Lessons Learned while Blue Blazing Ohio

I reached a milestone today in publishing the last post for the Loveland Section of the Buckeye Trail. There was a lot to cover and it took me a while to drive, research and photograph the section and get all the posts written. I still think some of my blog posts are a bit long, even after breaking the section down to smaller pieces.

As I was working on the Loveland Section I was also traveling other sections of the Buckeye Trail. The next sections that are close to my home are safe in that if I start to wonder, what did I see? did I like that route? do I have enough photos? I can always jump back in my car and drive the section again. Those days are almost over. Soon it will take me a while just to get to the starting point of a new section and revisiting a route twice or three times will not be an option.

Luckily my recent ‘test drives’ of the next sections of the trail have taught me a few valuable lessons.

1- Take more pictures than I think I will ever need or want.

2- Use a voice recorder to document the road and my thoughts as I drive. It is scary how quickly I forget what a stretch of road was like by the time I get home.  (must take ginkgo!)

3- Research my trips, the history of towns and such before I head out so I am certain to get the best photos possible.

4- And finally, talk to more people. I believe adding a few stories told by the people who live in the areas we are visiting will be interesting and add a new layer to the blog and what I hope will become a great book.