This thread to a place for those who are grieving the loss of TrailPlace to do so. No bashing of WF or TP will be allowed.

Frolicking Dinosaurs

Thank you for setting this up. I personally appreciate it and am thankful for your understanding.

I grieve but with hope. I hope that Dan will enjoy walking the trail again--in peace.

I hope that he finds just the right person to take over and profits.

He didn't die. I hope he will be welcomed heartily in long distance hiker circles.

Peace.

~~Kinnickinic

A lot of history goes away with Wingfoot. I'm hope to hear of him hiking the trail in peace one day! He deserves it!

I will miss the man's book as it was with me always when hiking.

I have only been with the AT community since late last year, but I learned a lot of great things from trailplace, and I am quite sad to see it go.

Kirby

Over the last few weeks of being on the site, I really learned alot from the members over there. I hope that 7sisters and a few other of the helpful peeps from over there are just as helpful on this site!

I wish Dan(Wingfoot) the best and really look forward to getting my book in the mail!

His website and book helped me get excited about, plan for, hike, and process my AT thru-hike last year. His book wasn't perfect - but I thought it was better than the alternatives - at least for what I needed out of it. Trailplace.com was a good resource and, altho Whiteblaze.net is terrific, it was nice to have another option for gathering information.

I've struggled a lot with the loss of the TP community. It was a place where I enjoyed connecting with people who shared a passion for the trail. I learned a lot about the trail as well as it's history from TP. One of the biggest voids though is the community of people I met and built relationships with.

I am quite sorry to see it go. I truly wish WF the best in the rest of his life and hope peace follows him.

I'm hoping to see many of you here and will look forward to building new relationhips as well as re-establishing the old ones.

Some on White blaze have critized Wingfoot for what they perceive as not allowing free speech and having been banned from his site. Well, I have never read exactly what said individuals got banned for. Perhaps they deserved it.

People should know first that Wingfoots AT guide, the AT handbook) was and is the best out there. NIce and compact and very complete. At 24.95 or so I think it was a good deal! I still have it for souvenirs sake (the 2006 edition).

Wingfoot also was very knowledgable about the AT and offered a tremendous amount of great information. The guy actually cared about the wilderness along the AT and sought to protect it. Many thru hikers were just bar hoppers and I was amazed that some white blaze posters would not mind seeing a bunch of huge towers on Reddington.

David

And thought fairly highly of it. I will also say that I never met the man, nor had any direct interaction with him. I certainly have heard plenty about him.

That said, why did Trailplace go under? I haven't been to that site in a long time, so haven't kept up at all on trends WRT it.

This thread to a place for those who are grieving the loss of TrailPlace to do so. No bashing of WF or TP will be allowed.
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhh, i want me mommy............i want me wingfoots thru hikers handbook back now..........:eek: :datz

And thought fairly highly of it. I will also say that I never met the man, nor had any direct interaction with him. I certainly have heard plenty about him.

That said, why did Trailplace go under? I haven't been to that site in a long time, so haven't kept up at all on trends WRT it.
his frontpage said that he felt he had done his part for the trail and the trail community and it was time to move on in his life........

A lot of history goes away with Wingfoot. I'm hope to hear of him hiking the trail in peace one day! He deserves it!
yes he does................

And thought fairly highly of it. I will also say that I never met the man, nor had any direct interaction with him. I certainly have heard plenty about him.

That said, why did Trailplace go under? I haven't been to that site in a long time, so haven't kept up at all on trends WRT it.

Far as I can tell from reading the site's home page... trailplace.com did not really go under. Wingfoot just wanted to move on and focus on other priorities in his life. Maitaining the website and putting out the handbook each year is surely a lot of work.

David

Some on White blaze have critized Wingfoot for what they perceive as not allowing free speech and having been banned from his site. Well, I have never read exactly what said individuals got banned for. Perhaps they deserved it.

People should know first that Wingfoots AT guide, the AT handbook) was and is the best out there. NIce and compact and very complete. At 24.95 or so I think it was a good deal! I still have it for souvenirs sake (the 2006 edition).

Wingfoot also was very knowledgable about the AT and offered a tremendous amount of great information. The guy actually cared about the wilderness along the AT and sought to protect it. Many thru hikers were just bar hoppers and I was amazed that some white blaze posters would not mind seeing a bunch of huge towers on Reddington.

