View Full Version : Journals, diaries, trail logs.
I was just looking at my old journals & was wondering what everyone else does on the trail.
I’m one of those that starts out with the good intention of writing in it every day plus when something special happens and listing what each picture is of by number. I have yet to document any photo, and I write in the journal almost every day, but many times I write about the previous day on the next day. I also noticed that the longer I’m out there the less I write each day.
So I voted: I write in one, try to do it daily, but , , ,
Spirit Walker
12-16-2003, 10:50
I find that if I write at both noon and in the evening, it serves several purposes. One, at noon I have more energy, am more cheerful, and have a better memory of morning events, which can get blurred if I only write at night. In the evening I am usually more reflective and philosophical, but may be exhausted and in more of a hurry to just eat dinner and go to bed, so I try to at least get the afternoon highlights written, and do more if circumstances allow. If I write at noon, it stretches out the lunch hour, which is good, as I get more rest. Twenty minute lunches do me little good. My journal entries tend to be about a full page a day - I write big journals.
Rather than trying to describe my day, I try to write down one distinct impression. One thing that happened to me during the day that I thought important. Reading old journals that have entries like: "Hiked a long way today. Lots of up and downs. Saw a bear and ran into a few hikers," are just really boring. So, this summer I tried to pick one thing during the day and describe it well: What, really,is it like to hike through the Mojave as the sun is going down? How did the sight of the Owens valley make me feel? Why was I so foolish during my walk up of Mt. Whitney? I'm now expanding these entries onto a webpage with photos, but the process is taking a while: The entries are long, with the impressions and description of the daily events (not recorded heavily in the original journals, but expanded on the webpage).
See http://mypage.iu.edu/~chwillet/travel/PCT/
for what I mean.
I actually have three Journals. One Journal is for my section hikes on the AT. The second journal is for all of my other hikes. Finally I have a daily journal, that seldom gets written in. The latter contains things that I come across (i.e quotes, sayings, poetry) and my thoughts. The other two journals are written in after the hike. I take a small pencil and a 5" x 8" index card (folded into quarters) on my hikes to take daily notes down on. In addition I usually have another index card with a lot of notes about the trail I am hiking (distances, sights, campsites, emergencie numbers etc.) that usually has some white space to put down a couple of notes. At the end of the hike I sit down with my notes, map and trail guide and update my journal. Both hiking journals are hard bound while my daily journal is a spiral bound notebook.
Grey Owl
Footslogger
12-16-2003, 15:04
Had experience in 2001 when my wife did her thru-hike. That year I had developed and e-mail distribution list and would send out weekly "updates" based on telephone conversations which we had about every 3 - 4 days. She was gathering data on the trail for her doctorate and had her hands pretty full with that process so there's no way she would have kept a daily journal.
However, on my thru-hike this year I decided to keep a daily written journal. Prior to my hike I had begun an online journal at trailjournals.com. I would send home hand written pages about every week or two and my wife would transcribe them at trailjournals.com and upload the photos I would send her on media cards (I carried a digital camera). The local newspaper had done an intro story on me and was printing monthy updates so I was pretty much committed to keeping my journal up to date. Having said that ...I must admit that after the first 4 months or so I got lazy from time to time and fell behind. When that happened I would occasionally take a short day and sit in a shelter with pen in hand until I had caught up. My earlier entries were definitely more detailed and interesting (at least to me) than my latter ones. Once the weather changed and the days got shorter my writing really fell off. It was a struggle to create an entry for every day but I did what I could.
In retrospect I'm glad I kept a written journal. It is very interesting for me to go back and read my own accounts of each day on the trail. I had forgotten a lot of details that I had thankfully included in my journal. One thing I wish I had brought along on the hike ...and something I would consider on a distance hike in the future, would be a small tape recorder/dictaphone. Rather than having to dig out paper and pencil it would have been nice to just reach in a pocket, click the record button and capture some of my thoughts and ideas as I hiked during the day.
Anyhew ...that's my take on the whole journal thing.
Rain Man
12-16-2003, 17:22
Rather than trying to describe my day, I try to write down one distinct impression. One thing that happened to me during the day that I thought important. ... I tried to pick one thing during the day and describe it well: What, really,is it like to hike through the Mojave as the sun is going down? How did the sight of the Owens valley make me feel? Why was I so foolish during my walk up of Mt. Whitney?
NEAT IDEA....
:banana
Hiking the AT is the experience of a life time. Shame on those who don't keep a daily journal of the adventure.
Different things work for different people. Myself, I tried to jot down my thoughts whenever I stopped for a break. So, I would usually start mid morning, write some more at lunch, maybe during the afternoon, and again in the evening. Tough sometimes to write in the evening because you are tired.
Rain Man
12-16-2003, 17:38
... I write at both noon and in the evening, ...
I liked this suggestion too!!!
