View Full Version : "Center for Appalachian Trail Studies"
Navigator
08-28-2005, 15:33
"Center for Appalachian Trail Studies"
What exactly is it! What does it "Study"! and who benefits from the profits of the Thru-hikers Handbook? Does this money benefit the AT or an individual. Is it a non-profit organization, and if so, how do I obtain a copy of their yearly financial report? I have a curiosity itch that needs to be scratched!
Lone Wolf
08-28-2005, 15:35
It's a bedroom in Wingfoot's house.
Hikerhead
08-28-2005, 16:00
It's a little smaller than the White Blaze Center for Appalachian Trail Studies, which has a north and south campus. :)
Freighttrain
08-28-2005, 16:25
why pave a road if others pave it for you? j/k i would doubt he is a non profit tho....
Pacific Tortuga
08-28-2005, 18:02
Hey, why dont you ask the democrates what the republicans are all about or protastants about catholics ? Asking this interesting site and its deeply profound members about the "Center for Appalacian Trail Studies" will certainaly bring out the truth. I dont feel you could handle the truth or your search question would begin with the ATC and Trailplace.You should know that most donations and hours logged with trail crews are public record. Wingfoot has more integrity and love for the AT than you'll ever see from 95% of this group. The posts at W.B. for the most part are well thought out and informative but there seems to be a large amount of fellow hikers trying to pull the splinter out of everyones elses eye. Go ahead and cheat a neighbor or a friend you can justify in the end,say what you want,talk is cheap and understanding optional
max patch
08-28-2005, 18:10
"Center for Appalachian Trail Studies"
What exactly is it! What does it "Study"! and who benefits from the profits of the Thru-hikers Handbook? Does this money benefit the AT or an individual. Is it a non-profit organization, and if so, how do I obtain a copy of their yearly financial report? I have a curiosity itch that needs to be scratched!
Don't feed the troll.
Jack Tarlin
08-28-2005, 18:22
Your post was unclear....So Wingfoot has more love for the Trail and more integrity than 95% of the folks who are on Trail crews or are associated with the ATC?
What planet are you from? And where do you get off making such a ridiculous statement?
Or are you referring to the folks here at W.B.?
In either case, you're way off base.
Keep in mind that while I'm glad you used your first post here at Whiteblaze to criticize the site and the folks who frequent it, let's pretend the situation were reversed, and someone from this site went over to Trailplace and immediately started ripping the site on THEIR first visit.
You know what? That initial post would immediately disappear, and the person who posted it would be permanently banned. They're not too keen on criticism over there.
Sorry you don't think things are perfect over here at W.B., pal, but keep in mind you're at least ALLOWED to have your say here, and you're encouraged to come by anytime.....even with complaints and criticisms. That alone should point out a world of difference between that other site and this one.
Something for you to think about, perhaps.
TJ aka Teej
08-28-2005, 20:26
"Center for Appalachian Trail Studies"
What exactly is it! What does it "Study"! and who benefits from the profits of the Thru-hikers Handbook? Does this money benefit the AT or an individual. Is it a non-profit organization, and if so, how do I obtain a copy of their yearly financial report? I have a curiosity itch that needs to be scratched!Welcome, Navagator.
You can email Wingy at
[email protected] . If he answers your questions truthfully, he will say that "The Center" is just him alone, and he is the person that profits (albeit not greatly) from the donations he solicits and the book he sells. I'm sure during your thru you heard some talk about him, mostly gossip flavored with a few facts. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt, from both the gossips and from Wingy himself.
the goat
08-29-2005, 10:35
Ditto Jack's comments on previous post....
....as for wingnut, i love to rip on him & his self-aggrandizing tendancies as much as the next thruhiker, but his book is pretty useful. also... it is legal to take a salary even if you're running a non-profit.
i found wingnut's book much more useful than the data book, and i've never understood why the ATC doesn't publish a better book to put wingnut out of business. be that as it may, i figure wingnut deserves every penny of the profits from his book. (but if i ever meet him on the trail and he asks to check my permit, i'll change my opinion)
Wingfoot has more integrity in the end,say what you want,talk is cheap and understanding optionalWas this the same integrity that had him re-issue an old work book in 1998 with the words '"NEW AND REVISED" on the cover when in fact it was the exact same as the previous early nineties edition? I bought it and was angry he lied on the cover to generate sales. I emailed him and complained and he launched into an email tirade about how little he makes on each copy and what a jerk I was to think he was getting rich.
