After being laid off from his job in April 2011, Kolby Kirk (The Hike Guy) decided he would attempt to complete as much as he could of the 2,650-mile PCT. Starting at the Mexican border near Campo, California, he walked for 159 days and nearly 1,700 miles. In that time, Kolby wrote 850 pages in his journals. a few of which he has started to scan for a major dose of visual stimulation. The pages are filled with charts, drawings, receipts, beer labels (nice), stamps, crushed poison oak, and much much more. He's even added descriptions under a few of the pages to give us better insight on the process:
"Hiking journals shouldn’t be clean unless your hike is clean. In this example, you can see dirt and smears of ink, a subtle clue that I was grimy and had just applied insect repellant to my hands. At the time, I was a little upset that the chemicals had smudged the ink, but I have learned to appreciate that my journal records more than just the words I print on it, for better or worse."
Kolby is now working on a book that will help hikers and travelers start and retain their own journals while on the trail. And after looking at his Flickr for the last couple of hours, that is certainly a book I'd read.Congratulations, Kolby.