Trail Blogger - Hiking Journal

About This Project

Hello! My name is Nathaniel. Trail Blogger is a personal hiking journal I built to document my trail adventures and preserve memories from the places I explore. I wanted a simple, ad-free platform where I could store GPS tracks, photos, and hiking notes without relying on third-party services or dealing with subscription fees.

I built this because I kept forgetting which trails I'd done and which ones I wanted to try. I'd come back from a hike and think "this was great, I should remember this," but a few months later I couldn't recall the details. Writing down where, when, and what I thought about helps me actually remember these places.

Having GPS tracks means I can see exactly where I went, and the photos help me remember what the trail actually looked like—not just what I think I remember.

The statistics and maps give me a sense of what I've accomplished, which is nice motivation to get out there and explore more.

This site serves as both a personal archive and a technical demonstration of how to build a lightweight trail tracking system using open-source tools. All trail data is stored in GeoJSON format, images are managed locally, and the entire system deploys to GitHub Pages for free hosting.

If you're interested in building a similar system for your own hiking adventures, the complete source code and documentation are available below.

How It Works

This site is read-only. You're viewing a static GitHub Pages site that displays my trail data. All trail information, GPS coordinates, descriptions, and images are stored in a GeoJSON file and deployed from my local development environment.

Viewing: Browse trails, see photos, read descriptions, and explore the interactive map
Editing: All changes are made on a local Flask server, then deployed here
Data Storage: Trail data is stored in data/trails.geojson with images in data/trail_images/

Creating Your Own Trail Journal

Want to track your own hiking adventures? Here's how to set up your own instance:

1. Get the Code

git clone https://github.com/RealCaddish/trailBlogger.git
cd trailBlogger

2. Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Start the Flask Server (for editing)

python server.py

Then open http://localhost:5000 in your browser.

4. Add Your Trails

Click "Add Trail" to create new trails
Upload photos (automatically compressed)
Add descriptions, dates, and trail details
Import GPS tracks from your hiking app
All changes save automatically to data/trails.geojson

5. Deploy to GitHub Pages

python deploy.py

This validates your data, commits changes, and pushes to GitHub. Your site will update in ~2 minutes!

Two-Environment System

Localhost:5000 (Editing)

Add, edit, and delete trails
Upload and manage images
Change trail status (hiked/unhiked)
Create backups
Changes saved to local files

GitHub Pages (Public Display)

Read-only static site
Fast, reliable hosting
Share with anyone
No server needed
Updates via git push

Key Features

Interactive Maps: Leaflet.js with trail GPS overlays
Image Management: Automatic compression and optimization
GeoJSON Storage: Portable, standard format for trail data
Backup System: Create and restore complete backups with complete_backup.py
Deployment Tool: One-command deployment with validation
Mobile-Friendly: Responsive design for viewing on any device

Technologies Used

Frontend: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (vanilla)
Maps: Leaflet.js with OpenStreetMap tiles
Backend: Flask (Python) for local editing
Storage: GeoJSON files + file system for images
Hosting: GitHub Pages (free static hosting)
Deployment: Custom Python scripts with git automation

Repository & Documentation

Full source code, setup guides, and workflow documentation available at:

github.com/RealCaddish/trailBlogger

Helpful Docs:

EDITING_WORKFLOW.md - Complete editing and deployment guide
BACKUP_RESTORE_GUIDE.md - Backup and restore instructions
QUICK_DEPLOY.md - Quick reference for deployments

Contact | Portfolio | GitHub