zen and technology on the trail.

[hikerboy57]

this isnt a criticism of people who rely on technology on the trail, i just want to express my own feelings and invite discussion.

i carry a phone with me. it is almost always turned off . many times it doesnt get a signal anyway,so i can usually wait until i can get into town.i have been backpacking since the middle seventies,have hiked thousands of miles on hundreds of trails, including about half of the at as a section hiker. up until a few years ago, i never carried a phone at all, and never felt i should have brought one.ive taken trips without a camera as well, and some of those trips were my most memorable.for me, personally, the need to stay connected would keep me from the most intimate moments the forest can give me.you cant look for the easy way out evry time it rains, snows or gets cold, and call for a shuttle at the next trailhead. the more you stay out in it, the more you know"i can do this" even when you wake up to your third or fourth consecutive day of rain, that you've done it before and it really wasnt that bad.

when you hike solo, within the first few miles, you get into a steady rhythm ,walking and breathing, and just as in meditation, your thoughts begin to fall away, and you are just walking, just being experiencing directly your environment.as you continue to put on miles, you experience an endorphin rush,"runners high" from the physical exertion of climbing up and down hills with a pack on your back.between runners high and rythmic breathing, yuo get into a zen state of being totally in the present moment.there have been many trips i didnt even bring a camera, wanting to just have the experience and keep it stored in my own memory, rather than stop every time i saw a "good shot".when you're mind stops thinking, you have some very personal moments, maybe observing a hummingbird feeding, or a broad wing hawk circling, or seeing a bald eagle soar, all without putting words to it, without affixing the label "eagle soaring". just being, just experiencing that moment.

im not saying you cant have these moments and still keep a trail journal, or read a kindle, or surf the web, or use your phone.hey hyoh, like they say, but i do feel there are some who are missing out.with their heads buried in their phones, paying no attention to all the miracles occurring all around them. i feel those that do become so reliant to use the phone as a tool to make the trail somehow easier are missing the point.its acceptance that the trail is what it is, you cant change it, you cant change the weather, you can only change your attitude as to how you deal with it. sometimes its right to cut and run, sometimes its better to fight through the suck and look back and say, wow, that was cool.
but one of the things that keeps me coming back to the trail is the ability to shut it all off, and just be here now.

how do you see technology fit into your trip and your experience?

[Hill Ape]

Headlamp and camera, nothing else with a battery for. I carried a shuffle for awhile.

[Rasty]

Very limited use

One phone call per day if I have a signal to the wife. Kindle app for 20 minutes before sleeping unless Hikerboy reads me a bedtime story.

[Malto]

I will always have a phone for various purposes. The one use that I have mixed emotions about is listening to music. I often do because it really gets me into a nice rythem. On the other hand I miss out on one of the senses. The compromise I made was to limit headphones to times that aren't as "noisy" and go back in nature mode in the early morning and evening.

On my thru hike I did keep a journal on postholer. I would attempt to download the entries if I had cell reception but I rarely would surf the net or talk to anyone other than my wife every few days. To me this seemed like a technogolical invasion. While I am very thankful that I have a well document thru hike, I'm not sure that I will when I do another thru.

[hikerboy57]

I will always have a phone for various purposes. The one use that I have mixed emotions about is listening to music. I often do because it really gets me into a nice rythem. On the other hand I miss out on one of the senses. The compromise I made was to limit headphones to times that aren't as "noisy" and go back in nature mode in the early morning and evening.

On my thru hike I did keep a journal on postholer. I would attempt to download the entries if I had cell reception but I rarely would surf the net or talk to anyone other than my wife every few days. To me this seemed like a technogolical invasion. While I am very thankful that I have a well document thru hike, I'm not sure that I will when I do another thru.

thats kinda whats happened to me with the camera. on a lot of my hikes i just leave it now.i just want the experience.

