Customer Reviews

The Thru-hiker's Handbook 2002: Guide to the Appalachian Trail (Georgia to Maine)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have been interviewing thru-hikers who were successful on their thru-hike, that is interviewing the ones who made it from all the way from Georgia to Maine, and I have noticed that most are carrying Wingfoot's Handbook when they finish. They swear by it, saying that it had all of the necessary information but did not have so much detail that they felt like they were being led by the nose, as most other thru-hiker guides try to do.

The Handbook is laid out with mileage figures for all major features along the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, and has precise information about where to find off trail services needed by someone hiking week after week. It shows the best towns to use for resupplying, and there are maps of the most important trail towns.

This book covers all the basics, with information about lodging both on the trail and in nearby towns, water sources along the trail with the directions to them (this is really important, since all other thru-hiker guides don't tell you where to find water, but this one does), places to resupply, places to get fuel for a backpacking stove, in other words everything a hiker needs to know for doing a successful thru-hike.

I especially like the notes about animals, wildflowers, and history. Wingfoot gives just enough to make it interesting, but not so much as to make the book huge. It is less than half a pound in weight (that's really important to thru-hikers), and can be split into sections easily. Wingfoot has thought of everything it seems because he is a thru-hikers with multiple trips and has helped thousands of people plan for a thru-hike. He knows his stuff better than anyone alive today, imo.

The Handbook is updated every year and it is important to get the latest copy. I heard some folks griping because they thought Wingfoot had something wrong, but every time I looked they were using an old Handbook from several years ago. Wingfoot updates the information each year so that people can have the latest info on their thru-hikes.

By the way, I met Wingfoot (the Handbook's author) on the trail last week as I was doing a practice hike in north Georgia. He is a really friendly person and after talking with him for a few minutes I was ready to head for Springer Mountain and begin my thru-hike right then! From what I have heard all along the A.T. no one has done more to help thru-hikers have a great hike and to help protect the Appalachian Trail from development than Wingfoot.

The Thru-hiker's Handbook is coordinated with Wingfoot's website which is another plus for users of this book. New info is being shared all the time that helps users of the Handbook keep their data current.

I give this book my highest rating, based on what I have heard from dozens of thru-hikers and what I have experienced suing it on the trail for my own A.T. hikes.

I am thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail right now and I am using wingfoot's handbook as my guide. I disagree with the review I just read that said the handbook is not updated thoroughly. I have found the information to be highly accurate (i'm in a town now that was listed in the handbook, using a computer that it said was available). The reviewer is probably using an old edition. It is important to get the latest edition for thru-hiking. I started with the "other book" but soon found that it has too much information that has nothing to do with my needs as a thru-hiker. The handbook has just what I need and no more. It is easy to use and written to help thru-hikers, not to try to tell tourist every detail about things that have nothing to do with hiking. There is a lot of politics by some of the tourist types on the trail trying to discredit wingfoot's book, because he works hard for protection of the trail and upholding thru-hiking traditions and that makes them uncomfortable, but he stands for something important and I admire that and support him. I would choose the handbook even if I didn't like the traditional values Wingfoot teaches because it is so in step with the way I am thru-hiking, but now I recommend it even more since I am doing a thru-hike and can see how important those values are to what I am doing. The handbook is 100% thru-hiker, and it is the only book available that I can say that about. I recommend it to any future thru-hiker.

This is an excellent resource for anyone planning a hike on the Appalachian Trail. The information is accurate, concise and in a format that is useful to the long distance hiker as well as the day, week, or week-long hiker. I relied on Wingfoot's 2000 and 2001 Handbooks for my entire hike of the AT. If you only buy one book for your hike make sure it is this one. Wingfoot's book is a 5 star.
Little Steps
GA-ME 2000/01

My son and I hiked the AT in 2000, from Maine to Georgia, and carried this book with us every step of the way. (Well, to be more accurate, we did something I have never done to a book before: cut the binding and divided it into sections, and mailed the pieces of it to ourselves at a few maildrops along the way, in order the cut down on the weight in our packs.) The author, Wingfoot, captures in this book not only the essential data that a thru-hiker needs, but also the spirit of the Trail and the hiking community. Before choosing this book, we considered several guides. We compared notes with other hikers to see what books they were relying on. We concluded that this book and a set of maps were the tools we needed. Wingfoot deserves a lot of credit for the thoroughness and accuracy of his work, and his dedication in updating the book year after year. He is also a good writer, which makes reading the book enjoyable.

