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chris77mcgrath

06/04/2009 09:45AM

Wondering how many people keep journals about their trips and adventures? What type of info? Fishing spots? Lures used? Good camping spots? Bad ones? Lessons learned? I take a lot of pictures and have great memories, but should there be more? Someday I'll be in a rocking chair and would enjoy reviewing my thoughts, notes, and experiences? I travel a lot and love the outdoors. I want to carry on the legacy of enjoying the outdoors. Thanks Chris

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kanoes

06/04/2009 10:08AM

i always write when im on a trip. nothing real specific, i dont have a format i follow. i jot down most anything that pops into my little mind.

i think bigfoot is blurry. (mitch hedberg)

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CaptnDan

06/04/2009 10:23AM

Actually, one of the main things I enjoy on solo trips is writing. I probably spend about two or three hours a day writing. I write about the trip, write fiction and write about my thoughts. As Sig Olson said, "I go to iron out the wrinkles in my soul". Writing helps with the ironing.

If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else- Yogi Berra

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Toby

06/04/2009 10:27AM

After taking the kids to see Up this past weekend I think I will start writing a journal for every trip....

I don't want a large Farva... I want a GD liter-a-cola!

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thlipsis29

06/04/2009 10:51AM

In the past few years I've learned to keep a journal while I'm up there and don't know why I didn't think to do this before. My notes tend to be rather spartan in nature, but the few things I jot down have proven to be very helpful in planning the next trip. I use a small (2.5" x 4") spiral bound notebook so it really doesn't add any weight or take up space.

I can't change the world, but I can change the world in me if I rejoice

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landoftheskytintedwater

06/04/2009 11:10AM

I keep one on each trip for notes on portages and travel in case I revisit an area. Then I also usually right each day about whatever comes to mind. It's a good activity.

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UncleMoose

06/04/2009 11:15AM

Keeping a journal is a really great idea in my opinion. It can be a nuisance to find time to update each day, but the specific details of a trip are easily lost with time. I've been very happy to have kept one on each of my trips. Going back and reading them lights up those dim memory neurons and brings so much back. You never really forget trips in the general sense, but sometimes there's a lot of smaller stuff you do forget.

When filling in a day's journal entry, I'd concentrate more on the small details and feelings you had.

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willys53

06/04/2009 11:22AM

I have always kept a journal since the first trip in the BW. I also take allot of pictures. My wife takes some of the pictures and comments from the journal and makes a photo album out of it. Really cool!

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wetcanoedog

06/04/2009 11:22AM

i keep a trip log..what i have noticed is how my hand writing deteriates over time.neat,well spaced even lines into huge blocky letters like--BUGS--HEAVY CARRY--WHAT A GREAT TRIP--attempts at making small sketches turn into stick figures---

it's just a level trail thru the woods.

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YaMarVa

06/04/2009 11:29AM

I have not written much while on trips, but I usually will read a book from start to finish on my trips.

On another note, my grandfather was a guide after WW2(1946 to '49, I will post his pictures when I convert them to digital) and he had logs from all his guiding trips. I have enjoyed reviewing/reading these as a piece of history and think that someday our grandchildren could do the same from what we have written. Unfortunately most of his logs are frail and weathered and probably will soon be lost to time, as he was.

"Miller owns that field, Locke that, and the Mannings the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape." - R.W.Emmerson.

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Wolf0503

06/04/2009 12:42PM

I kept a fishing/trip for the years we went to Lake of the Woods. Gonna try a mini tape recorder for the trip this year. It's alot easier to carry then my Bulky Notebook & pen & don't have to worry that that I'll run out of ink. I'm sure it will capture alot of things including how run Jack is drunk that night.

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millerb

06/04/2009 02:08PM

A started a journal last summer and I wish I had been doing it since 4th grade when I started going. I will never not keep a journal again. I got engaged on Loon Lake last summer so much of those entries were about my plan to do it; I never want to forget that or any trip. Also, perhaps it's because it was my first time journaling, much of it consisted of appreciative thoughts directed at those (my dad and uncle) who I have to thank for my love of canoe country. THANKS DAD AND MYLES!!!

Back home, sometimes I have a hard time putting my love for the boundary waters into words for those who have never been. Some of my thoughts written during an actual trip do it the best justice.

Plus any misc. things like wildlife sightings etc.....

"If I was told I was going to die tomorrow, I would be loading my canoe today"

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solotrek

06/04/2009 03:11PM

Events of the day is the best way to describe what my journal consists of. I write about portages, campsites, wildlife sightings, etc. along with just general feelings, which in the end for me is what's most important. Your camera will always tell you what you saw and where you were. It's your journal that will help you remember what you were feeling at any given point in time.