[Dogwood]

I understand what you said, share your perspective, hike much the same way, and for the same reasons you do Hikerboy. It may be hard for some but just having technology on the trail doesn't necessarily mean you(I) have to let it dominate or intrude on your(my) hike from a personally carrying it perspective. Now, what technology other's carry and do with it definitely can affect another hiker's experience. I try to be mindful of that if and when I carry a cell ph, Mp3 player, and/or small digital camera on trail, and when or if I'm using these devices. I'm finding it more and more to my liking though to not carry a camera. I figure I really can't fully express what I'm experiencing by trying to share it with others when I take photos anyhow. It's more for myself. On my last hike my camera was stolen from my backpack when I was resupplying at a grocery store anyhow. I thought that would drastically negatively impact the rest of that hike but I quickly found it helped in some ways. On my last 500 mile hike I used my TracPhone 3-4 times all when getting off/back onto the trail. My mp3 player music in many ways is not a distraction though as I think it helps me hike at times(in the rain and heat, when it's buggy, going steeply up hill, on cruise control going downhill or when on flatter terrain, etc). When I think it detracts from the hike, like when I'm at a stream, waterfall, I spot wildlife, I stop at an overlook, I hear birds singing, I'm doing cloud surveys, etc I turn it off. I'm really NOT into staying within myself when I hike. If, for a moment, I think technology is detracting from the hiking experience it gets put away pronto. I feel many hikers, perhaps even myself at times, having technology can ABSOLUTELY detract from connecting with nature, ourselves, others, etc REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT EACH WANTS TO ADMIT IT TO OURSELVES though. That can be telling in itself. People are sometimes not into being honest with themselves when it comes to what we're possibly addicted to. It's easier to get defensive, explain away, justify, rationalize, and pt fingers at others rather than being honest with ourselves and getting sober. IMHO technology and electronics can definitely be addictive. Often we aren't aware of it to the chagrin of the technological and electronics drug dealers.

[hikerboy57]

dogwood a lot of this holds true off the trail as well as on it.i see couples at dinner tables,typing instead of enjoying each others company. i see people whos lives are controlled by their devices. theres nothing wrong with all these tools, they are tools, though. they have their place.many kids today have never known another way to live than being wired 24/7. i would just like to suggest that leaving the toys at home for a while can be extremely liberating.
and when i get bored i talk to myself. as evidenced by over 10000 posts here in just over 3 years, i have a lot to say.
and im a good listener

[MuddyWaters]

I carry a dumb phone, might use it to send a text at night to family if I can get a signal, if not no big deal.
14 days this summer in the mountains, 100% charge when I came out.

I also carry a camera, I take very few pics. A single battery charge in it will last me a couple weeks.

I have carried a small MP3 player(sansa clip) a few times. When it can get a FM station, its good for picking up weather forecast from a nearby station. Much of the time, not much reception.

I dont really care what anyone else brings. On the trail or not, I think too many people are addicted to having their stupid toy in their hand every waking minute today.

[Old Boots]

I'm with you HB. Part of the joy of being in the wilderness is getting in touch with and celebrating the primitive side of me.

[hikerboy57]

im hoping the primitive side is facing away from me

[shelterbuilder]

I, too, carry a cell phone, but it's turned off most of the day. It's mostly a concession to my wife (in the aftermath of vocal cord cancer that robbed me of my voice). We can text each other several times a day, and she is lots less worried about me going out "alone in the big, bad woods"! But HB is right when he talks about the Zen of hiking - the rhythm of breathing, walking, being "in the moment", the music of the wind in the trees, the birds, water racing downhill. The phone, the camera, and the flashlight are the only "powered" intrusions that I allow.

[Theosus]

I keep my phone in its ziplock bag in my packs dome, turned off. I do keep a camera clipped to my shoulder strap, and love to take pictures, but I don't rush to get them posted at night or anything, that can wait until I'm back. My other toy is a GPS, because I Geocache while I hike. Some of my fellow hikers don't understand my sudden need to "pee" 120 feet west of the trail, at the base of the multi-trunked tree, but they put up with me.
And to the "your phone will do all that!" crowd... I've yet to see a phone that will last for two days in navigation mode without a battery change, or a phone camera with a real (optical, not digital) zoom. Plus, I'd rather dunk my $150 camera in the creek than my phone. The gps? Meh, it's waterproof, as two days in the pouring rain proved.

