Reminiscences & Memories: Recording Outdoor Trips

Writing my journal at a camp on the Pacific Northwest Trail

I am currently revising and editing the material for my next book, a collection of essays going back many years, which will be published next year by Sandstone Press under the title Out There: A Voice From The Wild. Reading my words from long ago reminded me to be grateful I'd always kept journals of my trips as it is from these that my essays and books are written. Last year I wrote a piece for The Great Outdoors about this. Here it is, slightly revised. 

When I was writing my book on my Pacific Crest Trail walk – Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles - in 2014 I was describing events that took place a long, long time ago – 1982 in fact. To write the book from memory would have been impossible. Although I can remember the overall walk and specific events, places and people I can’t remember many of the details and some periods of a week and more are blanks in my mind other than very vague thoughts such as ‘there was a lot of forest’. This would not make a very interesting book! However I did keep a journal during the walk, which fills three notebooks, and this was my main source for the book rather than my memory. Without the journal there would be no book. Reading my long ago words has brought back many forgotten memories and I enjoyed reliving my walk. (I was also surprised I could read my writing, much of it scrawled by candlelight in the tent). I rediscovered adventures I would never have known about again if I’d written them down and found that others have changed in my memory – my words are not what I thought I remembered. There are people I’d completely forgotten but there they are in my journal suddenly coming back to life. In places I wish I’d written more, my words hinting at places and people but without enough description for me to really picture them now. Of course I have photographs too but this being back in the days of slide film rather than digital images I had to ration the number of photographs I took (my notebooks frequently express the hope that the next town will have film) and I concentrated on landscape and camping shots rather than towns or people. Today I use my camera as a notebook as memory cards are ultralight and will hold hundreds of photos. Back then a 36 shot roll of film weighed 28 grams. Ten rolls, 360 photos, meant an extra 280 grams. A memory card holding twice as many images doesn’t register on my scales.

My Pacific Crest Trail notebooks

I was already keeping a journal of my walks before the Pacific Crest Trail and I’ve continued to do so. Now I have a small library of notebooks with ones for each year covering day walks and shorter backpacking trips plus separate notebooks for each long distance walk. This isn’t enough organisation to locate specific trips or specific days on long walks specific days of course. When did I first climb Liathach for example? Well, I know it must have been between 1977, when I climbed my first Munro, and 1981 when I completed my first round. That’s five notebooks, which could take a while to read through. However each one has an index for which I must thank an author whose name I never recorded and now can’t remember. Back in the early 1970s when I was starting hill walking I read an instructional book simply called Fellwalking. In this the author suggested keeping a chart of walks with date, route, hills climbed, weather, time and companions (this would be a spreadsheet today). I thought this a good idea and started doing so at the back of my notebooks, adapting it for different trips. This has proved invaluable. I just have to skim through these lists looking down the names of hills to see when I climbed them. And Liathach you ask? In less than a minute I found it. June 26^th 1979 during a five week 100 Munros walk I did from the Loch Treig hills to the Fannichs. My weather notes say ‘thick cloud, NW wind, rain’. The walk took 51/2 hours. 

Pacific Crest Trail daily record

On long distance walks with few ascents I adapted the format and often keep two lists, one with details of  days, mileage and campsites, the other with weather information. In my journal I also keep route plans, addresses of people I meet, shopping lists and any other information I want to record. It’s surprising how some mundane details can trigger memories in later years! If in doubt, write it down. With that in mind I try and write something in my journal every day on a long walk even if it’s only a brief note. When I leave it even a few days something will be forgotten. 

Without my journals many of my walks would have gone forever. On days like the Liathach one I took no photos and so would have no record at all. If you want to remember days out in years to come I really recommend keeping some form of record. I still use pen and paper (Inka Pen or Space Pen with waterproof ink, Alwych notebooks with ‘All Weather’ covers). I’ve tried tiny keyboards on phones and tablets and just find them far too awkward to use lying in the tent. I also prefer having an actual notebook that can be read at any time. If I’d been able to record my journal digitally back in 1982 would I still be able to read it now? I do however use my digital camera as a notebook, photographing everything that catches my eye. Often I go through these images in the evening and make notes on the interesting ones.

