Beautiful Pacific Crest Trail Journals
thehikeguy.com
thehikeguy.com
Longevity - analog mediums have their limits for preservation and digital have theirs.
Packs fall apart, boots fall apart, tents develop leaks, sleeping pads develop leaks, T-shirts tear where a pack rubs on them, critters chew through your food bag, O-rings in stoves wear out, and socks have maybe a 2-3 month lifespan. This kind of use occasionally gets the better of headlamps, and they're designed with this sort of use in mind. Hell, I broke a camera lens (mechanically, not the glass, and it was repairable) that was made in the era when such things were made of metal throughout and you had to focus for yourself.
Cell phones travel surprisingly well, but that's probably because they fit in ziplock bags, it's easy to get a silnylon stuff sack with a roll closure in that size, and they aren't big enough to be subjected to serious bending stress in a pack. Seriously, there's nothing iPad sized in a pack that'll protect it from the repeated bending as the whole load shifts slightly at every step. Paperback books tend to get curled from it, even if you try to pack them carefully.
I agree with you whole-heartedly that even in general use paper is more powerful because of the input limitation. Even once that's overcome, paper will still be more powerful in any situation where durability is key and replacement options are limited.
I'm fairly critical of a lot of political junk that gets posted, so I think it's only fair to point out something good that I believe is in the spirit of the site.
I debated taking a journal, but so much of the trail culture is in the registers that it seemed like it would be almost churlish to not share my thoughts like everybody else does. Not that my writing is up to The Hiker Guy's standard (nor is most anybody else's). It's still nice to read an entry from somebody who you haven't seen in a couple weeks and hear their triumphs and frustrations in their own voice.
With storage for digital cameras being so cheap and with smart phones being almost ubiquitous, snapping pictures seemed like the obvious compromise between participating and journaling, but I never really got in the habit.
Incidentally, if you find yourself wanting to keep a journal on a hiking trip, I highly recommend the Rite-In-The-Rain [1] soft-cover journals. The paper is wonderfully waterproof; they'll survive immersion without falling apart (the covers of the hardcover journals will warp, however). The only downside is that they don't take ink as well as normal paper. Pencil works well, but will smear like on normal paper, but I have yet to find a ballpoint that works really well, although the Fisher Space Pen [2] does well enough and will write on the pages even if they're soaked.
Lastly, I'll leave you with a truly entertaining blog from a current AT hiker [3]. I'll note (thank goodness) that most people don't find themselves in nearly as much peril as this crew. The author is a friend of a friend, and I do hope their luck improves!
I've read some great stories about people discovering things they didn't expect in the back country of Death Valley. The tall tales some write instead are equally fun.
Very fitting to see the tradition carried on, and on John Muir's birthday too. Muir was a prolific journal-writer, and some of them are full of iconic and timeless quotes about nature and the Sierra Nevada mountains, as well as drawings and random observations very similar to these. "My First Summer in the Sierra" is of particular significance and can be found in published form.
You can read ("read" is used liberally here—the cursive is difficult) or just look at nearly all of them here: http://digitalcollections.pacific.edu/cdm/search/collection/...
This modern-day version brings delight to my soul in this trying week. I miss these, my mountains, my home. Thank you for posting this.
And now all of a sudden I'm extremely curious.