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

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

Oh my god! I feel like I've been kicked in the gut. Schaffer was like  
a friend to me as I hiked the trail solo. I cheered when a flowery  
phrase described the trail so perfectly. I giggled at the silly lines  
of prose that commanded me to quicken my pace or ponder something. I  
was amazed when he said I'd see baby quail and then I did. I chanted  
the word "ultramafic" every time I saw a pitcher plant. I cursed his  
name when the trail went uphill when he said it would go down. I  
called him a liar and his book the Book of Lies. My hike was so much  
enhanced by his work, he can never know. A free app simply cannot  
take the place of his book. I am sad to see these changing times.

Diane
On Nov 3, 2010, at 3:31 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> 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