[Feral Bill]

As to electronic technology, I carry a watch and a camera. Neither needs to be electronic, but they are, and they suit me.

[Wise Old Owl]

Hb they are tools - some carry a screwdriver others have a battery operated multi tool... its your choice... no need for justification or understanding.. There are a few here who will continue to rub two sticks together to start a fire and use smoke signals to communicate.

[hikerboy57]

Hb they are tools - some carry a screwdriver others have a battery operated multi tool... its your choice... no need for justification or understanding.. There are a few here who will continue to rub two sticks together to start a fire and use smoke signals to communicate.

of course they are tools, thats my point.
do your tools take away from the direct experience i described?do you feel they accentuate your experience?how frequently do you use your devices on the trail?

[tiptoe]

I carried a "stupid" cell phone hiking for the first time last spring, a concession to family worries about a broken ankle two years ago. It was off mostly, and I texted my probable evening location when I had service. I do carry a camera, but use it sparingly. Hikerboy57, I share your feelings about electronic devices. Hiking is a wonderful opportunity to be "in the moment, and I treasure the opportunity to focus without distractions.

[Old Hiker]

"when you hike solo, within the first few miles, you get into a steady rhythm ,walking and breathing, and just as in meditation, your thoughts begin to fall away, and you are just walking, just being experiencing directly your environment.as you continue to put on miles, you experience an endorphin rush,"runners high" from the physical exertion of climbing up and down hills with a pack on your back.between runners high and rhythmic breathing, you get into a zen state of being totally in the present moment."

And then someone behind you says, "Hi." You suddenly find you CAN jump 3 feet with 45 pounds on your back.

Cell phone is turned off until contact time. Camera is a true blessing - 2-8 gig cards, never filled up. I can look back through the photos and suddenly remember the area, the smells, the sights, sounds, feel of the place(s) I was at. My memory is such that I can't really recall things unless prompted. I take pills, but they don't work. I think I forget to take them, not sure.

I'm thinking of some sort of music next time. I have over 400 songs in a constantly added to list to record. Everything from "25 or 6 to 4 " to "Youth gone wild ". Alphabetically, of course.

I like looking at other people's videos and photos as well. I like seeing the places I missed or got another angle of.

[garlic08]

I met a guy on the Wonderland Trail with a camera in his hands, exclaiming, "Good--my battery just died. Now I can enjoy the hike." That was a curious sentiment, one I agree with because I don't carry a camera.

I met one bicycle tourist who was blogging so intensively he felt he had a find a motel with internet every night to stay in touch with his "audience". I looked up his blog at the end of my trip and it was horrible--poorly written, poorly spelled, mediocre photos. His "hit count" was fairly low, too, compared to others on the same trip (including mine, with no photos and bi-weekly updates from public libraries.

Good point above about tools--not everyone uses tools to their capacity. You don't give a power saw to a child.

I feel pretty good about not carrying any chargers or spare batteries when I travel. My watch and headlamp have batteries, but they last years and I can wait until the next town to replace batteries if needed.

And one of the greatest joys in backcountry travel, for me, is getting away from the #$%@ phone!

[Mags]

re: Camera

At least for me, I find much enjoyment in the results of schlepping my camera on trips. I love photography as a hobby, and taking photos enhances my trips. I love composing the photo in such a way that it captures how I felt when I took the photo at that particular time.

Speaking of which, I'll be schlepping the DSLR on the Uintas trip so Garlic won't have to.

(Being serious, Garlic, myself and another friend are going to be on a trip together for about a week. Should be awesome!)

[Wise Old Owl]

of course they are tools, thats my point.
do your tools take away from the direct experience i described?do you feel they accentuate your experience?how frequently do you use your devices on the trail?

Kind of an odd discussion when I am sitting here with my fiber optic steroidal Computer and TV.



I will say that my 4 ounce phone/gps/planetarium/backup flashlight/newspaper/bad weather app/police/fire scanner/Kindle books/music player/radio/notepad/audio recorder/sunset finder/Camera/ enhances the UL experiences..

In the books there is bird identification and other books on the trail, when there is down time.... Don't need a signal for most of that... just the phone...