David

WELL SAID, Snickers!

Is Wingfoot going to continue putting out his handbook, or not?

Is Wingfoot going to continue putting out his handbook, or not?

On his website, when you click to buy the 2008 book, it says there isn't going to be one, but you can buy the 2007 book. That and the domain www.trailbooks.com looks like a business opportunity for someone.

I know that TP and the handbook were instrumental in my planning for a section hike through the SNP this year. Being new to the AT, TP was the first resource I found for doing a long distance hike. Over the past 7 months, I really enjoyed the information and expertise that was shared there. I hope to reconnect with some of the folks from that site, as well as connecting with some new folks here on this site.

I miss the early Dan. The Dan who was a member of the at-l and who was trying to write the ATC's version of The Philosopher's Guide. The ATML Dan, the Trailplace Dan... well, that Dan left the AT community long ago. I wish him well as he enters the next phase of his life.

Is Wingfoot going to continue putting out his handbook, or not?


If you read the website home page as it is left, you will see that publication of the thru hiker handbook is ceasing with the 2007 edition.

DavidNH

Wingfoot's finest hours in my opinion came during the fight to protect the open ridge of Saddleback Mountain in Maine in the late 1990s. The owner of the nearby ski resort had refused to allow appraisers onto the portion of the mountain it owned.

The National Park Service did an environmental assessment. The Appalachian Trail Conference pretty much gave up the fight by promptly endorsing a minimal protection option.

Wingfoot organized a massive effort involving letters to politicians and government officials, as well as internet messages to push for the maximum protection option. He didn't win all that he and many of us wanted, but both the Park Service and ATC praised his effort as helping achieve the best protection politically possible.

I forget the precise figures but by far most of the letters urging protection of the mountain came from Wingfoot's efforts. And except for a last minute flurry of pre-printed post cards supporting the ski area, most of the communications both for and against protection came from Wingfoot's very skillful efforts.

One Public Relations professional later told me that Wingfoot had achieved "easily the most sophisticated use of the internet" he had ever seen. No internet lobbying that I've seen since measures up to that effort organized and promoted by Wingfoot nearly a decade ago now.

Essentially, Wingfoot devised an interactive questionaire and a program that assembled the answers into a coherent letter that was distributed to government agencies and politicians.

When the ski area tried to hijack the effort by using it to support ski lifts on the summit ridge, Wingfoot added a provision that quietly filtered out the negative letters. One internet site in Maine chortled about how they were using Wingfoot's efforts to defeat him. He and I chuckled also, knowing that none of their letters were getting through his filter.

This was an amazing effort that I would love to see duplicated in support of the trail, but, sadly never have.

Weary

:-? Gifts ? Lower left of his Farewell page has a link where you can make a "gift" to him as a Farewell. Checks and credit cards accepted.

I admire WF for his passion for the AT. There are people he has helped.
He has a style all his own, all his own. His books helped me in 1996.

I doubt he will be gone from the "AT Project" long.

Good luck to him. I wish him all the best.

Post not appropriate for this thread

That said, why did Trailplace go under? I haven't been to that site in a long time, so haven't kept up at all on trends WRT it.

I had traded Pm's back and forth with Dan over the past 4 months or so and he had indicated that he no longer had a passion to continue fighting for the trail, as he felt that the next generation coming up didn't have the same respect and attitude that AT had originally be envisioned with. He felt that the modern conveniences had become a bit intrusive, and I think he felt the same changes in the trail community that those of us who started hiking the AT many years ago. I know it's not the same experience for me as it was in 1988 when I started on the trail. I was surprised that he closed so soon, as he had talked of announcing it around Labor Day. He has apparently found a new passion, and I know that he carries a burden in taking care of 2 elderly parents. Will he return? No one knows for sure but WF, but whatever he does I wish him Happy Trails and Blue Skies. God Bless You Dan, you'll be missed.

I'll always remember that he hosted my journal in 2000. That was enormously helpful for me, since he was about the only site with journals at the time.

I called him to wish him well. I got his message machine.

WF's decision is like that of many trail maintainers. At some point, even the staunchest trail volunteer moves on. That's why it's so important that others step up and fill the void left when folks move on.

