Colin Fletcher, author of “The Man Who Walked Through Time” and “The Complete Walker,” died on Tuesday in Monterey County, California, at the age of 85.

Here’s a quote from Fletcher from a 1997 interview about a book he wrote on floating the Colorado River from its source to the ocean:

RH: It’s one of the inherent problems of being what I’m going to
very loosely call a travel writer…making places seem so appealing
that they attract visitors who lead to its not being the place that was
so appealing.

CF: Thanks for the ‘loosely.’ Now, even with this book, I
thought very seriously ahead of time about this problem. It’s difficult
to avoid specifying locations since a river is such a linear thing, but
the best parts of the river are protected somewhat. In Grand Canyon,
for example, you usually have to wait years before you can get a
rafting permit. Still, I deliberately left out a few locations I didn’t
want spoiled, and drew deliberate red herrings around others to
conceal their location. And I say so frankly in the book.

But I’m never really writing about places. I’m writing about my
feelings. I loathe guidebooks, particularly for backpacking. I used
some guidebooks on the river, so I would know where the hell the
next rapids were, but for backpacking, it’s better not to know things
from the guidebooks.

His passing is a loss to the hiking world. More on his career at wikipedia.