Crash and Burn....

Let me introduce you to my favorite trail blogging device. This is the PocketMail. I used this little device, about the size of a checkbook, to type of my Appalachian Trail adventures, and my Florida Trail adventures, and if you ever communicated with me through e-mail during my hikes, there's a good chance I read and replied to your messages on this device.

It's remarkably low tech, but in the backcountry, I consider this a major advantage. It runs on two AA batteries, easily replaced when they wear out. A single set of batteries would quite literally work for weeks without replacement in the backcountry. Seems like it didn't draw any power at all just for typing. (Sending and receiving e-mail sucked up battery power much quicker, but that was always done in town where fresh batteries were always plentiful.) The keyboard is cramped to type on, but it is a full keyboard that I can actually do my touch typing on and write out a good story relatively quickly.

Sending and receiving e-mail with this device uses technology that's more than 20 years old--an old fashioned modem. From the speed, it sounds like it must run at 2400 baud. It's unbelievably slow. You'd dial a toll free number, hold the back of the device up to the phone, and hear the screech of the modem talking to the remote server over the phone lines.

It was primitive, and for years I wondered how this company ever stayed in business. For hikers, for me on the thru-hike, the device was absolutely perfect. Oh, I would have wished the connection was faster. I would have preferred if it connected remotely through cell phone towers instead of trying to find payphones to use. It could have been improved, but it worked, and it did its job well.

Sunday, I went to reactivate my device (off trail, it's a worthless piece of junk, so I only activate service when I'm actually on long distance hikes). I went to http://www.pocketmail.com where I've gone to activate the device before, but the website seemed to be down. Oh, well. Those things happen. I figured I'd try again later that afternoon.

And I did try later that afternoon, and their website was still down. Hmm.... Now I started to worry about. Surely their website wouldn't have been down for that long! So I did some Google sleuthing about the company and learned, sadly, that PocketMail went bankrupt. Last February, from what I gathered, a mere two months ago. With no warning at all, they shut down shop. Apparently they haven't even given any refunds for people who paid for service but are now no longer receiving it. Apparently they did it with no warning at all! Anyone hiking the Florida Trail or something earlier this year would have been caught with their proverbial pants down, hiking on a trail with their one link to e-mail no longer working. Poor fellows.

But I found myself caught when my proverbial pants down as well. The device I was depending on to write my blogs and check my e-mails--now just a worthless paperweight. I had no backup plan! This is what I always used to keep in touch from the trail. Now I had just four days to figure out how to adjust to this tragic turn of events.

I googled and googled. I googled about e-mail only devices. I googled what thru-hikers were doing to check e-mail and write blog entries. I googled and googled, and the only thing I could find that even remotely met my needs was this little device, called a Peek. It uses cell phone towers to check e-mail, and while there is a full QWERTY keyboard on it, from the pictures I could find online, I'm not sure I can do any touch-typing on it. It might just be too small for me to get my fingers on properly, which a HUGE problem. There's no way I can blog my detailed entries with just my thumbs. This little device uses a charger to charge batteries, so I'm also a little concerned about how long I can use the device in the backcountry to type up my blogs before the power goes out. I can't just pop out and replace the AA batteries like I could with the Pocketmail. When this thing runs out of juice, I need to get back into civilization where I can plug it in again.

So I have my reservations about this device. While I can certainly use it to check and reply to my e-mail messages, I'm not sure I can actually use it for blogging. Not the way I blog, at least. But as far as I can tell, it's the only real option I have anymore. I certainly need access to e-mail in trail towns. So I've purchased on online, and am having expedited on it so I can get it before I hit the trail. I won't have much time to test it or kick the wheels before I hit the trail, though.

And if it doesn't work for blogging, I'm not sure what I'll do for keeping everyone up to date on my adventures. I may have to resort to an even older method of journaling--a pad of paper and a pen, writing my adventures out longhand. (And boy howdy, do I wish I knew shorthand now! Maybe that's a skill I can teach myself on the trail? Everyone should know shorthand, right?) To get the adventures online, I'd need to either mail my journals off for someone to transcribe for me, or else wait until Amanda comes by with the laptop so I can transcribe the journal entries myself. Neither of those options will get you fast, up-to-date stores from the trail, however. You'll be lucky to hear about anything within a month of when it happened!

I'll know more once I have the device in my hands and can feel how easy it is (or not) to type with. After a week or two on the trail, I'll have a better idea of the battery life expectancy and if I can make do with charging it once every week or two, or if the device will die halfway through the week.

But one thing is certain--my blog entries may very well not be as prompt or detailed as you've read from past journeys. Only time will tell.....