Who's keeping a journal and where

[jjozgrunt]

I plan to keep a journal on Trail Journals and only because someone recommended it to me. A good place I suppose to stay in touch with friends and family at home. I'm also doing one for the alpine walk in Nov/Dec. I just went to do an entry for both, I have only done one so far and was having a look at some for the 2015 AT. There are some with almost 50 posts already one of 84 posts, talk about keen, they'll have finished the hike before they start.:D Love looking at the gear lists as well and there are some big heavy items being taken. :confused: I still haven't reached the minimum to have the Alpine or AT walk up yet and the Alpines less than 8 weeks away.

So are you keeping a Journal?

Where?

Post a link if you have one already.

[Aussie Legs]

I started a blog a few months ago :)
aussielegs.wordpress.com
I think the extra motivation of knowing that people back home (and people you meet along the way/stangers following you) are cheering you on will be a big help.

[AO2134]

I am in the process of creating a website which will have blogs. I don't know the purpose of this site yet. It probably will be personal and close friends though.

[KillerKarma]

I'm also going to be doing a WordPress blog on Appalachian Trials. I'll add the link after I get a few more posts done. Blogging was basically the closest thing to "low jacking" me that I'd agree to. Haha

[jimmyjam]

I have one on postholer.com look at 2015 AT journals. I have a gear list posted too.

[Speakeasy TN]

I'll be using TrailJournals again. It's a little early for me to get started though........

[Old Hiker]

I'll be using TrailJournals again. It's a little early for me to get started though........

This for me, too. 2012 first attempt. I'll probably start a second one, about 3-5 months out. Gotta figure out a unique name, though.

[2015 Lady Thru-Hiker]

I'll be using TrailJournals again. It's a little early for me to get started though........

Same here. Probably start one closer to the end of the year on TrailJournals.

[dangerdave]

DANGER'S 2015 APPALACHIAN TRAIL JOURNAL will appear soon at TrailJournals. I'll post the link when I get my third post done (required for public viewing). My wife (OIC of Quality Control and Hiker Support) has agreed to be my transcriber on Trailjournals while I'm on my thru (wonderful woman!), so I can just text or email my daily entry to her and she'll fix it up for the journal. I also plan to host a Facebook page so some of my younger Facebook lovin' friends and family can bother me while I'm busy hiking. :datz

[cats.don't.camp]

I've been blogging about state park outings and AT prep at http://catsdontcamp.wordpress.com for a while but I also just started a Trail Journals account at http://www.trailjournals.com/catsdontcamp. I was thinking I'd keep posting on the Word Press with overall views of sections and then use the Trail Journals one for day to day posts? That way my friends and family can choose which one they want to read. They can opt for just the highlights or if they really just have to know what I ate for breakfast they can find out. Only one post on TJ so far but I'm pretty sure you can see it with the direct link. I think it just needs three posts to show up in the group listings with everyone else. I could be wrong.

[JohnnySnook]

I think I will be keeping one at trailournals.com and who knows where else. I've exploring this forum almost daily and found some great stats created by MAP MAN. he has really crunched the numbers of thru hikers on the AT by following trailjournals.com.


I would suggest this as a must read for all. Some amazing info listed on thru hikers. It's really good info and it would be great to see his work continue. Just for this reason I'd suggest keeping one on trailjournals.com even if you have one somewhere else. Make sure to read the whole thing as even after the comments he keeps providing interesting stats.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?44

[mcgrabo]

Hello Aussie Legs. We live in Wallingford, VT, about 5 minutes from the trail. If you make it here, let us know if we can give you any help. Mike and Mary.

[CarlZ993]

I used Postholer.com on my blog. I liked the ability to type out an email on my smart phone & send it when I had coverage. When I played w/ TrailJournals, I had to have an actual computer to enter my daily logs.

I'm not computer savvy enough to create my own website or figure out wordpress. <sigh>

[Aussie Legs]

Hello Aussie Legs. We live in Wallingford, VT, about 5 minutes from the trail. If you make it here, let us know if we can give you any help. Mike and Mary.

Very much appreciated!! :)

[denefi]

I'll be doing a lot of writing leading up to and on the trail. I started a website about a month ago:

www.thebusquestion.com (http://www.thebusquestion.com)

I'm still building out the site, but I'm doing two posts a week right now to get the ball rolling. It has email subscription and RSS if anyone's interested in following along! I've also been in touch with Appalachian Trials (http://www.appalachiantrials.com/), and it looks like I'll be blogging for them. There will be some overlap (i.e., I'll post something to their site, then to mine 24 hours later).

I think it will be harder to put together well developed posts once I start on the trail, so I'm also toying with the idea of doing daily video updates on YouTube (search for Will Wood as an example). I'm currently working to figure out the tech side of how this would be accomplished.

I love to write and learn/teach, so that's a big part of my motivation. Also, I'm looking to switch career paths and think that this could help with my rebranding.

Is it Spring 2015 yet?!?!

[Sclark9082]

I have my journal on www.trailjournals.com/Tsquare. I start March 2 2015. Still struggling with weight of warmer gear for a cold start time

[dangerdave]

My journal is now up and running at http://www.trailjournals.com/dangerdave. I'm going to check out Tsquare's journal right now!

