Day Hikes on the Pacific Crest Trail: California

At one time in my life (graduate school) it was easy to take off for a week or more to go backpacking. With regular employment, however, one is sometimes hard pressed to find a day, much less a couple weeks, to explore hiking opportunities. This book by George and Patricia Semb is the guide to the PCT for those who simply don't have the time for a two week trip, much less a through hike.This guidebook has a lot to recommend it. It follows the organization of the standard guide, also published by Wilderness Press, but provides convenient entry and exit points on the trail. All hikes described are one way affairs, so having two cars is a definite advantage with this book. Trail descriptions are a bit brief, but this allows more space for explaining how to locate trailheads. For maps, the Sembs used Forest Service Recreational Maps which also help locate roads near the PCT. Using this guide, it is possible to hike the entire trail in Southern California as a series of day hikes.The book does have a couple problems, however, which is why I gave it only 4 stars. Many of the hikes are so long only day hikers in excellent condition will be able to complete them. Walks of 15 miles are common, and several exceed twenty miles. In addition, some of the trail descriptions are misleading. For example, they describe a short stretch of trail in the Angeles National Forest as a "level" hike, even though the trail gains 1200ft in 1.3 miles: a grade that is far steeper than almost anywhere else on the PCT in Southern California.These problems aside, this is a good supplement to Schaffer's volume on the PCT. My wife and I used it to day hike most of the PCT in the San Bernardino Mountains this year, and I'm looking forward to using next hiking season.