We’re trying to figure out what we’ll do about our blog this summer as we hike the trail. Does anybody try to keep a regular blog? How/where do you upload? Do you carry a laptop? Where do you charge everything?
What about photos? Do you just leave them on the camera all summer and wait until you get home to get them off?
We have a blog and would like to keep it updated throughout the summer with entries and pics if it’s possible.
Nancy Sathre-Vogel
It’s very simple. Type your blog on your cell phone every night. Attach your cell phone camera pictures as attachments. When you have cell coverage, usually on top of a high peak, send your journal with photos to your journalist whom ever that is. They then copy and paste your journal to your blog and then upload the photos.
On the JMT this year I was without cell coverage for about two weeks, but kept a journal every night and when I finally reached a location with cell coverage, I dumped a big load on my journalist, but she did a fabulous job getting the journals updated along with the photos.
Check out my JMT and other journals at trailjournals.com/nedhamara to see how easy and great it looks with all the photos. To insert multiple photos in a single journal page you need to write some code, but it’s easy and I can send you instructions on how to it if you are interested.
NedtheFed
Ned
Thanks for that Ned! We are hoping to not take a cell phone with us. We use our photos for a lot of various purposes so need high-res pics, which we can’t get with a cell phone. We’ll need a way to get pics from our regular camera to our website.
We might end up just posting something on our blog saying we’re out of touch for the summer and will post it all in the fall, but we’d like to figure out a way to do it while on the trail.
Nancy Sathre-Vogel
I keep paper notes as I hike, then when I see a public computer at a library, or a guest computer at a hotel, I update the on-line journal. I don’t carry any electronics other than an LED headlamp. Photos come from others who are kind enough to email them to me.
Many public/guest computers have SD card readers. Would that work for you?
Garlic
I put a netbook in a bounce box on the Colorado Trail, updated about once a week.
Karl
Karlg
I have no clue what a bounce box is? Do you send a laptop from town to town?
Nancy Sathre-Vogel
A popular practice among long-distance hikers is to use a “send-ahead” or “bounce” box, which follows (or leads) you up the Trail. Hikers fill them with supplies such as extra batteries, cell phone chargers, “town clothes,” and toiletries. (from the web)
Karl Gottshalk
Personally, I do not have an extra laptop to send ahead. Nor would I really want to.
Wouldn’t it be simpler to mail a letter to someone who can update your blog? Just use carbon paper in your journal so you have a copy if it goes astray.
Or carry some envelopes with stamps on them. If you meet a dayhiker on the trail, ask them to mail the letter for you. Maybe it will get there, maybe it will not. That is part of the adventure.
Gershon
Better idea than mine, definitely.
I happened to have a netbook and wanted to work on my photos on my zero days, so this worked for me.
Karl
KarlG
Thank you. Seeing as how it’s only a couple of months, maybe we’ll just try and upload entries when we find libraries. We’ll still need to carry chargers for cameras and such, but I suppose that’s doable.
Nancy Sathre-Vogel from Family on Bikes
I hiked the Colorado Trail last year. I took photos along the way but did not update my journal with pictures until I finished the trail and could do it at home. I wrote in a journal every night and used computers in libraries along the way (Breckenridge, Buena Vista, Lake City, Silverton) to update my online journal which was at www.postholer.com. Remember that, unfortunately, public computers often have time limits, so it is hard to type in and upload everything. Many libraries also have prohibitions on uploading anything from a USB port–which is another problem for uploading pictures while on the trail. A good argument for using a smartphone, I guess. My camera runs on 2 AA batteries. I carry 2 extra AA batteries, but rarely have to use them. I take pictures with a nikon coolpix. I take at least 20 pics a day and am sometimes out for up to 8 days. I also take short videos. I use re-chargeable AA’s, so I put a charger in my bounce box and send it to myself from each re-supply stop. I also use a thumb drive size Sansa Express MP3 player for music and listening to pod casts in camp. I just ration my listening time so it lasts.
Fireweed
Use an ipad if you would like to upload photos from a dedicated camera. Ways less weight than an laptop, can charge from a goal0 solar panel. In order to do it, you need an ipad with 3g service and the usb attachment
Andrew Martin