Writing notes at a rest-stop in the Cairngorms

'Chris’ narrative..... is mesmerizing'. Philip Werner (Section Hiker) reviews Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles.

Mount Rainier from the PCT, 1982

Another excellent review of my Pacific Crest Trail book has appeared, this time by Philip Werner on his Section Hiker website. You can read it here.

Philip describes the photos in the book, all scans of my old Kodachrome slides (as is the one to the left), as breathtaking.

I'm really delighted by the final words of the review: 'Although I’ve read many PCT accounts over the years, Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles is the first that’s ever inspired me to consider hiking the PCT, not even the works of John Muir or Colin Fletcher. Thank you Chris for that.'

Thank you Philip.

'A joy to read' Andy Howell reviews Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles.

Anyd Howell has given my Pacific Crest Trail book an excellent lengthy review on his Must Be This Way site. Here's the link.

In the review Andy says 'this is a very fine book indeed. When reviewing Chris’ recent Grizzly Bears and Razor Clams (I think it was) put forward the view that Chris’ writing is just getting better and better. Rattlesnakes confirms this.'

This Thursday: Pacific Crest Trail talk, Eden Court, Inverness,

Display at Eden Court

I'm talking about my Pacific Crest Trail hike and showing slides (the walk was in 1982!) at Eden Court in Inverness this Thursday (January 29th). I'll be signing copies of my book on the walk too. Tickets are £7 from Eden Court and the talk starts at 7pm.

The film Wild is also on at Eden Court (see my last post for my review) and you can watch it straight after my talk.

Pacific Crest Trail talk, Eden Court, Inverness, January 29th.

Mount Adams in Southern Washington, August 31st, 1982

On January 29th I'm giving an illustrated talk at Eden Court in Inverness on the Pacific Crest Trail and my book Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles. The talk starts at 7pm. There'll be time for a Q&A afterwards. Further details from Eden Court here.
 

After the Pacific Crest Trail

The end of the Pacific Crest Trail: Monument 78 in the rain on the USA/Canada border

Back in 1982 my Pacific Crest Trail hike, as described in my latest book Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles, was the first long distance walk I’d undertaken overseas. When I set out I didn’t know if I could complete the walk, didn’t know how I’d feel if I did, and had no idea what I’d do afterwards. Although I’d had a few articles published I didn’t know if I could actually make any money from writing about the outdoors or, indeed, any other aspect of the outdoors. So when I finished the PCT the future was unknown. First though I had to get home. Here’s what happened.

 

The world became surreal when I finished the PCT. Surreal and unreal. Before the walk – a time that now felt distant and different – I’d enquired as to what I should do on entering Canada on a trail rather than at a border post. You’ll have to ring Customs and Immigration I was told. I’d carried the phone numbers from Mexico. I rang Customs. How many illegal drugs have you brought into Canada? I was asked. How many guns? The man sounded amused rather than serious and on my replying none said ‘Welcome to Canada. Enjoy your stay’. I rang Immigration. The man I spoke to was not amused. He sounded outraged and ordered me to immediately drive to a town called Princeton and go to the Immigration Office. I’ve walked here, I said, I haven’t a car. You must drive immediately to Princeton. The reply remained the same. Eventually I gave up. Princeton I discovered lay in the wrong direction. I wanted to go to Vancouver where I was booked on a train south to Los Angeles and my flight home. I like train travel and this journey particularly appealed to me as it would take me all the way back south to Southern California. There was a bus to Vancouver the next day. I decided to catch it and visit the immigration office there. I wasn’t to get the chance.

