In reply to pamph:
I came to climbing late (at 48, four years ago) and was so surprised by it that every trip out (once a month or so) was and still is an adventure and a treasure. I keep a climbing diary - I write a page or so about each day and stick photos in. I write about the day a few days afterwards when it has had time to settle and take shape in my mind - I haven't yet written up what I did a fortnight ago. It's a way of keeping the memories of both place and people ("Who will tie it up with a ribbon, and put it in a box for me?"). I really love that diary!
My diary is written so that I can comfortably show it to climbing partners, family, future grandchildren: although climbing days can be emotional at times, there isn't anything un-share-ably personal (about me or anyone else) in the diary.
A while ago an older friend sent me some pages from a notebook where he'd written up a climb he did on the Idwal Slabs as a very young man; he'd obviously written it while the memory of certain holds and step were still vivid in his mind. It felt like a real privilege to read it.
L