[pct-l] Wilderness Press Guides going out of print - Note from Jeff Schaffer

Wed Nov 3 22:00:02 CDT 2010

This is truly depressing news. Its hard to imagine the PCT guidebooks going out 
of print. I for one love them and have found them to be a rich source of 
information. For me, they helped beyond just getting from point A to point B: 
they were an invitation to become more fully present to landscapes, history, 
plants and animals I encountered along the way. They offered fertile fuel for my 
imagination and ponderings as I walked and experienced. They helped me to more 
deeply experience the trail- they helped me experience the bigger picture. Sure, 
there are many other sources of information we can use to figure out miles, 
elevations and junctions-- but there is no other source that gives us the full 
picture of the landscape PCT transverses. 

Someone- like the PCTA, should purchase the rights to the guidebooks and keep 
them in print. If its about the cost of digitizing all the maps in the books- 
its seems to me that within our community we have more than enough energy, 
technical talent and love for the trail to find volunteers to complete the task. 
This should be seriously considered. How could we test the waters for an effort 
like this?

I just purchased a new set of books as well.

Ryan "ProDeal" Christensen

 www.bristleconemedia.com

________________________________
From: Rob Langsdorf <mctrob at yahoo.com>
To: PCT-L <pct-l at backcountry.net>; SectionsYahooGroup PCT 
<pctsection at yahoogroups.com>; PCTsectionNW at yahoogroups.com; 
pct2006 at yahoogroups.com; PCT2007 at yahoogroups.com; PCT2008 at yahoogroups.com; 
pct2010 at yahoogroups.com; So_California_Backpackers at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, November 3, 2010 3:30:04 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Wilderness Press Guides going out of print - Note from Jeff 
Schaffer

Hi All,
    I recently sent a number of updates to Jeff Schaffer, who use to publish the 

Wilderness Press PCT guides. He wrote back to say that Wilderness Press is out 
of business and that he has retired (See his letter below). So if you have a 
Wilderness Press Guide to the PCT or other volumes, hold on to them. They aren’t 

printing any more.

    They were a great set of guide books for the last 35 or so years.

    Jeff gave me permission to post his letter on various PCT discussion lists,

                                 Rob

========

Rob:

You have put a lot of effort into the letter you wrote me. Unfortunately, 
Wilderness Press is defunct, it's doors shut down at the end of July. Keen 
Publications bought the company a couple of years ago, but I suspect that when 
they sell the books in their warehouse, that's it. The bottom line is that the 
three volumes have about 1500 map overlays, and that is far too many to scan and 

still make a profit. Actually, I doubt if the series ever made a profit. It was 
sooooo expensive to produce. However, it did attract buyers to WP. 

So the volumes languish. They won't be revised. But that is okay (hard for me, 
since I thought I would retire on book royalties - very naive on my part). The 
future is in GPS units that will have the trail plus all the features in an app 
for the unit. This is already being done for some trails. Only a matter of time 
before it's done for the PCT. As I see it, guidebooks are history. Guidebook 
companies can't compete against free apps. My Tahoe Sierra book was one of the 
first to go. (Too many maps, too many scans.) Some 5-10 years ago, I was doing 
revisions for it and met an older hiker who had a portable GPS unit on his back, 

plus a camera and video recorder. He found out who I was and interviewed me. 
Then I asked what's he doing this for. It was a hobby, mapping trails and 
features and putting them on the internet for free. I said that you are putting 
me out of business. So true. No hard feelings. This is progress. Saves a lot of 
trees. 

Well, I'm 67, semi-retired, and the only backpacking I do is when I absolutely 
have to go in to the Sierra for geological research. I did a 35-miler and 
52-miler this summer. Very difficult with two bad knees, a damaged vertebral 
column, and two blown shoulders (I'm still a climber and have taken countless 
falls and probably over a hundred injuries, most minor; some, not minor). Still, 

would attempt to keep the books in print if I knew that I would actually see 
some royalties to pay for my expenses. Not likely.

There is a 2 volume anthology by PCT hikers, to be published by The Mountaineers 

next year. You can read my short contribution (all are short!!!), which was 
requested by the two editors. At the end, I say the guides have to die. They 
need to go out of print. They are too dated and there is no way Keen can make 
any money producing updated editions.

So, if you've got guidebook copies, hang on to them. May be worth some money 
years from now. The bookbuyer at our college bookstore told me that she expects 
there will be no more textbooks in about 5 years (there goes the bookstore); all 

texts will be electronic. There goes here job. But we both plan to retire in 3 
years. Again, the more books that are electronic, the more trees we save. I'm 
all for trees, but we probably have too many on our property. Have to trim some 
back and cut some down every year or two. (We probably have the greenest 
property in Browns Valley.)

Keep on hiking and enjoying nature.

Jeff Schaffer,

Mountaineering naturalist

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