I am a backpacker and hiker who enjoys writing and taking photos.
Email me if you have any questions or comments. Enjoy!
If you have no time to read, my photos can be found on my Flickr Album Page
If you see any ads on these pages, let me know. I pay extra money to my hosting company so that my readers won’t be bothered by them. I hate ads and don’t want you to see them either. If you do see ads, you might want to scan your device for adware.
Please note: Most of my multi-day treks can be read as one long journey, like a novel with each day likened to a chapter, but it won’t be a perfectly enjoyable read in that many facts and activities are repeated due to the daily routines of life. This repetition was done on purpose by me, and it is due to the nature of my readers on the internet, who are brought to specific pages based on keywords via search engines. Because of that, each page must stand alone, like a short story in an anthology. This can detract from the Big Picture and lead to boredom during a “binge” reading, or, even worse, lead my readers to conclude that either I am forgetful, or that I think they are. Rest assured; neither of those are true. Please think of these repetitions as a Literary Device, of sorts. Thanks for your understanding.
All photos and text on hikingtales.com are Copyright © JFR 2009-2026 All Rights Reserved
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Hello,
I really enjoyed reading about your PCT hikes—it was inspiring and insightful! I have a quick question: how did you manage to take such detailed notes about your daily experiences on the trail? I often find it challenging to jot things down while hiking, and by the time I get home to write about the journey (any journey), I’ve forgotten many details.
I’d love to hear your approach to capturing those moments so vividly.
Best regards,
Ben
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Hi Ben!
Well, part of it is that I have a really good memory, but many of us have good memories. One trick that I use is to take a few notes on my phone each evening in camp (often to document people’s trail names, which I might forget unless I spoke them a few times). But the primary trick I use is to take an absolutely insane number of photos and videos. Really! What you see here in my pages is only a small fraction (less than five percent) of the total. For example, in 2024 I hiked the Sierra Section of the PCT, all 505 miles. During that trek I took over 12,000 photos! Mathematically, that comes out to one photo every 220 feet! Insane, like I said. Anytime I see anything beautiful or different or interesting or simply what the trail looked like, I snap a quick photo. To be honest, most of them aren’t that great, but each photo serves to jog my memory, and that is all I really need in order to recall minor details about the trail and conditions that would otherwise be, well, not forgotten exactly, but difficult to bring back into mind fully without them. Plus, the files have timestamps, which help me recall When something occurred. The third trick is to have my phone automatically add geolocation (GPS) data to the photo header, so that I also know Where it occurred. As a Map Nerd, I view the locations of photos on my computer, using the Geosetter freeware program, and compare that with trail locations, elevations, and nearby mountains. This analysis happens after I get home and write the website pages, which is what I spend most of the Winter doing. In fact, I’m writing about the Sierra PCT section right now. And planning next Summer’s hikes, of course. I have confidence that I’ll be done by Spring, and start the cycle anew. As you might imagine, it takes me longer to write about a day than it does to live it! Sad but true. Yet I keep on doing it anyway! Go figure.
Thanks for the good question, and I hope my answer sufficed. All you need now is a quicker Shutter Finger and a larger hard disk, in order to capture and store all those photos and videos!
John
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Hi John,
Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a detailed response! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Your explanation was fascinating, and I’ve learned a ton from how you approach documenting your hikes. Honestly, the way you use photos and videos to jog your memory is genius. And over 12,000 photos on a single trek? That’s just incredible. It really shows how much thought and effort you put into capturing all the little details.
What really struck me was how you spend so much of your winter organizing, writing, and reliving those moments. The idea that it takes longer to write about a day than to live it—wow! That level of dedication is truly inspiring (and a little intimidating, I won’t lie!).
It’s clear that you love what you do, and your passion for documenting your hikes shines through in every word and photo. But I’m curious—what keeps you motivated to do it all? Is it purely the joy of reliving the experience, or is there something deeper driving you? Maybe a personal philosophy, or even a sense of purpose behind all the effort?
Also, are you working on a bigger project, like a book or maybe an autobiography? I feel like your stories and photos would make for an amazing read. I’ve been debating whether to put more time into documenting my own hikes, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on why you think it’s worth it, even if it’s not financially rewarding.
Thanks again for sharing your process—it’s so inspiring to see how much care you put into it.
Best,
Ben
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Hi Ben,
Why do I do all this writing? To put it simply, I do it for my wife. She’s my “Designated Reader” and was my partner on most of these hikes and treks. She likes reading my stories of events because they bring back fun memories of our times together, and that’s good enough for me. If other readers benefit from them, or if they inspire people to get out into the wilderness on their own, then that’s just a bonus.
As for you: Unless you really love writing, I’d advise you to do more hiking! You won’t be sorry, as there is beauty everywhere.
John
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I somehow stumbled onto this site and read just a bit (I have an interest in doing the PCT someday) and looked at a couple pics/pages. Just a thank you in advance for putting this together and I look forward to gradually going through things when I have time!
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I look forward to reading about your recent hiking trip along the Washington Coast. It was a pleasure meeting you both.
Janice
Port Angeles
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