The Pacific Crest Trail Hiker's Handbook by Ray Jardine

Book Review

BACKPACKER, December 1996

Once every two or three decades a book comes along that fundamentally reshapes how we think. Jardine's PCT Hiker's Handbook is such a work.

Every aspect of backpacking, from food to fuel, permits to passes, lightning to layover days, is critically reassessed. Have you been plugging along under a 60-pound pack? Jardine's total pack weight - including backpack, sleeping bag, clothes, stove - is 8.44 pounds! Forget boots and try running shoes. Toss your tent for a tarp. Don't buy gear, make it. Wear your parka backwards. Page after page, Jardine brilliantly flips the sacred cows of backpacking on their heads.

Every suggestion comes from experience: Jardine has hiked the PCT three times, the the Continental Divide Trail, and the Appalachian Trail.

Get a copy. It could change your trail life.

- - Mark J.