Before leaving Manning Park I discovered that Amtrak workers were on strike and there would be no train to Los Angeles. What to do? I had a plane booked. Go straight to the airport and talk to British Airways seemed the best idea. The bus journey passed in a blur. Concerned about getting home and bewildered at not being on the trail I couldn’t concentrate on the views or even doze. My mind just wandered along the PCT, remembering the events and sights of my great adventure. Arriving in Vancouver I somehow managed to find a bus to the airport. I was acting in a dream, not really convinced of the reality I found myself in. Everything seemed distant, slightly blurred. I went to the British Airways desk. The woman behind the counter asked me to wait a minute, disappeared briefly then came back and asked me to put my pack on the conveyor belt. Your flight leaves in half an hour. Suddenly I was standing there in my worn and dirty trail clothes clutching a boarding pass. I stumbled off to the boarding gate and found myself on a plane. 

Thirteen hours later I was in London half-asleep and confused. I’d dozed on the flight but not slept. I had no idea of the time. Passing through Immigration the officer looked at my passport. Where have you come from? Canada. But you haven’t got a .. He stopped. Oh well, nothing to do with me. No stamp in my passport. I’d never officially been in Canada. I felt I hadn’t been there too. I caught the train home to Manchester, where I was then living. Only when I dumped out the contents of my pack did I realise that I’d flown back with a stove full of petrol and another half-litre in a fuel bottle. No one had asked me about the contents of my pack. It had not been scanned or searched. Travel was different then.

Farewell to the trail: one of my last camps on the PCT

 

Long distance hikers often find life after the trail can be difficult. Adjusting to a static urban lifestyle that can seem hollow and meaningless takes time. I’d returned with no job, no money and no permanent home. There was no time to sit and wonder how I’d cope. However the PCT’s influence continued. I took a phone call. ‘Congratulations. Do you want a job?’ ‘Yes, what is it?’ The call was from Paul Howcroft, one of the founders of outdoor clothing company Rohan, then still a small business. I’d used Rohan’s new polycotton clothing on the PCT. It had performed well. At the time it was revolutionary though, being very light and thin. Outdoor shops had been reluctant to stock it, preferring to stick to traditional heavier wool and cotton. Rohan now had masses of clothing but few outlets and so Paul and Sarah Howcroft had decided to run a series of roadshows throughout Britain. I would go along to talk about the PCT and how good the clothing had proved. Every weekend for the next few months was spent doing this. Leaving Friday afternoon and not getting back until very late Sunday it was quite tiring. The clothing sold though and Rohan knew they just needed a way to reach customers more easily. Soon a mail order service was started and the next spring the first Rohan shop opened. I was offered work in the shop and helping with the orders on an as required basis, which suited me well as it gave me time to write and send out articles to magazines. When I did so I discovered that the PCT had given me credibility as well as something to say. My life as an outdoor writer and photographer had really begun.

Finished! My Pacific Crest Trail Book.

On the Pacific Crest Trail in the High Sierra, May 1982

I've finally finished writing Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles, the story of my Pacific Crest Trail walk, and sent it to the publisher at Sandstone Press. I hope he likes it!

Although the writing is over producing the book isn't. My next task will be to caption the photos that will appear in the book (all scans from Kodachrome 64 slides) and allocate them page numbers so they appear in the right place. Then there'll be the final check of the edited manuscript. And all being well the book will be published in October.

Rattlesnakes & Bald Eagles: Pacific Crest Trail Book Update

Camp by a frozen Chicken Spring Lake in the High Sierra on the Pacific Crest Trail. Scan from Kodachrome 64 transparency.

Creative Scotland, the public body for the arts in Scotland, has rather plush modern offices in an old traditional building in the centre of Edinburgh. A few days ago I made my first visit here for a meeting with Bob Davidson of Sandstone Press and Heather Macpherson of Raspberry Creative Type to discuss the design and photographs for my book on the Pacific Crest Trail.

The meeting was productive and the book now has a cover and a shape and a size. I've almost finished writing it too but what's going to take time is the photographs. I had forgotten just how difficult it is dealing with slides rather than digital images. Just keeping track of them all and linking my scribbles on the slide mounts with the digital scans is proving quite hard, especially as these pictures are over 30 years old and I can't quite remember exactly what some of them show!. Pictures that look fine as transparencies don't necessarily scan that well either so images can only be selected after scans are made.

The result is that publication has been put back and Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles won't now appear until October. I'm sure it'll be worth the wait!