[JohnChris]

I've been toying with idea of blogging my thru-hike for the past few months now and I finally decided to just go for it. If anyone is interested in checking it out, I just made my first post the other day. http://www.jchikestheat.BlogSpot.com

[jimmyjam]

I'm using postholer. I tried trailjournals but postholer is much easier for me to do on my phone.

[soumodeler]

My journal is at at2015.blogspot.com (http://at2015.blogspot.com)

[Woof Shaven]

I visited and read each blog posted above. Some of these sites are very beautiful. I especially like the one blogger who started the section and bailed "Ended up bailing at Unicoi Gap at noon on Day 5" but vowed to come back and did.

I worry I'll bail on the approach trail.

I too am concerned with the weather even though I do a lot of cold weather camping. I plan to do a shake down on Indiana's longest trail system the "KeyStone Trail" or the "KT" as it is known in Indiana. Its a short trail with no reliable water sources. You have to cache your water in advance.

Keep up the good work on your blogs. I get about four visitors to my blog each day. These visitors are: My home PC, My work PC, and my mobile device. But at least I know someone out there is peaking at my stuff. Who is that single mystery reader? Pretty exciting! :)

-Woof Shaven

[dangerdave]

I'm likely going to dump my trailjournal and stick with a simple Facebook page to update friends and family. I'll write a daily journal for myself, but being chained to posting every day is not how I want to hike. This decision came after a great deal of thought.

~Danger

[jimmyjam]

I'm using postholer. I tried trailjournals but postholer is much easier for me to do on my phone.

Here's the link:
http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=c43ed05e56304c99787fbb255dd2e6 03&event_id=2297

[jred321]

I decided to do my own hosted blog utilizing WordPress. I went this approach mostly to get some experience managing a site and play a bit on the web side of things. I'm trying to post about once per week now until I leave, then I'll probably do every few days while on the trail. My mom says blogging of some kind is required so she knows I'm not dead.

http://www.oneyearolderwhenyoudo.com

[jred321]

Side note about my blog: if it looks like crap, it's because the style sheet isn't being used by your browser. If WordPress is blocked from where you are, the style sheet won't load. That's the case for me at work. Looks decent when I'm home though :)

[Woof Shaven]

I decided to do my own hosted blog utilizing WordPress. I went this approach mostly to get some experience managing a site and play a bit on the web side of things. I'm trying to post about once per week now until I leave, then I'll probably do every few days while on the trail. My mom says blogging of some kind is required so she knows I'm not dead.

http://www.oneyearolderwhenyoudo.com

I'm checking out all the blogs. Love your gear shot on What To Bring - Big Three from December 29, 2014.

I'm still shy a tent and a sleeping bag or I would be doing a Picasso on this blog.

i.e. "good artists copy, great artists steal" I will Picasso it some day, I will. :)

[jred321]

Still figuring this whole blogging thing out so positive feedback is appreciated :)

[Texaco]

I never got into the format of TrailJournals, and instead built and hosted my blog on Weebly. They're a great (and free) service, with an easy to use App so you can upload without using a web browser. www.Weebly.com - an e-mail and password are all that's needed to sign up.

I initially thought it'd be mainly for friends and family, however in the end my biggest motivation to blog daily was for the thousands of people reading... I think total viewer numbers has topped 200,000 since I published it last January. You'll be amazed at how many people wish they could do something like hike the AT, and how many of them are jealous of you doing it and eager to follow along.

For any ideas, my site is @ www.2180miles.com (http://www.2180miles.com)

[followinggrandma]

I have an AT blog on appalachiantrials.com

[Binjali]

I made one at blogspot.com, although I might mirror it to TrailJournals.

[Kiteman]

There also a web calld

www.wix.com

still trying to checke things out at this web

[Ellen_B]

It's my book blog, but I'll be posting my trail journal to the site. Quest Reviews @ http://www.questreviews.com

[SCsurf98]

I've got a blog at erikontheat.blogspot.com (http://erikontheat.blogspot.com)

[AO2134]

I created a website. It is still a work in progress, but the idea of the website is a photographic journal. I have a description of the hike, general description of how long it took and photographs of all major views, intersections, gaps, water sources, shelters, etc. I guess for other hikers it could be a way to preview your hike. The photographs have a description of the location and a mile marker.

The description of my hikes so far have been more matter of fact simply because I am trying to remember hikes I did several months ago, and also I wanted to provide a written description of the hike.

http://georgiahiker.weebly.com/

[snowcone]

I decided to go with Tumblr because it's easy to post from your phone and you can sync with Facebook. I've already started you can find my blog here! http://blrother.tumblr.com/

[gcobb1990]

I use Wordpress and have absolutely loved it. Wrote about my winter thru-hike attempt in 2009 and just kept writing after that.

Here is the link:

https://gcobb1990.wordpress.com/

[LonghornAT]

I have a trail journal here - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=18027

and a blog here - http://longhornthruhike.blogspot.com

[blackbird04217]

I'll definitely be following a few hikers through their blogs, wishing I was out there again myself, good luck to all 2015'ers!

[MountAndew]

I just started a blog at http://adventureontheat.blogspot.com/ This is my first time writing a blog, so you'll have to excuse the plain style. Hope to see some of you out there!

[Boo8meR]

I've got one that I started up a few days ago - listed in my signature. Looking forward to keeping it up - starting my NOBO trip on Wednesday. Going to try to add plenty of pictures and videos along the way.