Wow, guess I missed something - took a week or two away from the internet, and when I came back, Trail Place was gone! I was really just beginning to enjoy my time spent there. I just had a nice section hike this past weekend and was thinking as it occurred how I looked forward to sharing it with the other members when I got back. Kind of disappointing to see it so abruptly gone. Guess it will be shared with you guys, now! Hopefully I will adjust to the WB forum soon.

Guess it will be shared with you guys, now!
Welcome to WhiteBlaze, Skinny Minnie! :welcome

Welcome to WhiteBlaze, Skinny Minnie! :welcome

above post pending deletion by fd........:eek: :D

I miss the early Dan. The Dan who was a member of the at-l and who was trying to write the ATC's version of The Philosopher's Guide. The ATML Dan, the Trailplace Dan... well, that Dan left the AT community long ago. I wish him well as he enters the next phase of his life.

===================================

Yeah, that's pretty much the "Dan" that I met and knew. I miss the "original" Trailplace.com with interactive chat (eventhough it did get out of control sometimes - until Dan put his foot down).

I'm up in Stratton, ME right now hiking the Rangeley to Monson section and happy to say that the Thru-Hikers Handbook pages are in my trusty ziplock bag. Speaking of which ...I personally think that a very significant loss (if not THE most significan loss) on a practical level is Dan's Handbook. Say what you want about it but the Thru-Hikers Handbook is recognized and carried by most of the hikers I know. If nothing else survives Wingfoot's contributions I for one wish that the Handbook could somehow live on. Short of that I would only say that nothing lasts forever and if Dan has chosen to move on to bigger/better/different things MORE POWER TO HIM !!

Thanks for the memories Dan and best of fortune wherever your path takes you ...

'Slogger

I'm new to the A.T. (my first section hike was the summer of 06 in the Whites and I just got home after another section hike on the AT Aug.9th), but I found Dan to a very interesting person, his book very helpful and the TP website to be an excellent source of information. I also trully enjoyed reading posts by individuals I grew to respect on TP (such as 7 sisters, among others). With all that said, I'm also happy to have found WB.

Wingfoot's finest hours in my opinion came during the fight to protect the open ridge of Saddleback Mountain in Maine in the late 1990s. The owner of the nearby ski resort had refused to allow appraisers onto the portion of the mountain it owned.

The National Park Service did an environmental assessment. The Appalachian Trail Conference pretty much gave up the fight by promptly endorsing a minimal protection option.

Wingfoot organized a massive effort involving letters to politicians and government officials, as well as internet messages to push for the maximum protection option. He didn't win all that he and many of us wanted, but both the Park Service and ATC praised his effort as helping achieve the best protection politically possible.

I forget the precise figures but by far most of the letters urging protection of the mountain came from Wingfoot's efforts. And except for a last minute flurry of pre-printed post cards supporting the ski area, most of the communications both for and against protection came from Wingfoot's very skillful efforts.

One Public Relations professional later told me that Wingfoot had achieved "easily the most sophisticated use of the internet" he had ever seen. No internet lobbying that I've seen since measures up to that effort organized and promoted by Wingfoot nearly a decade ago now.

Essentially, Wingfoot devised an interactive questionaire and a program that assembled the answers into a coherent letter that was distributed to government agencies and politicians.

When the ski area tried to hijack the effort by using it to support ski lifts on the summit ridge, Wingfoot added a provision that quietly filtered out the negative letters. One internet site in Maine chortled about how they were using Wingfoot's efforts to defeat him. He and I chuckled also, knowing that none of their letters were getting through his filter.

This was an amazing effort that I would love to see duplicated in support of the trail, but, sadly never have.

Weary

I wish that more At thru hikers were as active in protecting the trail and I include myself in this.

David

i will miss getting his thru hike hand book:cool: neo

does any one know why he is leaving his AT connections:cool: neo

Sad news, but certainly understandable.
Dan Bruce was articulate and passionate about the trail.
I hope to meet him on the trail one day.

I started at TP about two years ago when my interest in hiking in general and thru-hiking the AT in particular rose again after a 19 year hiatus. While our views on politics and religion clashed Dan was, if nothing else, a straight up flat-square, what-you-see-is-what-you-get kinda guy. And in a lot of ways I agree with his assessment of the younger generation. I'm sorry to see his site and his book go by the wayside.

