but plan too. My only complaint with this entire series is that the maps do not have GPS markers on the maps; I believe the PCT Atlas series does this.

Anyways the point of the post is to indicate that Wilderness Press has 2 PDF files available which provide updates/erratas to this book as of 2006. The "Search for 'PCT'" method does not work, but if you contact them they will email the PDFs to you.

This book makes me believe that I could really hike the whole Pacific Crest Trail....but since I won't do the whole trail, at least now with this book I can choose the sections of the hike that I am prepared for and that sound the best to me.....great job!

I recently hiked the last section described in the book (Rainy Pass to Canada). The book is fairly worthless if you are looking for a guide that is going to allow you to plan your spots to camp and to get water. The authors arbitrarily choose to mention some campsites and ignore others. The same goes for places to get water. Often times the campsites they choose to mention do not have nearby water, when a couple of miles further on there are excellent campsites near streams that are not mentioned at all! However, if you are interested in geological information on the area you are passing through, the book has plenty of that.

I have hiked over 10,000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. Every year I buy four Wilderness Press books, cut them into sections and put them in my resupply boxes. None are all inclusive for my needs. That does not exist. The Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California, Northern California, and Oregon/Washington and the Pacific Crest Trail Data Book, all four by Wilderness Press. They tell me where, I am going, how to get there, side and alternate routes(a huge plus), histories, points of interest and much, much more. These books give me much more than a simple point A to B sterile hike. Author, Ben Schifrin, and editor, Roslyn Bullas, are active in the hiking community a show a genuine concern for helping the trails and the hikers both. I also use each year Yogi's Pacific Crest Trail Handbook. Author Jackie McDonnell(Yogi) is the #1 authority on how to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and she also passes on information from 500 other recent thru hikers including me. It will save you $100's of Dollars and 100's of hours. Buy it at [...] And I also use the free to print [...] maps by my friend Halfmile. The size and detail make it the best map for hiking the PCT.

Overall this book is very detailed and easy to use. It provides good information on the trail, how to leave the trail in order to resupply and possible issues such as water or wild animals. The only thing I don't like about it is that the maps in the book are completely lacking any kind of coordinate grid which makes it difficult to locate on the map points the author is writing about.