I use no particular format or list of topics. I just write what I am feeling at the time.

"It is in solitude, in quiet communication with nature that we reach most deeply into truth." Sam Campbell

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Boppa

06/04/2009 03:20PM

Always, have journals from 1971, boy a lot of the equipment has really changed.
Boppa

"Yesterday is the past, Tomorrow is the future, Today is a GIFT, that is why it is called the present".

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Merganser

06/04/2009 06:26PM

I've always had a notepad along. On the first trip it was just notes, things we wish we had brought, etc. On subsequent trips, just my wife and I, did a reasonable job of including more subjective details. My best job to date was on a trip with my son (his first). I wrote every evening. Seems like with a larger group I have a harder time. Doing another trip with my son and a solo this year and I plan to make sure I write daily.

"That sort of thing is my bag baby."

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Rapid Runner

06/04/2009 06:39PM

I am constantly writing little tidbits.

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Kendra

06/04/2009 10:12PM

We keep a journal but don't have any specific order to it. Some of the notes we make include stops on the way to Ely, what the price of gas was, what we bought for a snack......little details the kids get a kick out of when they look back. I let each of the girls write or even draw a picture to keep them involved. I try to limit it to a page per day per kid or the journal would look like a coloring book. It's a small 4x6 hard cover book.

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chris77mcgrath

06/05/2009 09:18AM

Thanks for all the comments.

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jdevries

06/05/2009 11:01AM

I write about the days events and keep detailed records about fishing locations, hot baits, weather, campsites, portages, etc. I'm even keep some really detailed driving statistics. I jot notes in a small wirebound notebook throughout the trip and then use that to write a trip report. I typically tape a couple of lists of information into the notebook including sunrise, sunset, moon info, solunar tables, and a star chart for the time I'm up there too. After some time at home I then reflect back and add this survey to my report:

Describe your trip?
Was your trip a success?
What did you do right?
What did you do wrong?
Did you meet all of your objectives?
What will you do differently on your next trip?
What was your favorite piece of new gear?
What was your least favorite piece of new gear or what will you leave home next year?
What was the best canoelist tip you used?
Any other comments
Ideas for your next trip

Before fighting fire with fire, remember that the fire department usually uses water.

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Blackstick

06/05/2009 11:31AM

I recorded over 3000 miles of river and lake trips, after that it lost its luster and I stopped keeping track. Once Alzheimers sets in all the fun I’ve had will be forgotten. So be it.

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rlhedlund

06/05/2009 12:14PM

I always say I'm going to, but I never do. I did prepare a trip report shortly afterwards, so that will help me remember the trip when I get older.

Life is good, living is better. Everlasting Life is Best! Pray for Us Amok.

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Dbldppr1250

06/05/2009 12:21PM

I write a little each day, and leave space for more to be entered on a rainy or windy day (if there is one, not that I hope there is). Sometimes you are looking for things to do on rainy or wind-locked days, and reflecting is a great pastime. If weather is just so great that reflecting was not a point of emphasis during the trip, then I'll do it when I get home. You tend to forget details if you put it off for later. It is fun to look back at a later time and read them. I certainly enjoy reading the many trip reports that are published on this message board.

Walking School Bus

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Trix

06/05/2009 02:16PM

I never have, & every time I get back from a trip I wish I had. I am definately planning on it this coming trip as it is my first solo.

C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E: Do not let what you cannot do, interfere with what you can do.

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Spartan2

06/05/2009 10:32PM

I take a small notebook in my waist pack and make notes several times a day. Sometimes they are almost shorthand, very brief and quick. Sometimes more like musing or prose. Always make a note of menu items, weather, portage conditions, etc.

After we return the next day is laundry day, and while the washer and dryer are humming I type up a narrative that is a "fleshed out" story of the trip taken from the notes in the journal.

This is put together with many photos into an album. We have one for every trip since 1988, and also for our first trip in 1971. I wish I had done albums for the trips in those in-between years as well.

Spartan1 shares them with co-workers and friends, and I have a few friends who enjoy looking at them as well. And of course our family members often read the stories and look at the photos. But mainly they are for us--to preserve the memories.

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Corsair

06/07/2009 11:00AM

I took a journal on my first trip last year. Wish I had been doing it all along.

I just write what ever comes to mind. I used it last yeat to write my first trip report.

"Pack lightly, Tread lightly"

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thecanoeman

06/07/2009 11:28AM

I've always kept a journal of some sort.
Now that we started this guide & outfitting service, I keep a journal of every trip and enter them in the monthly newsletter we send out to everyone on our email list. sometimes its a full trip report and sometimes its a short story.
its nice to read and reflect back about all the things that have happen on our trips.

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