[pct-l] Re: My 2003 Journal

[aandg at telusplanet.net (Alistair & Gail Des Moulins)]

I agree with Suge about journal writing. I wrote up notes on most days while
thru hiking last year and have been writing them up on pcthiker.com since
December. It is a long process but I'm also enjoying reliving our adventure
last year and thinking of all the people we met along the way (including
Suge, Glory, Will and Sharon at Echo Lake - they, like many others, passed
us and were not seen again). I've only just got past Crater Lake in the
journal so far and will probably not finish it until May. Being back at work
and wanting to go away on 2 day ski touring trips many weekends makes for
slow progress in writing the journal. These 2 day trips seem so short now -
Gail says it's the second last day of the trip already and we're only just
starting it!
It's also enjoyable reading other people's journals so hope some of you will
write for 2004.

Alistair
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 17:10:05 -0500 (EST)
> From: Christopher Willett <chwillet@indiana.edu>
> Subject: [pct-l] My 2003 Journal
> To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> <Pine.GSO.3.96.1040327170100.7601G-100000@ariel.ucs.indiana.edu>
> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> A few minutes ago I uploaded the next to last installment of my journal
> for my 2003 PCT hike. Take a look at
>
> http://mypage.iu.edu/~chwillet/travel/PCT/
>
> After reading Jonathan Ley's 2001 CDT journal, I was inspired to try to
> write a long, meaningful (meaningful for me, that is) account of my
> summers hike.  Throughout the summer I tried to write up small, short,
> intense accounts of each day as they went by.  When I returned, I
> took these cores and expanded them as my memory and pictures allowed.
> I tried to stay as true to the original journals as possible, and this
> presented some problems.  One central one was in how to portray those that
> I met.  At times, I met people who might have been having a bad day or
> were, for whatever reason, in a dark mood.  Later, I might have met them
> again and seen the better person that they actually were.  I decided
> to write up the original impression that I got from them, or from
> a place.  My impressions, of course, are governed by my own
> mental and spiritual state at the time.  I've tried to be open and
> honest about what I did and how I felt.
>
> This has turned into a long, drawn out, and completely worthwhile
> experience.  I have relived days on the trail, gotten new impressions
> of people, places, and things, and come to grasp a better understanding
> of what it was that I did last summer.  For those of you hiking this year,
> I would encourage you to keep a journal and to write it up in long form
> when you return.  It was the best way to endure the long, spritual winter
> here in Indiana.  Now, spring is upon the land, and my feet are itching.
>
> Suge
>
>
> ----------------------
> Christopher Willett
> Department of Mathematics
> Indiana University
> 831 East Third Street
> Bloomington, IN. 47405-7106
> (812)-855-1448
> chwillet@indiana.edu
> mypage.iu.edu/~chwillet
>