End of an Era

Will – you were one of the main reasons I was a member of BPL for 5 years.

Have fun in your retirement. No doubt much of it will be spent in the mountains.

You're contributions will certainly be missed, Will. You have given us many a good writeup, much objective information. It will be difficult for BPL to replace you and Janet. Thanks for what you've done.

Will, thanks for all you've done for the BPL community. Your articles will be missed.

Enjoy retirement!

Will,
Good Luck and Happy Trails! Your work in retirement surpassed most people in their careers.
Thank You for giving us the information we needed to make intelligent gear decisions, and at the very least, the information we needed to justify adding new gear to the closet!

NO! Say it isn't so. WilliWabbit and Janet are hopping away. What a terrible loss. Your in-depth reviews will be sorely missed.

Best wishes on your new ventures down the bunny trail.

Will,

Thank you so much for all you've done in making BPL a great resource for UL gear info. I've enjoyed reading your articles and test results immensely. Your insight has been invaluable to me as someone who came to BPL and ultralight backpacking relatively recently (about 4 years ago). I wish you all the best in this next chapter in your life.

Kendall

Thanks for your detailed reviews of some great gear. I learned so much from you!!!!!

Enjoy the fun days ahead of you.

Will & Janet, I want to thank you for the conscientious work you have put into testing piles of UL gear. I've enjoyed reading your reviews over the 5+ years I've been a member. Half of what's in my gear closet is there due to your recommendations!

Enjoy your well deserved retirement butknow that you will be missed!

What a shock! I'm going to miss your wonderful reviews, Will. Perhaps some of the best gear reviews I've ever read anywhere. Your articles were part of the reason I kept coming back, and I still go back to your articles again and again to relearn something or refine how I think about certain gear or techniques. You will be sorely missed.

You have both been an inspiration to me–older folks who get out and far away a lot and are crazy knowledgeable gearheads. Have fun.

What a loss for us, but a gain for you two. Your gear reviews will be missed.

Happy trails.

Best to you Will and Janet – your words will continue to inform and inspire us as we venture back outdoors as well.

Will and Janet, you'll be missed!

Here's wishing you a happy and active retirement! Enjoy!

"We don't stop hiking because we get old; we get old because we stop hiking." (Finis Mitchell)

"What a shock! I'm going to miss your wonderful reviews, Will. Perhaps some of the best gear reviews I've ever read anywhere. Your articles were part of the reason I kept coming back, and I still go back to your articles again and again to relearn something or refine how I think about certain gear or techniques. You will be sorely missed."

Exactly what I wanted to say, only much beter expressed. +100

This is a real body blow to BPL.

I wish you and Janet many, many years of happy hiking.

Fare thee well Will and Janet. May your future trails be numerous and happy (or at least interesting).

I stumbled upon your Southwest Ultralight Backpacking web site very early in the search for info about lightening my pack and your mention of Bozeman Mountain Works Air Core line led me to BPL where, at that time, the forum formerly known as G-Spot was limping along at the anemic rate of a couple dozen postings per week.

I've found almost all of your articles useful and interesting, even when dealing with something I was not interested in … have gained many tidbits of info that helped my in other areas. The ultra light winter footwear series revolutionized my winter hiking and snow shoeing.

Say it isn't so!

Good luck and bon voyage.

HJ

Best wishes and thank you for all of your work with BPL.

Please know that you will be missed here. I always read your reviews, absolutely the best on the site.

Will!
It's been a pleasure working with you. The time and effort you put into every single review (or mini review!) was unmatched. I hope you'll enjoy your actual retirement, and put in some good trail miles (without the extra weight 9 pieces of the same type of gear to review!)

Thanks for everything!

You'll be missed. The in depth SOTM reports and gear reviews were my favorites. Even if you weren't reveiwing the exact peice of gear I was using or considering your scientific approach and well organized articles still gave me useful information that I could apply in othe areas (The in depth review of frameless packs was one of the best and helped me improve my MYOG packs in a big way).
I wish you two well in your actual retirement but it will leave a big hole here.

Hi Will and Janet-

Thank you for all the work you've both put into BPL over the years. Your body of work is unmatched and you two can never be replaced here. I'm gonna miss you sorely, but I hope we can still get together for our Winter hikes. The snow is on its way… :-)

Will,
A heartfelt thanks for all the great work you have done on our collective behalf. As others have noted, your insightful articles and comments on BPL have kept me coming back here.
Best wishes to you and Janet.
-Mark

Will and Janet, have always appreciated your very intelligent, well-organized, helpful reviews. Have definitely learned a lot from you. I hope your retirement is rewarding and rich; also hope that you will continue to participate here in some form, as you are an extremely valuable part of the community. Best wishes for all future trips and projects.

Will,

Does this mean you can now finally tell us where all the really great hiking spots are in the Weminuche?

Have fun in retirement!

I will really miss your articles, which have been my favorite feature writing on BPL – well written and full of good information and wise insight. Thank you for all the fine work, and enjoy many many years of hoofing it down the trail unencumbered by the need to review the gear you're using!

Debbie