These are awesome trail journals! I think one of the things I regret when I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2010 was not taking a picture of every shelter

These are awesome trail journals! I think one of the things I regret when I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2010 was not taking a picture of every shelter register entry I left. On the AT, pretty much every shelter has a notebook that people write their thoughts in for the day (at campsites without shelters, check the privy). 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! [1] http://www.riteintherain.com/ http://www.riteintherain.com/ [2] http://www.spacepen.com/ http://www.spacepen.com/ [3] http://trailkit.blogspot.com/ http://trailkit.blogspot.com/