One of the big reasons he is leaving the trail is to tend to a new personal calling he is having. He is going to write a book (not about the AT).

It will probably take a year or so to get done.

He said the Sat after he closed the site was the first time since the site has been running full steam that he's woken up and not had to encounter e-mail tyrades and other nasty e-mails.

Well, this is certainly sadd news. I [as others have allready said] will miss the handbook . It's always sadd to see an "old time trail person" move on , but I certainly understand. To Wingfoot/Dan---May all your trails be smooth, skys blue & true friends many ! Happy Trails ....The Desperado :)

Like most of you I was sorry to see Trailplace close since served to establish a real sense of community and certainly stimulated my own interest in the AT. Ironically I had just returned from my first section hike, a much too short four days, when I was disappointed to log on and read WF's farewell. I hope to see many of the former Trailplace members here at White Blaze in the future.

Many of us are former TP members.

Speaking for me alone, I am truly sad to see both this site and the Thruhiker's guide going by the wayside.

Giving credit where credit is very much due, I more or less owe a debt of gratitude to WF and Trailplace for helping feed my love of the AT in the early days of my growing interest of the AT.

I found TP probably two or three years prior to my first section hike on the AT when he was still posting trail journals on his site. From there, my interest grew until I finally was able to take a small group of Boy Scouts on the short section starting at Clingman's Dome and going south to Fontana Dam. It was on after that.

After discovering White Blaze two or three years ago, I stopped frequenting his site as much, sticking my nose in there periodically to see what was going on over there. I also very much enjoyed ordering my new copy of the Thru Hiker's Guide knowing full well that with the exception of revising the distance a bit here and there, there wasn't much change. But, something about the "New" copy. It is a part of my hiking experience as much as anything. Not a bash, but for me, his political ramblings was a turn off.

Anyway, much like he stated in his farewell note, a part of my hiking experience will be lost because of his decisions but I have nothing but the best in my hopes and prayers for he and his family.

Walk on Wingfoot, Walk on!!!!

:sun

I hung out with Wingfoot in 1995 for a couple of days at his house in Hot Springs, back then he was a real down to earth guy and very friendly. He never came across arrogant and he seemed to really care about the AT. I was one of the people kicked off his site from a thread about cell phones but he let me re-register so it's no drama.

Dan has done a number of thru-hikes, 7 I believe, and that's something to respect. His book was the best AT guide for the past 15 years in my opinion and it will be missed. I always found it strange how long he remained in the AT community despite not being very active in terms of hiking. I wish him well in whatever he does and I respect him for being opinionated and standing his ground for what he believes.

Sometimes you need to get away from the thing you love just to apreciate it more. Seems that he is ridding himself of everything AT, but that may be part of the process.

I learned so much from Dan/Wingfoot. He will be missed!

FWIW: until this year, I used a 97 "Handbook" with good success, so the info can still be helpful even years down the trail.

I had just finished writing a post and when I went to submit it, the website was gone. It kept me in touch with the trail when I was not on it. Trailplace will be missed. Whenever I get back between the white blazes, I feel at home. Many thanks to Wingfoot, I cannot add much new than what has been written above in this thread. To Wingfoot: " Remember, St. Paul never would have gotten to Rome, if he had not started out for Spain."

I had just finished writing a post and when I went to submit it, the website was gone..."
I was wondering who was online when it went down and how he let the people online know it was going down. Sounds like he just pulled the plug.

To quote Joni Mitchel "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone."

To quote Joni Mitchel "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone."


Didn't she also sing "Don't invite us to a beer party and then lock the bathroom door" ?

Wingfoot was a good person, when I explained what was going on in my life financially, he sent me back the check I sent him for the thru hikers handbook along with the thru hikers handbook for free, which was an amazing gift. To most people who dont know the trail, this is just a book with some numbers. But to those of us who have grown to love and respect the trail (even at 16 it is possible), the book he produced is one of the greatest things that will be remembered in his legacy, along with Saddleback and numerous other things.

The future is a series of winding roads that lead to the unknown,
Kirby

-I miss Trailplace. I'm thru-hiking next year and still do not feel like I'm at home here, on WB, like I did on TP.
- I've changed my identity and will start anew, let's see if I can navigate this maze........
-Good luck to WF!

