Keeping a Trail Journal
Past and present trail journals
A few years ago I reviewed Andrew Terrill’s excellent books on his 7,000-mile walk from the very toe of Italy to the far north of Norway. One thing that struck me across the books was the detail that Andrew recalled, despite writing them almost 25 years after the walk. When I asked him how he did it, he suggested the walk was so unique that it was etched indelibly into his memory. The finer details came from trail journals.
“The walk wasn’t like the life of routines that preceded it. Much of it was so novel and intense it sunk indelibly into my memory. So many moments still feel as though they occurred yesterday. It is remarkably easy to step right back. That said, the journals I kept were helpful for the small details. I spent a fair while each evening recording events, conversations, thoughts, and emotions. I also had 7,000 slides to call upon, visual notes from the miles. But honestly, the journals and photos weren’t essential. The key moments were too extraordinary to forget.”
The problem I have is that my memory is quite poor. Within six to twelve months of a trip the details tend to fade from memory, and the individual days largely blur into one. Similarly, my journalling leaves something to be desired, and I don’t always complete it throughout a trip. Last week I was looking through some of the limited notes I’ve kept on past Arctic treks. I couldn’t find any for my longest (in 2018), which was 20 days in Siberia. I seem to remember taking some audio notes, but that didn't last more than a few days. It was quite an arduous trip, with days up to 40km in deep cold, and so journalling was usually the last thing on my mind.
A brief journal entry from the Arctic Circle Trail, 2023
Probably the most comprehensive diary I’ve written was on the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland last summer. As you can see it’s not more than two pages of a 5.5x3.5” moleskin journal, with fairly mundane details committed to paper. I enjoy writing about other people’s adventures, but I find it hard to know what to write about my own. I’m also not very good at keeping up a habit. Looking through my archives I found a mountain and rock climbing log book I briefly kept in 2004/5. It petered out after a few short months, to remain blank for the next two decades.
Hiker Kolby Kirk reckons that trail journaling promotes learning and a gained appreciation of your surroundings. “Writing forces you to look around and try to explain what you see,” he says. I tend to try and explain what I see through photography, which is always an integral part of my treks. In term of explaining what I see with words, I think that must take dedicated time, you can’t just try and squeeze it in during the five minutes before you hit the sleeping bag, as I usually do. So for my upcoming trip to Finland in February I’m going to commit to a minimum of 20 minutes journalling per day.
I’ve readied a very basic daily overview to help prompt use of the journal
To facilitate this I went down a rabbit hole of researching the most appropriate tools, finally settling on a 5.5x3.5” Rite in the Rain waterproof notebook, with a Uni-ball Powertank ball point pen. I’ve frozen the pen overnight in our freezer and can confirm it still writes perfectly on the waterproof paper, which only takes ink from ballpoints, pencils or crayons. That testing might sound like overkill, but not many pens work in -20.
Next I need to figure out a structure - some prompts to help guide my journaling. Starting with a blank page clearly works for some, but not for me. If you have any suggestions, or are willing to share some of your entries do get in touch!
