Mountain Directories East and West

[PcolaCamper]

Good morning fellow travelers. Just a little tidbit you may find helpful. We have the Mountain Directory West which was very useful on our trip West.
We wanted to get the Mountain Directory East so I went to Amazon and was surprised at the price. The cheapest one was 10 years old and with shipping cost, would be almost $40. The newer ones were quite more! So I Googled the website of the publisher and found the 2015 version for $15 plus $3 shipping. I upgraded to expedited shipping for $5 and the total was just under $20.
You're welcome!

[aerbus32]

There's an app available for it. Have it on both my iPad & iPhone.

[ADAD437]

seems a lot of things on amazon or priced rediculosly high anymore. JMHO.

[Jim_Shoe]

Thanks folks. I had no idea that somebody else started printing them again. I just ordered East and West. I like hard copy for planning.

[trailertraveler]

Jim Shoe wrote:
...I have copies of the Mountain Directory East and West somewhere, but the publisher stopped printing them...

Are you sure? The website still lists print copies for sale.

[agesilaus]

Jim Shoe wrote:
I have copies of the Mountain Directory East and West somewhere, but the publisher stopped printing them. You can still find used copies for sale on the internet or in a used book store if you're lucky. The problem the publishers ran into: You don't need a new copy every year because the information doesn't change, and its now available online Here.

Heck, I'm still trying to figure out why we drive on parkways and park on driveways. 🙂

That link goes to the blueridge pwky, you can find the Mountain Directory eBooks and apps here tho:

Link

[Jim_Shoe]

I have copies of the Mountain Directory East and West somewhere, but the publisher stopped printing them. You can still find used copies for sale on the internet or in a used book store if you're lucky. The problem the publishers ran into: You don't need a new copy every year because the information doesn't change, and its now available online Here.

Heck, I'm still trying to figure out why we drive on parkways and park on driveways. 🙂

[joelc]

PcolaCamper wrote:
In regard to the mountain vs foothill comment, it's not so much the elevation as the grade and elevation change. This Florida girl prefers to know what to expect and choose the least difficult route.
We were on the Blue Ridge Pkwy in Sept. in NC and came upon a couple at a pull-out whose class C brakes were on fire because they were inexperienced in mountain driving. There were a LOT of ranger reports for stranded motorists in trouble in the Smokies. As camp hosts we heard a lot of their calls. Be prepared!

STAY AWAY FROM PARKWAYS IF YOU HAVE AN RV. They should have known the Blue Hills Parkway was bad news.

[agesilaus]

paulj wrote:
Just to be clear, the Amazon copies are not from Amazon itself, but from used book dealers. Those prices can vary all over the place, depending a lot on availability and demand. Clearly this is one where the supply is limited, and probably the turn over is also slow.

Quite right and I see that Amazon does not have either east or west listed as a current title. That means that the publisher stopped providing them to Amazon, if they ever did so. The publisher made the business decision to keep the books off Amazon in the belief that they could get more profit from selling the books in a more limited way.

This is a classic micro Economics problem. Can you make more money by selling more of an item at a lower price vs selling fewer at a higher price. Say Amazon takes 5 of the 15 price of the book to sell them but then sells 100,000 copies. And they manage shipping and handling in their ultra efficient system. The publisher decided to keep all 15 plus whats left of the 5 shipping price but probably sells maybe 10,000 copies. I'll leave the math to you.

This is what the kerfuffle with the big publishing houses was about. The publishers want to sell eBooks for the same prices as physical books. Amazon said that they were crazy and that they could make much more by selling the eBooks for under 10 but selling 4 or 5 times as many.

The publishers will join buggy whip and slide rule manufacturers before too much time passes.

[paulj]

Just to be clear, the Amazon copies are not from Amazon itself, but from used book dealers. Those prices can vary all over the place, depending a lot on availability and demand. Clearly this is one where the supply is limited, and probably the turn over is also slow.

[PcolaCamper]

In regard to the mountain vs foothill comment, it's not so much the elevation as the grade and elevation change. This Florida girl prefers to know what to expect and choose the least difficult route.
We were on the Blue Ridge Pkwy in Sept. in NC and came upon a couple at a pull-out whose class C brakes were on fire because they were inexperienced in mountain driving. There were a LOT of ranger reports for stranded motorists in trouble in the Smokies. As camp hosts we heard a lot of their calls. Be prepared!

[2gypsies1]

We've used the 'Mountain Directory for Truckers & RVers' all the time because we love driving in mountains. However, every time I recommend it on forums I always state to buy it directly from the publisher, not Amazon. I can't believe folks would pay Amazon's prices when it could be had for under $20.

Regardless, we highly recommend the purchase..but not through Amazon. 🙂

[jnharley]

The truckers map found at truck stops is great. Low clearances and truck routes are all marked. A much cheaper option if you cannot find the mountain directories at a reasonable price.

[kohldad]

Wow, may have to find my old copies. Could pay for the next trip's gas.

[agesilaus]

RoyF wrote:
Interesting. After seeing this, I looked at Amaon for Mountain Directory East and found one for $746!! It was a 1999 edition. Has this become a rare book for collectors? I guess that I should take care of my 2013 edition.

The used stuff sellers obviously do not watch all the thousands of books they have up for sale on Amazon. They use computer programs that watch the prices charged by others selling the same item, and adjust their price up or down accordingly. However when an item gets scarce and only a few sellers have it to sell then that software enters a positive feedback loop and you get bizarre pricing.

The big question is: where are the eastern US mountains hidden? I've only seen foothills. Tho there are a few semi-mountains in the NE.


This is a mountain



Foothills