[pct-l] postholer pocket maps vs halfmile maps?

[Ernie Castillo]

Maybe I was lucky, maybe I had angels watching over me, but on my thru-hike in 1980 I didn't need more than the Wilderness Guide books past Desolation Wilderness. Heck, I wasn't even worried when I parted ways with my original hiking partners for good at Burney Falls, including the navigator who carried the compass and the topo maps. The Northern California portion of the trail, and even more so the entire trail through Oregon, was well marked. It didn't matter to me that I didn't know, to the centimeter, where I was at any particular moment as long as I knew I wasn't lost. Granted, it helped when I would hook up with other hikers (in union there is strength) but I walked significant miles solo and don't recall fretting about where I was. I was too busy enjoying the PCT to have my head buried in a map.
 
But to each their own. As they say, hike your own hike.
 
Ernie Castillo
PCT Class of 1980