Spirit Walker
12-16-2003, 18:16
One thing I have tried to do, though not necessarily formally, is to think of at least three "highlights" of the day (can be lowlights too) -- things that made that day distinctive. During the day as I hiked, I would consciously note them in my mind, so that I always had something to write about. Some journals become little more than lists of mileage and food eaten. I wanted better memories than that, and besides, I've learned that I always remember the food, so I don't need to write it down ;-) During the day, I would try to hold on to the memory of the eagle flying overhead, or the squirrel carrying a baby in its mouth, or the sundog high in the sky, or the patch of ladyslippers on the way to the outhouse so that at the end of the day I could write them down. I love my journals.
When Jim and I have done dayhikes with a key exchange, I got into the habit of taking mental notes of things to share with him, since I couldn't talk to him as we hiked. When we met midway, or at the end of the day, I'd ask, "Did you see the funny .....?" Or "Guess what happened to me!" It is one way to stay more aware and alert, paying attention to the small details that really make a hike and make for happiness, and over time the days are less likely to blur together. When doing a long hike I have also spent time before going to sleep, while lying in my bag, going over some of the things that happened during the day and during the hike. I knew someone who could recite every shelter he stayed at on his AT hike -- well, someone besides Weathercarrot -- because he would go over them every night before bed.
I started writing a journal because "everyone else was" But later (after a few months post triip) I realised that many of those "Oh I will never forget that" moments are etched solidly in vapor ;) I found this out reading in my journals, on allmost every page I see something that, while not actually forgotten, was not actually remembered either.
I sure hope that someday I will be more diligent in writing thos memories down. I plan on trying to adopt the stratigy of writting at Noon & evening. Good Idea!
Things I like to write down:
Section for that day, date, times I start & end, what I ate, who I meet, how I feel, weather, where I camp (shelter, campsite, stealth site, hostel, etc.) I just ramblings.
What I actually write:
How I feel, One ""Main" thing to remember, & date. I REALLY need to work on that.
Doctari.
Kerosene
12-16-2003, 19:28
I like Chris' and Spirit Walker's idea to write about 1-3 special and unique highlights of each day.
My on-trail journal is added to pretty much every night, but I use a cryptic shorthand to keep notes, which I then expand when I write it up formally back home (I section hike for 1-2 weeks). However, I tend to fall into the "walked up this mountain, cruised down the other side and saw a big animal" type of repetitive descriptions. While they help to trigger memories of my hikes, they can't be all that interesting for other people to read.
Former Easy
12-16-2003, 20:01
As Footslogger said, keeping a journal can be tedious, and quite a few slack off as they move along and see it as less important to inform others of whats going on.
With that said I will be keeping a journal on Yahoo Groups, how long I stay up to date with it is unknown. Yahoo Groups is a great place to keep a journal since it can be downloaded in e-mail. Also if you have pocketmail or such you will not need a transcriber, IMO I feel this is the way to go. Then when you get home if you want you can move it to one of the Journal sites such as Live Journal, Trail Journals, The Journal area here, or your own Blog or webpage etc ...........
Following up on Spirit Walker, one custom I picked up along the way is called: "Grateful Four."
Every day, write down the 4 things your are most greatful for, or the 4 highlights of the day.
When with a companion, or group, this makes for good discussion at the end of the day. I now use this when backpacking with our daughter, and used it with Scouts on our backpacking adventure at Philmont last summer.
Rain Man
12-17-2003, 11:40
Following up on Spirit Walker, one custom I picked up along the way is called: "Grateful Four."
Every day, write down the 4 things your are most greatful for, or the 4 highlights of the day.
When with a companion, or group, this makes for good discussion at the end of the day. I now use this when backpacking with our daughter, and used it with Scouts on our backpacking adventure at Philmont last summer.
WOW... this thread has had some great journaling ideas, but I think this one takes the cake. GREAT proposal, and for sharing with others, too.
This is a keeper!
Rain Man
trailsnail
12-17-2003, 12:01
I always carry a journal. It has become a part of my evening ritual to write in it. It does tend to get repetitive, though. Thanks for the ideas!
I have also started carrying a small sketch book, a tiny watercolor travel set and a couple of brushes. I must admit that I don't end up using it as much as I plan to, though. Does anyone else carry drawing or painting stuff?
hungryhowie
12-17-2003, 12:25
This is a poll where I wish I could vote twice: once for "I try to, but..." and "I write in it daily, sometimes more..."
How could these two possibly go hand in hand? Because when I do write, I generally write 1-3 times per day and write pages full of interesting stuff that happens. I do it when I'm inspired to (as is the case with most of the things that get done in my life), and when I'm not inspired, my journal tends to lag behind. I had a Trailplace journal on the AT in 2000 and wrote them daily and sent them home weekly. As time wore on, I spent more time actually hiking and less time actually resting, and as a result, spent less time writing. By the time I hit mid-VA, I had stopped writing daily journals-daily and had instead turned to writing daily journals-weekly (meaning that I would often write them while in town on a rest day). This had several advantages for me at the time. When I was in town, I was typically faily well rested, my mind wasn't deep in philisophical thought, and I could easily recall all of the weeks events. By the time I hit NY, I stopped writing all together, I only kept notes in my databook (dates, interesting observations, etc). After I got home, I spent the next few weeks exausting my memory and recreating all of those enteries in my journal. Surprisingly, I there were only 1 or 2 days of which I had no memory. The other days were all fairly complete at that point, and I had photos and notes to job my memory if it needed it. One of the days of which I had no memory was in Vermont. I couldn't remember a damn thing about it. When I did the Long Trail in 2001, I made a special point of visiting the shelter that I slept in that night and the entire day came back to me plain as if I'd just relived it...really cool!
