View Full Version : Trail Recall
Traveler
10-03-2014, 10:18
An interesting conversation came up a week or so ago relative to recalling the various trails one may have trod over the years. I had not really thought much about this until one of our group said they take a lot of picture to help them recall the trails they walk and asked what I did to remember these travels. I had to think a minute and realized I could recall most of the trails that I had walked without photo prompts.
So, this begs a question. How many of you find you have pretty firm recall on trails you have walked, even years ago, without much trouble versus needing photographs or maps to reactivate the memory?
It depends on how memorable the hike was. I still have vivid memories of a number of hikes more than two decades ago where I either didn't take any pictures or have misplaced them (these would be film cameras). But sometimes our memories play tricks on us. I had some memories of a certain part of the JMT while I was hiking the Colorado Trail this summer, but when I looked at the photos of the JMT after getting back home, I didn't have any photos that seemed to resemble that specific memory.
I have a fairly good memory for trails I've hiked and people I've met. I find that photos, combined with rudimentary daily notes that include the date, start and end points, weather, and a bit more, can help me recall a lot more.
Spirit Walker
10-03-2014, 12:49
I keep journals and they help me remember a lot more. On a long hike, a lot of the details get lost. You remember the big things, but a lot of the less dramatic places and events get lost. Even with the journals and photos, a lot of my past hikes are very distant and faint memories now.
For the most part, I can't separate the photos from the hikes. For the longer hikes I usually keep a diary. I do recall many hikes that had no photos or diaries -- but I'm not at all sure I'm recalling them correctly!
bigcranky
10-03-2014, 13:44
I think this has a lot to do with how our brains gather and process information. We've done a lot in our group at work with "natural thinking patterns (http://easychangeworks.com/articles-nlp/markova-1-intro.htm)." It's interesting stuff for sure.
Where this is relevant to hiking is that for some people, like me, physical movement makes us hyperaware. I can remember pretty much every step of every hike in the last twenty years. For my lovely wife, on the other hand, physical activity puts her into something of a mental trance, and her mind floats away -- she can't remember anything from the hikes, even when I show her pictures. For me, visual stimulus does that -- if I'm sitting in a meeting, or in a bar, and there is a TV on in the background, my mind is just gone -- I'm not watching the TV at all, but I'm also not paying any attention to the meeting :)
So I think people will have very different experiences with how they recall any particular hike.
Tipi Walter
10-03-2014, 15:48
Do you remember what you had for dinner 10 days ago? Enough said.
Of course, if a person goes out backpacking twice a year it's easy to remember what trails you have hiked. Not so easy if you hike all the time as one trail begins to look like another trail---this one on Flats Mt looks just like the trail on Pine Ridge etc.
Photos really help to jar the memory and to prove a point in forums and so I encourage people to take pics of their trips and use a photo-keyword software to get them organized. I like Smugmug.
If someone asks about Bearvaults I can quickly find the pic where a bear chewed on mine. Or if someone wants to know about my backpacking kitchen arrangement, I've got it all keyworded.
If I were to give any advice to a young person starting out,.....it would be to keep a journal and take lots of pics.
I started back in the days before digital cameras and computers. Packing a big ol' Nikon 35mm and canisters of film was out of the question.
Consequently, I have nothing but (possibly flawed) memories of trips spread over decades.
There are events and sights that I remember well but couldn't possibly tell you what year they happened.
As my gear evolved over the years I couldn't say when exactly I first got a Svea 123, Purcell trench grill, titanium pot, etc.
I started with my old Boy Scout Yucca pack, graduated to a military ALICE pack, spent a few years in beast-of-burden mode with a military behemoth CFP-90, then a Dana Designs Terraplane, started going lightweight with Dana "Bomb Pack", briefly tried an Eagle "Becker Patrol Pack", went to an Osprey Atmos 50, ULA Circuit, Arc'Teryx Naos 85, Arc'Teryx Altra 65.......and I really have no idea exactly what year these changes occurred. I can relate certain things to certain other events in my life, but without documentation it's all speculation.
If I had it to do over again I'd have a better system and keep better records.
gpburdelljr
10-03-2014, 17:06
I think this has a lot to do with how our brains gather and process information. We've done a lot in our group at work with "natural thinking patterns (http://easychangeworks.com/articles-nlp/markova-1-intro.htm)." It's interesting stuff for sure.
Where this is relevant to hiking is that for some people, like me, physical movement makes us hyperaware. I can remember pretty much every step of every hike in the last twenty years. For my lovely wife, on the other hand, physical activity puts her into something of a mental trance, and her mind floats away -- she can't remember anything from the hikes, even when I show her pictures. For me, visual stimulus does that -- if I'm sitting in a meeting, or in a bar, and there is a TV on in the background, my mind is just gone -- I'm not watching the TV at all, but I'm also not paying any attention to the meeting :)
So I think people will have very different experiences with how they recall any particular hike.
I can relate to that When I get together with my 2 sisters and 2 bothers and we start talking about some event from our childhood, you would think we were from different families. We all remember the event quite differently.
