[pct-l] Writing on the PCT

[David Money Harris]

Jes,

I’ve tried a bunch of things for writing on the PCT.  I needed a computer for a portion because one of my books was going through production and needed editing.  I also have been taking field notes for the eTrails app.

I have carried a Macbook Air through most of Section B and C.  It’s about 2 pounds.  I kept it in an antistatic bag.  It was 2 pounds I didn’t enjoy when I headed up the Desert Divide, and when I used the wrong lid on on of my bladders and it leaked, just enough moisture got into the screen that one third of it went wonky for six months before oddly recovering!  The battery life was a bit shorter than I wanted, and it was dead weight until the next town after the battery died (though newer models have better battery life).

I carried an iPad through parts of Section A and some of NorCal.  Without a keyboard, I find it unsuited to significant writing.  With a keyboard, I found it weighted almost the same as a Macbook Air.  The keyboard was lower quality and overall I found serious work was significantly more time consuming than on the Macbook.

I finally settled on sending the Macbook Air in my bounce box through Central and Northern California.  I use a 3x5 notepad or loose sheets for notes in the field, and transcribe in town.  Transcribing forced me to take a zero in each town, which eventually proved beneficial for my feet.  I’ve done long sections, but I’m not sure you could hike thru in one season and still find enough time to write a book along the way. I back up with DropBox, insure the box, and am prepared to lose the computer because I haven’t had 100% success receiving my mail drops (a priority mail food box to Echo Lake never arrived and they were unable to trace it).

David

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Message: 11
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 10:25:01 -0700
From: Jes Shap <raztaz2000 at gmail.com>
Subject: [pct-l] Writing on the trail
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
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	<CADn4GnLJ961sTB1dT9-KTygx43=ei7nC-Vqq9xKCicRdj_+8Xg at mail.gmail.com>
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Say I wanted to write a book while on the trail. Don't worry about the why
or whether that's a reasonable thing to do, this is a technical question:
what is the lightest way to do it electronically?

Typically, I carry a journal or a stack of loose leaf to rough things out,
then I transcribe that into a Wordpress on my android phone. I carry a
stack of extra phone batteries that I either recharge in town or mail home
in exchange for new ones. But that's for updating my blog and I'm thinking
I'll need a real keyboard and more power to write a book. Any thoughts on
how to accomplish this? Maybe just a bounce box with a netbook, then write
by hand and transcribe in town? Or has anyone tried using a bluetooth or
usb keyboard with an ereader? Maybe this would give acceptable, rechargable
battery life that would be light enough to carry all the time.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.
~Jes