Why I "don't" post trip reports

Albee brings up a fantastic question! Here is another one for all of those people who are out in the mountains every weekend, but don't post anything about it...

Uhhhh...

cause i haven't been any place really interesting since summer '06...

(but i don't qualify for your Q anyway since I'm not "out in the mtns every weekend")

Frodo said:

I have nothing to add to the other 6 summer trip reports on summiting Mt Tom

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Oh Dude! That's a Low Blow!!!

-Dr. Wu

Purely a coincidence... I didn't even read that TR, honestly! But if I had seen it before I submitted the poll, I likely still wouldn't have read it! Just kidding... I do tend to read more TR's based on who has written them...

Frodo said:

Purely a coincidence... I didn't even read that TR, honestly! But if I had seen it before I submitted the poll, I likely still wouldn't have read it! Just kidding... I do tend to read more TR's based on who has written them...

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Don't worry, Mt. Tom is just some turd in the horizon that I gaze at while typing at my computer. I've never actually been there (the pictures that I took were taken in a studio) and the only reason I post stuff like that is to trick people into going there so that I'll eventually be able to take my unfriendly and self-loathing self into the Presidentials and wander around, alone, all day long. Everyone else will be scratching there heads on Mt. Tom in Easthampton, wondering why they're there and not hiking in the Presidentials.

-Dr. Wu

You forgot the option - "I sucker my hiking partners into writing them for me"

cbcbd said:

You forgot the option - "I sucker my hiking partners into writing them for me"

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Hey - I resemble that statement!

sapblatt said:

Hey - I resemble that statement!

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One of the many reasons why it is great to hike with Sapblatt

I donot have the time...besides I am a lousy riter and spelar!

Oh, you also forgot the option ... my partner has our TR posted before I even get home!

After a hike, I'm already way too much into thinking about the next mountain I'm going to hike to write a trip report about the mountain I just climbed.

Hehe, honestly, I used to do trip report likes (mainly just organizing pics that I took) to try and lure people into hiking with me (not one of my friends hike). You know what, they still didn't hike after all those awesome pics I took. So, every now and then, I'll post pics, but I don't do trip reports that much anymore.

Fish

I used to post trip reports for many of my hikes because I wanted the respect and admiration of my peers. I used to think that if I set some kind of record I would become a hiking celebrity. Now I think I'm at a place where I'm satisfied with who I am and what I've done. The only person that I have to impress or hold accountable is myself.

On the other hand, I would say I still occasionally post trip reports if I come across something I think others would find particularly interesting or unusual. I will admit it is fun to share the exhilharation of completing a list - to let other finishers know that there's a new member in their club. Other than that, I hike because I enjoy being outside. We all do. I'll let the people that are more eloquent or poetic tell the stories. Most of my hikes are beautiful, uneventful, and only meaningful to me, and that's just the way I like them.

Most of my hiking trips, especially in the summertime, are unremarkable. I don't want to rehash my Franconia Ridge trip for 8146th time on VFTT.

Most of the info that I would include in a TR is info that could easily be found elsewhere, so unless I'm adding some new insight, there seems no reason to bother. I think I did a TR on the Holt Trail b/c there wasn't much info on it otherwise. Most info on hikes, even bushwhacks, are described sufficiently elsewhere, or need not be divulged at all.

The only other interesting feature about reading TRs is the entertainment value, which, frankly, few have. Unless I spend the time to write something of literary value, I won't bother. Usually I find better ways to spend my summer evenings.

(This also posted in the other "why post" thread)

Why I post or more accurately used to post TRs?

1. I used to post trip reports all the time, mostly because it helped me keep track of what I have hiked, sort of like a journal.

2. I also like telling creative and fun stories . . . which I used to be able to do back when I was a newbie and weird and funny things used to happen to me more often because I was still doing silly "new hiker learning" stuff.

3. I also used to take a gajillion pictures and wanted to share those pictures with my new found hiking friends . . . which brings me to . . .

4. I used to hike alone ALL the time because I didn't have any friends who hiked. Then I found VFTT, began posting a zillion Trip Reports and it was a great way for people to get to know me and to hike with me. This resulted in new found hiking partners, who quickly turned into friends and now I have friends to hike with . . . and that brings me to

Why I don't post Trip Reports as much anymore.

1. I just seriously don't have the time anymore, crazy busy hectic job instead of grad school, new (not that new anymore) man in my life instead of being single as I was when I was first on VFTT posting all those trip reports.

2. I just don't care to keep track of what I hike anymore. I hike so much now and am not new at it so it isn't so much an accomplishment to talk about as just another weekend spent doing what I love, being in the woods.

3. I don't have very many interesting or creative stories anymore and gushing about the profound spiritual part of hiking gets a bit overdone after a while . . .

4. I don't take as many pictures, so just listening to me ramble without the reward of pretty pictures means no one will likely enjoy reading my reports.

So, now I only write reports if I have done something worth telling about, had an unbelievable experience, want to give trail conditions data during winter or share pictures, or get talked into it by hiking partners or am plain procrastinating doing experiments.

All of the above applies to my posting frequency in general, not just trip reports.

Interesting thread, both of them . . .

sli74

I don't write TR's because... by the time I get home I've forgotten I was on a trip.

DaveSunRa said:

I don't write TR's because... by the time I get home I've forgotten I was on a trip.

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It's a long trip back to Saturn, ain't it?

-Dr. Wu

I write notes of nearly every hike primarily to organize my thoughts of the hike and secondarily to record information I might want later. I've recently been rereading reports from the '80s sometimes of places I didn't remember I'd been.

Only a small fraction of these make it to web sites, usually heavily edited to include only info useful to others.

I don't post trail information that would not be of use/interest to others hiking that trail.

dr_wu002 said:

It's a long trip back to Saturn, ain't it?

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Dr Wu, you speak the truth. And the price of fuel today, forget about it. I need to get one of those Toyota electric spaceship.

So Frodo... how would you answer your own question?