[pct-l] Advice on e-blogging

[Jennifer Zimmerman]

Hi Timberline -

I kept an online journal on our hike this summer.  I wouldn't say I've
worked out all the bugs but I can tell you what I did and the pros/cons
that came along with it. Another great resource for this would be Wired,
who did the PCT in 2011 and the CDT in 2013.  Like her trail name suggests
she was pretty connected throughout her PCT hike at least - I haven't yet
read her CDT journal.

We both carried "dinosaur" iphones 4 for recording entries (among other
hike-related functions - GPS/halfmile maps, halfmile's app, etc).  We
settled on Wordpress as a blog site after looking a little bit at a few
other places.  It mostly came down to the fact that they seemed to have
OK mobile apps and good-looking layouts.  We were pretty happy with it
overall but I can't say it was worlds better than another service.  I'd
type an entry every night on my phone.  Because I had an iphone I couldn't
just insert an SD card and grab pictures from my camera, which also might
not be an issue for you.  I had to use an expensive, slow and clumsy
Airstash device to wirelessly transfer photos but I could at least do this
on the trail since the device generates its own wireless LAN.

I would ideally make up entries each night in the mobile app, then publish
them in one lump (through the same app) when I reached a reliable wireless
connection.  For a while I did them over 3G (without losing much speed) but
I carry a very small data plan and usually wanted to save it. Entries were
pretty basic - text broken up by a few photos.  When I got further into the
hike and it began to be a chore to keep up with entries, I'd write less and
post one picture per day.  Eventually, to save on valuable battery life,
I'd wait to add pictures to entries until I was in town.  Neither of us
carried solar chargers or extra battery packs - we just managed from town
to town with pretty good success.

Overall I'm very glad I kept a record of our trip.  It's wonderful to go
back and relive how we felt back right at the beginning, or to read about
this interesting thing we saw one day that I'd forgotten about, or to
remember that family who bought us lunch and gave us a ride. But it was a
real chore for me every night and definitely in town.  We left a few places
much later than expected because I was spending lots of time uploading
entries.  From NorCal north I had more trouble finding reliable internet.
Often a hotel would promise wireless and not deliver, or offer such slow
service that it was nearly useless. If I ever get the chance to do another
long hike I'd still try to keep a record but I'd definitely pare down the
amount of material I write.  Northstar and Shutterbug kept a great
Wordpress journal of their 2012 hike; they seemed to be able to strike a
good balance between light, interesting text and awesome pictures.

Hope this helps!

JZ
www.jenkeithpct.com
On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 4:07 PM, Dan Welch <welchenergy at gmail.com> wrote:

> I am looking for a primer on blogging with a smart phone. In the past I
> have
> just done a written journal, so I am unfamiliar with the "best" techniques
> for doing this electronically.  So I'd appreciate a few pointers from those
> who have been doing this for a while and have worked out the bugs.
>
> Specifically I am interested in what apps or software you use for basic
> input on the trail.  (I have an Android based smart phone.)  Then how does
> this get transferred or uploaded to the blog site once you get back to town
> and can get online?  Lastly, any pros and cons to the various blog sites?
> (PCTA vs postholer vs blogspot etc...)
>
> Thanks for any help you can give!
> Timberline
>
>
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