Wingfoot can be abrasive, and many might consider his viewpoints annoying, but none of this is expressed in this book and could only be considered a factor in a decision on using his Handbook if you had a personal problem with him, it in no way effects how useful his book might be to you when you are out on the trail.
The Handbook was delayed and came out somewhat later than Wingfoot expected, still it came out well before the vast majority of thru-hikers started their hike so I fail to see how this is a problem.
The Companion is a good book, and if it wasn't for Wingfoot's Handbook I would strongly reccomend it. I however know of too many people who have tossed their Companions in favor of Handbooks when they were actually out on the trail and could see what was truely most useful to you in the day to day life of hiking the AT. The Handbook is easier to use, contains more of the information you actually need to function on the trail and less of the information you don't need. Has been published longer and is the innovater, not the seemingly obvious attempt to thwart copyright laws, and is published by one person, not a committee. The two books just aren't in the same class when it comes to being really useful to a hiker.
If you are actually going to hike the AT, want the best guidebook that offers you the best information while you are on your hike, and you don't let your personal dislike of the author lead you to say things on this website that no one who has actually used the book could honestly say. Then this is the book for you.
If you are an armchair hiker who only sets foot on the trail through online journals and books,or if you are petty enough to want to harm one of the few people still standing up for the traditional values of the AT then this may not be the book for you. Either way, good luck to you.

I can't imagine going on the AT without this book.I section hike and I get the new guide every year.It's packed full of very useful info.I have all the guides since Wingfoot started putting them out.It's fun to go back and compare all the old books and see how things change from year to year,but mostly while your out there it's a great help to know who has what and where and time schedules of businesses and services that you will be using.Also info on the flora and fauna along the way.I can't say enough good things about this book.I highly recommend it to anyone headed to the Appalachian Trail.It's put together very well and you can tell a lot of time and effort went into it.

The Thru-hiker's Handbook by Dan Bruce, or simply put "Wingfoot" has probably earned a great share of the reason SO many thru-hikers have become thru-hikers in the years this is put out. It is his intention to give the most solid facts about the trail and along the way influence the reader into the trail life.

He attempts to get the reader into the trail as not a party but a life experience that should not be wasted. His opinions are well shared in the long distance hiker community about alcohol or drugs on the trail, conservation and preservation measures a hiker should ensure to keep what has been seen "see-able" for those who come next. I own 2 revisions of this trail guide. It is informative and a good read into what to expect and how to approach the task as well as the trail description itself.

I fully recommend the usage of this handbook to intellegent individuals who can utilize the words and wisdom of someone truly interested in educating potential THRU-HIKERS about the AT. HIKER777 (AT thru-78, SECTION 78-2001)

This is the only book I carried for the entire Appalachian Trail. It has all the services, shelters, water sources, and trail data in it. It's the only book you need.
I started out with the whole book--minus the cover--and tore out the pages I didn't need any more as I hiked. A new one is printed every year; get it at [...]

If you are a weekender to a thru hiker, this guide is a must...Its the only book I carry on the trial.

I've used the ATLDHA guidebook, the ATC guidebook set, and this gide, and for long distance section hiking the Thru-Hiker's Handbook always has the most up to date and accurate data of the three, and it's format shows you each shelter, town, water point etc as you hit it unlike the ATLDHA book which lays out shelter data in a fashion I find hard to use.

And despite the ATLDHA book being offered free on-line, I would rather pay the [$$$] I spent on the Thru-Hiker's Guide. As people know, you often get what you pay for.

Dan Bruce has devoted a lot of time to research and writing of the guide, and if you know him, you know he spends about as much on this project as he makes. Some people have personal problems with him because he is very outspoken about some subjects and I find it alarming that they would use these reviews as a forum to publicly critisize him and berate one of the best guides out there because of this. The guide is very solid and hikers that are not familiar with it's content might end up going without a good guide because of some people with a hidden agenda are attempting to under rate a book that is considered one of THE BEST guides in the thru-hiking community.