I didn't care how much he made per book. I only cared that he said the book was revised and it wasn't. It was the same one I have bought years earlier.
From this I have to say that he has little integrity.
TrailSweeper
08-29-2005, 15:46
Wingfoot has more integrity and love for the AT than you'll ever see from 95% of this group.
I can guarantee that I have spent more hours on the end of a pulaski than he has, but I guess that doesn't give me any integrity.
Navigator
08-29-2005, 18:20
Thank you TJ for actually providing some info. I have tried to get info but to no avail.I did not open the thread to slam WF.I have used his book in the past, don"t like the new format, but still useful. Most of you are the ones slamming him, not me!
I will remember in the future not to ask any questions that do not deal with the AT directly in the hopes of not offending anyone.
Navigator
08-29-2005, 18:30
For the moderator: Please remove my post. i did not realize the sensitivity of the subject or of the users.
Thank you
Your post was unclear....So Wingfoot has more love for the Trail and more integrity than 95% of the folks who are on Trail crews or are associated with the ATC?
What planet are you from? And where do you get off making such a ridiculous statement?
Or are you referring to the folks here at W.B.?
In either case, you're way off base.
Keep in mind that while I'm glad you used your first post here at Whiteblaze to criticize the site and the folks who frequent it, let's pretend the situation were reversed, and someone from this site went over to Trailplace and immediately started ripping the site on THEIR first visit.
You know what? That initial post would immediately disappear, and the person who posted it would be permanently banned. They're not too keen on criticism over there.
Sorry you don't think things are perfect over here at W.B., pal, but keep in mind you're at least ALLOWED to have your say here, and you're encouraged to come by anytime.....even with complaints and criticisms. That alone should point out a world of difference between that other site and this one.
Something for you to think about, perhaps.Jack, I appreciate your comments very much, I know you have defended Dan Bruce when he has been unfairly attacked and your comments here are thoughtful, truthful and well thought out. Love for the trail cannot be measured and everyone shows it in a different way. To say Wingfoot cares more about the trail than anyone else is a very immature and stupid coment.
After trailplace this is a very fair ond open forum.
Ditto Jack's comments on previous post....
....as for wingnut, i love to rip on him & his self-aggrandizing tendancies as much as the next thruhiker, but his book is pretty useful. also... it is legal to take a salary even if you're running a non-profit.
Trailplace never used to be a nonprofit, and as far as I know still isn't. I forget the reason Wingfoot gave when I asked, but it had something to do with his philosophy about having a forum that reflects his vision of the trail -- rather than the vision of a nonprofit board of directors.
Wingfoot has strong opinions and a strong love for the trail. I have met the man a couple of times and talked with him on the phone several times, especially during the Saddleback fight of a few years ago.
Wingfoot is one of those lucky people whose job is also his love and his hobby. He is also one of those unlucky people whose income from his love of the trail and his trail hobby as near as I can tell is pretty marginal.
And yes, his strong opinions and his unwillingness, at times, to allow contrary views also diminishes what otherwise would be a strong and valuable leadership role for the trail to which he devotes most of his waking hours.
Weary, enroute to Olympia National Park with stops along the way.
trailplace
HappyAppy
08-30-2005, 16:36
Whew-there ia a big brew going on at TP under "First you see it then you don't" debating the reality of the Eastern Continental Trail. I had to leave!:banana
Lone Wolf
08-30-2005, 16:37
There is no ECT. Pretty simple.
Jack Tarlin
08-30-2005, 17:11
The "Eastern Continental Trail" is the name given by some to describe a group of separately marked and maintained hiking Trails that taken together, go thru Eastern North America (see http://internationalat.org/Info/SIAIAT_PDF/ECT.pdf)
However, Lone Wolf is 100% correct: There is no such actual entity as a completed and defined "'Eastern Continental Trail" at the present time, and those who wish to believe otherwise are engaged in wishful thinking.
Jack Tarlin
08-30-2005, 17:12
Whoops. Try that link with a "www.internationalat.org" in it and it should work.
Buckingham
08-30-2005, 18:29
i found wingnut's book much more useful than the data book, and i've never understood why the ATC doesn't publish a better book to put wingnut out of business. be that as it may, i figure wingnut deserves every penny of the profits from his book. (but if i ever meet him on the trail and he asks to check my permit, i'll change my opinion)Sorry Mingo, but as the unnofficial internet moderator, I must ask to see your posting permit:banana