Since the AT, I have been more diligent with keeping a daily journal on my hikes. I partially attribute this to carrying a pocketmail device, which allows me to type my enteries and edit them as I do when I type anything (this post included). I can easily insert thoughts where they're needed and delete those that I find extraneous. Also, I keep an online journal with a yahoo group that enables me to post directly from a certain email address (hence, I can post them straight from the trail!).
So I guess I try to write in a journal, but....
-Hungry Howie & The New Sushi
This is a poll where I wish I could vote twice: once for "I try to, but..." and "I write in it daily, sometimes more..."
-Hungry Howie & The New Sushi
Sorry, I dindn't think of that option :-?
Doctari.
i keep a trail journal....
how else am i gonna remember all of the great things about the trail when the REST of my Memory finally goes....hehehehehehehe! ;)
see ya'll UP the trail in 2004
Brushy Sage
01-22-2004, 08:55
Now that I am doing trail maintenance in the southern Appalachians, I consult my journal when we are going to a shelter or to do work on a section of trail. I can remember when I was there, and who was along there at the same time, and it makes the construction/maintenance work all the sweeter.
I knew someone who could recite every shelter he stayed at on his AT hike -- well, someone besides Weathercarrot -- because he would go over them every night before bed.
I could do that -- but like in Rolly Muesser's book, the ability went away after six years (and rather suddenly, at that). When I hike now, I can barely remember on Wednesday where I slept on Monday... (and for that matter, I barely know it's Wednesday).
Reading SpiritWalker's note, I think I just figured out why my formerly excellent place-time memory is now shot: When I hiked the AT, I kept a journal ("HA!"), *and* a "log". The journal use died out pretty quickly, but the log (pages from a liquor store pocket calender) went all the way to Katahdin, only occasionally falling a day or three behind. In the log I recorded only the very basics (probably why it survived), such as "PlumOrchard Gap (S) to Standing Indian (S), 12.5m, 35*-55* grey day, windy. Sore in morning." Again, brevity was probably the reason it survived the entire trip.
I REALLY hope I remember this for this summer's hoped-for Cohos/AT hike, cuz I want my boys to do their own journal again -- you should see what a 6-to-7 year old's "journal" for an LT trip looks like. Pretty cool.
azchipka
02-26-2004, 13:45
I keep three journals, well in a way. I dont even know if my vote on this poll should count.
1. Trail Reports Journal ~ work based stuff
This Journal i have to write in a number of times a day. Which is why my vote is more then once a day. It contains detailed information about the trail, resources around the trail, weather, animals, traffic (ground, air, & sea). I Normaly update this 3 times a day once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. If i try and do it once a day i tend to forget stuff. Sometimes it will end up being more if something interesting happens like bears and things like that. Normaly this would be forms and not a journal but i find a journal much easier to deal with even though it means more work later.
2. Personal Journal ~ Trip based stuff ~ Different Journal for each major trip ~ Shared journal for month long or short trips.
This is really more of a diary then anything else and i tend to write in this about 5 out of 7 days. I normal skip writing on days that i spend in towns unless the mood strikes me and i just want to write. This journal can include anything from a description of the day, poems, stories, qoutes that i want to remember, special places on the trip i want to remember, drawings, leaves between pages, and all kinds of other things.
3. Work Based Notebook
_______________________________________________
I am also going to be trying something new starting with the AT and keeping a online journal at trailjournals.com and peakjournals.com. This is mainly so others can keep up with my travels across the east coast, peakjournals most likely wont end up being used till im back in wyoming. But the trailjournals.com journal will end up including information from journal 1 and a good amount from journal 2.
The largest struggle I have with my journals is finding decent looking ones that also have waterproof pages (they all go on a shelf at home), if anyone knows any good spots to pick them up please post it. :-?
eldwayno
02-26-2004, 15:27
Something Similar to PEAKS Grateful Four was what I learned at Philmont when I went in 98. It's called Thorns and Roses. While sitting around in the evening we'd go over positive things (Roses) negative things of the day (Thorns) and something we're looking forward to (Buds). It worked well and as we'd go around I'd write down everyones thorns roses and buds for the day. It was good conversation, and made for an interesting journal.
Megabite
02-26-2004, 17:06
i plan on writing often, several times a week, but not everday. of course, if something notable happens, i'll write, but if i wake up, walk eat, and sleep - there's no reason to jot down "i woke up, walked, ate, and slept" :)
then again, is it possible to have a day completely devoid of things to write about out there?
i certainly hope not!
just about 2 weeks!
http://www.walkingnorth.com
--andrew (spy)