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

Wed Nov 3 22:43:44 CDT 2010

Yes indeed--

Halfmile already has the maps digitized!

Ryan "ProDeal" Christensen

 www.bristleconemedia.com

________________________________
From: AsABat <AsABat at 4Jeffrey.Net>
To: yosemiteryan at yahoo.com; mctrob at yahoo.com; 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 8:07:58 PM
Subject: [pct2006] Re: [pct-l] Wilderness Press Guides going out of print - Note 
from Jeff Schaffer

Or maybe update and reprint the text without the maps, since several other map 
sources are now available. There is precidence of sorts inKaren Bergers PCT 
Companion.

Halfmile, we are talking to you!

-----Original message-----

From: Ryan Christensen <yosemiteryan at yahoo.com>
>To: Rob Langsdorf <mctrob at yahoo.com>, 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: Thu, Nov 4, 2010 03:00:02 GMT+00:00
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] Wilderness Press Guides going out of print - Note from	Jeff 
>Schaffer
>
>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 
>To: PCT-L ; SectionsYahooGroup PCT 
>; 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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