"It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America." - Daniel Boone
how on earth do PCT and CDT hike without shelters and gossip logs? unreal. they are tough
Hey, the PCT has shelters. Three of them. One per state.
There are, however, quite a number of trail registers, some permanent, some left by trail angels along with a cooler or the like. Gossip definitely does propagate.
Gadget
PCT: 2008 NOBO, AT: 2010 NOBO, CDT: 2011 SOBO, PNT: 2014+2016
So what happens to the old logbooks? When I was out hiking last month I was disappointed to see that the logbooks were 'fresh' and I didn't see any entries from people I knew who were thruhiking this year, because they had been at the shelters/trail section prior to the preceding two weeks. (so the first date in the logbook was from about two weeks before I got there)
Expound on "king of pithiness" --alwayth pithed?
No, just smells that way . . .
Historically, hikers left notebooks with their name and address in them at shelters with the request that the notebook, when full, be mailed back to them. Postage, sometimes along with some type of food, would be mailed back to the person who returned the notebook. I've got a couple logbooks that I've collected this way.
In recent years, however, notebooks in some states are being left by the local maintaining clubs with the notice that the notebooks are the "property" of the club.
Thanks Max Patch!
I think they are a way for hikers to pass along trail info and such now days. To bad some of them are edited for silly words like here on WB.
I don't know
I like to read the logs and see people I know or have met. I am not witty or clever so I just leave water and major trail info as best as I can. I did enjoy the Hanna Montanna and Stewball entrys. I hope to meet Stewball some day.
Alcohol was involved!
most stuff in the logbooks seems like the original 'twitter'... people who want to feel important write things that they think other people should care about. Sometimes they're good for a laugh, but usually just a waste of time. I prefer carrying a real book for my entertainment.
~Happiness is only real when shared~
[QUOTE=Joe Cross;969616]From my few section hikes, I've noted very little info of value in the shelter logbooks.QUOTE]
Years ago, pre-cell phone and pre-email, and when there were a lot less people hiking the trail, they were more important. Hikers were located and found based on log entries for everything from births and deaths in the family to impromptu weddings. Rangers and trail clubs would even figure out where a hiker was likely to be and leave a message in the log book for them. I think Ed Garvey wrote about being informed of a family situation on his 1970 hike. The trail culture was different too. The logbooks weren't as full of rantings - it was generally the more serious who, what, when, and where. Times have changed.
"That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett
Often there is great artwork in the Journals. I clearly remember a series of General Lee Portraits that were quite good. A few years a go there were a series of Bird Drawings that would have made Audubon proud. Granted most of the humor in the Journals suck when Mathewski is not hiking, however the same could be said here. Every once in awhile a series of long distance, ongoing, completely made up jokes between thrus are quite good. I remember one about a thru getting as town girl pregnant that started in Virginia and made it all the way to northern PA getting wilder and more hysterical each shelter. A nonthru, like many aspects of the trail, would not have understood it at all.
I find the log books good for knowing things like water levels and trail conditions. Nothing preps you to keep a keen eye when the log book is full of people bitching about poison ivy.
I also right in them one or two lines with a date and time in case I go missing or something.
21.1% Done
If it weren't for trail registers at shelters, then how would everyone whine about how Warren Doyle and his group aren't hiking the right way?