This thread to a place for those who are grieving the loss of TrailPlace to do so. No bashing of WF or TP will be allowed.

such a huge loss. i can barely manage my daily routines. it's so sad. i may seek counseling

such a huge loss. i can barely manage my daily routines. it's so sad. i may seek counseling
Well At least we cannot be told how to grieve. I'll start by going out and (sniff) buying a new Triumph Motorcycle.

With what I know of Wingfoot, I have to come to the conclusion that he helped the trail community more than he hurt it.
Before my thru and knowing of Whiteblaze his Trailplace.com and his Thru-Hikers Planning Guide, helped in making my thru-hike a sucess.
I thank him for his help and wish him sucess in the future.

::: Dino eyes toes of non-conformist grievers :::

Off topic of grieving for trailplace

Wingfoot made info about the trail available to countless hikers over the years. If you ask anyone who has hiked the trail in the last 20 years they have heard of Dan, or his handbook, and a great many hikers, like myself, have carried it and found it very useful.

such a huge loss. i can barely manage my daily routines. it's so sad. i may seek counseling

i feel the same way, i didn't think there was anyone else out there like me.

perhaps we can start a support group together?

i feel the same way, i didn't think there was anyone else out there like me.

perhaps we can start a support group together?

yes, let's.

Off-topic - removed

Off-topic - removed

Maybe some of you all need to have your toes shortened?

Please read this before posting off-topic material to this thread:http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12441

Off-topic - removed.

Please read this before posting off-topic material to this thread:http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12441

Off-topic for this thread. Start another thread if you want to discuss

Off-topic for this thread.

Off-topic - Removed

Off Topic - Removed

This thread to a place for those who are grieving the loss of TrailPlace to do so. No bashing of WF or TP will be allowed.

i loved trailplace. even wing didn't censor this much

I was sorry to see Trail place shut down. An interesting side note is that Dan never deleted or edited any of my posts.:rolleyes:

To quote Joni Mitchel "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone."
Hmmm. The best comment yet. I rarely visited trailplace in recent months, but it was comforting to know that it was there. Trailplace was something like the Maine wildplaces.

Though few ever see them, thousands are comforted to know that they are there. I could wite a book on my thoughts on such matters, but, sadly, probably I won't.

Weary

such a huge loss. i can barely manage my daily routines. it's so sad. i may seek counseling
I can understand. I have sought counseling. I'm walking twice as many miles each day.

Off-topic - Removed

Has anyone heard more about the 'farewell party'?

The Weasel

Boo freakin' hoo. There, that's all the grieving I'm gonna do.
How long 'til it gets deleted? :banana

Folks this thread is in the Straight Forward Forum.... Please stay on topic. Those of you who have been members of WB for a while know exactly what this forum is all about and exactly why your posts have been edited. Stop the whining.

I am sorry DC - No More OT,
But I do find humor in the fact that my posts are getting deleted on WB in the TP Thread.
Cheers

i loved trailplace. even wing didn't censor this much

for those from trailplace who are truely grieving their loss, perhaps the straight forward forum will make them feel at home for a while.

Off-topic of grieving for loss of TP

Back in the day, I saw trailplace.com as just another AT orientated website. A good one, but just a website nonetheless. Now. I see how many Whiteblazers are unable to keep to the stated topic of grieving over the loss trail place.com and keeping the moderators busy getting rid of their posts (thank you moderators). I now regret the loss of Trailplace.com more than ever.

Why is it so hard for so many to keep to the stated topic of grieving for the loss of Dan Bruce's site trailplace.com? ..<snip>.... Yet there are those that just can't go 5 minutes without bashing the guy in some way.

David

Removed response to off-topic material

Off topic of grieving the loss of TP

The Thought Police are working overtime on this thread. :-?
There are other wingfoot threads. Visit them and say whatever you want. For me, "grieving" is perhaps too strong a word. But I'm always saddened when a voice on behalf of the trail is silenced -- especially a voice as strong and as wise as Wingfoot's often was.

Dan's politics were also wise, though he was terribly mistaken about how best to promulgate his views. Honest debate is always constructive -- unless, of course, one is grieving.

Sometime in the next 20 or 30 years, the conscious phase of my life is likely to end. When that happens I think my kids will prefer that folks wait a a week of two before arguing about the extent of my many faults.

Weary

This thread has outlived it's usefulness.

Thread closed.