I definitely agree that a journal is essential. I've been keeping a daily journal for all of my hikes since I started backpacking again and I've already gone back and read some of the earlier journals. It really helps to have the journal along with the photos to cross reference.
I often hike while listening to my ipod. An unexpected thing has occurred. There are several songs that I can play that instantly transport me back to that section of trail where I heard that song. Even if I can't remember exactly where it is, it is like hiking those miles all over again. :)
When I first saw the title of this thread I thought GM must have built a trail or 2. But seriously while I may not remember every detail of each hike I do remember highlights and low lights of each trip. Fortunately there are many more great memories that bring a smile when they cycle through the brain and that is why I think we all go.
fiddlehead
10-03-2014, 20:27
Here and Now Boys.
Here and Now!
rocketsocks
10-03-2014, 21:23
I often hike while listening to my ipod. An unexpected thing has occurred. There are several songs that I can play that instantly transport me back to that section of trail where I heard that song. Even if I can't remember exactly where it is, it is like hiking those miles all over again. :)
Think they call that a "Flash Back" Daddy-o. Happens with olfactory settings as well. ;)
jimmyjam
10-03-2014, 22:02
makes me think of that movie Total Recall
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Traveler
10-04-2014, 08:28
I think this has a lot to do with how our brains gather and process information. We've done a lot in our group at work with "natural thinking patterns (http://easychangeworks.com/articles-nlp/markova-1-intro.htm)." It's interesting stuff for sure.
Where this is relevant to hiking is that for some people, like me, physical movement makes us hyperaware. I can remember pretty much every step of every hike in the last twenty years. For my lovely wife, on the other hand, physical activity puts her into something of a mental trance, and her mind floats away -- she can't remember anything from the hikes, even when I show her pictures. For me, visual stimulus does that -- if I'm sitting in a meeting, or in a bar, and there is a TV on in the background, my mind is just gone -- I'm not watching the TV at all, but I'm also not paying any attention to the meeting :)
So I think people will have very different experiences with how they recall any particular hike.
Excellent point and one I'd not considered. In a complex environment like forest walking, there is a lot going on when you think about it, requiring about as much information processing as the human mind can perform in a single scan.
I have trod hundreds of different trails, to the tune of about 500 to 700 miles a year for many decades now. For some reason I have fairly accurate recall of all of these trails if I think of a region of the US (dates can be hazy though). My lovely wife can get lost going to the mail box but has a mind like a steel trap for birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates. I never considered the complex environment facet tied with hyperawareness, which may explain why I can remember trails, but have less success remembering road trips or what I had for supper last week.
garlic08
10-04-2014, 08:31
I agree with Big Cranky and others that it's all about how we process information, and that's different for everyone. For some, an odor or a bird's call can bring back buried memories. For me, it's writing. If I write it down, I remember it--period. That goes along with all the comments about journaling. On my AT hike, I walked with a partner. I kept a journal, he didn't. As we met other hikers and talked about where we'd stayed or favorite bits of trail, he was always amazed that I could remember things from months ago in detail. It's only because I wrote about it.
As far as photos go, a few years ago I downsized and purged a bunch of old stuff and about 100 pounds of old photos was easy to let go. I looked through them, kept a few, and most of them meant absolutely nothing to me--just another group of people "on a mountain/in the wood/by a lake/in the snow." The photos all look the same to me. The ones I kept were mostly taken by others, a testament to my own photography skills. So I don't even carry a camera anymore.
In my dotage, I will treasure the journals and stories.
Sometimes if I'm having a hard time sleeping I will think of a hiking trip and bring back at least one memory from each place I pitched my tent for the night for each day of hiking. I can still do it for all my section hikes for the last nine years -- when I started backpacking. That's probably around 150 nights on the trail. I notice that nights toward the end of a section hike are harder to recall than nights toward the beginning when I was fresher. My longest hikes have been two weeks and I suspect that if I ever do a months long thru-hike that this mental exercise will be close to impossible, unless I have photos or journals to aid me.
By the way, this is a very pleasant experience and I often fall into contented sleep quickly when I do this.
edit: Interestingly, I can remember campsites better than I can remember the hikes between the campsites, sometimes.
+1 on all that, MapMan, so I'm not the only person that plays this mental game. I guess we choose what we wish to remember. Some of us choose to remember the times spent on the trail. Sometimes when I re-visit sections of trail it seems my memory was not quite right -- and other times, it's clear that the trail has changed.
rocketsocks
10-04-2014, 12:51
I'm gonna use a quote from "Kayak Karl" which I think sums up my take on memory recall.
Often...
"I don't know if I've found a rope, or lost my horse" :D
I can remember every trail I hiked on but Pictures/videos does help to remember places and faces and certain days. Among Hundreds of Pics, I still got all of my AT Companion's from all three of my thru-hikes, I marked in each one where I camped which shelter I stayed in, which town i went in and other info, it's nice to flip through them and relive those days.
Sure most folks can remember days of hiking but it's nice to have some kind of aid to remember those days.