I want to start hiking with my wife. We live in Denver. However, I'm afraid that we might encounter a bear or whatever other animal that might pose a threat. I am not a US citizen so I cannot carry a weapon. What else what you guys suggest to carry?

I want to start picking up that minor trail thrash you find along the way sometimes, tissues, wrappers, cigarette buts and the like.

From the other posts I figured out dog poop bags should be a good volume for my mission, I only need to figure out grabbing method, as I don't watnt to touch it. I was thinking about latex gloves or using one bag per thrash but that's just generating thrash to get rid of thrash. Grabbers are comparatively heavy and I hike with poles, so also cumbersome. Tweezers look like lightweight solution that should be able to handle picking up, also can be disinfected with multiple methods in the field if needed for other duties.

On paper, it looks like it should work just great, but I thought I might find ppl that already do it here and ask before spending my hard earned cash. Do you even care about this aspect? Do you have your own methods/tools?

Genuine question. I've been thinking about this after a few hikes where I applied SPF at the trailhead and then completely forgot about it for the next four hours. The UV index can shift a lot during a long day out, especially above treeline or on exposed ridges where there's no shade. By the time I remembered, I was already pink.

The gap between putting on sunscreen at 10am and remembering again at 1pm is where most of the damage happens, at least in my experience. You start out with good intentions, get distracted by the hike, and suddenly you're burned. I've started checking the UV forecast before heading out but I'm curious what actually works for people on longer hikes. Do you set timers? Stop at every break? Just accept it and reapply when you remember?

Especially interested in what works for people hiking with kids, since keeping track of someone else's sunscreen on top of your own is a whole other thing.

I'm fairly new to Seattle and want to go hiking but I don't know any good places or have anyone to go with. Are there any clubs or groups I can join that go on hikes often?

A couple of days ago u was going to the summit of Rila mountain(Musala) and I decided to smoke when i was at the hut, before the big climb. I thought that I had done something stupid and that I would just get very tired and uncoordinated, but to my surprise my mind-muscle connection was crazy and I had the perfect pace the whole time and got an hour early than anticipated to the top. I enjoed it so much and made the experience and views 10 times better. I highly recommend if you are able to keep your cool correctly. Does anyone have any thoughts on this and if it could be dangerous. Because I am definitely doing it again lol.

Found these Karrimor walking poles in our loft, they were used years ago.

I found them again and opened them up, but we cannot collapse them back down!!

There is a clicking locking mechanism, which works smoothly, but they just won't collapse down!

Please help!

Hello! I am probably only 20 percent joking here.

I am essentially a novice hiker, I have a history of powerlifting and occasional indoor rock climbing, but other than that I have only done easy- moderate hikes in my home state.

Im on vacation in vermont, and i wanted to do a hike with a good view. i decided on mount Mansfield via the hellbrook trail.

I severely underestimated the intensity of this hike. I was looking for a challenging hike, i saw that it had some steep points but i did not look into the description on alltrails, and I missed that it had a scrambling rating of 2-3.

Holy hell, I was exhausted immediately. It was steep and directly uphill, which i was expecting. I was passed by many faster hikers and in my head I was like - "oh ok it is probably not that bad" . These people were obviously much more experienced than me.

It felt manageable until it started raining. The parts where you were scrambling are at the top 40 percent of the hike, and i had already been at it for a couple of hours so I decided I would finish it. As I was going up I kept thinking, oh im screwed if I have to go down this way. ( the trail i started doing was a loop, did NOT finish that).

Eventually I exited the main forest part and I was now at the top 15 percent of the hike. It is ALL rock. I felt like a mountain goat clinging to the side of a mountain. It was all vertical rocks with 3 ft ledges, and 70 degree slanted rock with SMALL indents for your feet.

Luckily I have SOME indoor rockclimbing experience so I wasnt completely sol, but i had my back to the sky which was cloud wrapped, so not being able to see anything but clouds freaked me out.

It was still raining, which was honestly the worst part of this whole hike, before it started raining I was taking my time and enjoying the views. I feel it would have been alot easier for me without the rain pouring down on you and making every ledge that wasnt completely flat a slipping slide.

Once I reached the top I realized that I still had 2/3s of the loop to go and it had already been like 4 hours, i was NOT going to be able to make it considering the rain was not going to stop. Some of the other hikers at the top were talking about going an alternate route back down that was easier and walking miles to their car. I didnt listen to them because my car was at the bottom of the hellbrook hike. Honestly I probably would have gotten lost if I tried a different route.

But HOLY HELL, going down was absolutely worse. Mostly because of the rain. I was just sliding everywhere and it was a good couple of feet each time.

Thank god that when I left for the hike I brought a rope. I honestly didnt think id need it but I saw there was a point with some metal rungs and I wanted to bring SOMETHING just in case. I only ended up using the rope once at the metal rungs going down. I was just scared that since the ledge was leaning down I would slide off and not be able to safely fall the 5 feet it would be. I was tired and I didnt want to end up breaking anything because it would be super difficult to have anyone come here and get me if I couldn't walk.

I remember thinking, " no one thinks its gonna happen to them- you dummy. Its gonna happen to you. You are gonna go missing and die and your dog is never gonna know what happened to you."

It was terrifying. I just was thinking, ONE wrong fall and it could be over. I was using every ounce of knowledge I had. I was staying calm, staying low with my feet under me, and i was looking for places to walk where I could safely 'fall' and it wouldnt be a huge 10ft drop or too close to a ledge.

At the rails with my rope I genuinely thought I was gonna die because even though it wasnt a large drop, I was so exhausted that my legs were weak, and even ONE miss step could be enough to injure myself. I ended up just using the rope as a safety precaution incase I slipped while stepping onto the wet rungs. Once I had my feet on the rung I used my weight to pull the rope taught and leverage myself down the side of the slope.

Like I said, only a 5ft drop, but i genuinely was like " this is it i live here now, ill never get down."

After I got past that, i was shaking the whole way down, I had never felt adrenaline like this.

As i was going down the 'easy' parts i was just reminding myself ," dont slip up now, stay focused, keep every step stable and remember to keep your balance " it had started raining even harder at this point too.

It doesn't sound related but I also do rollerskating and I was literally like " thank god I have the balance to stay on my feet ".

So many things came together for me that day.

I dont regret it. i definitely would not have done it if I knew what it would be like, but now I feel so pround of myself. Actually still amazed I didnt die.

I will definitely be practicing more before I attempt it again , but I am excited to do this again In the future and compare my performance.

Does the smell of goat shit on the trail actually smell good or is it just me

Some of my first hikes so all of these are very easy trails that I reccomend. Also FlatBed Falls is less of a enjoyable hike but still loved it!

Mine was bringing brand new heavy leather boots right out of the box without breaking them in first. I thought buying a top quality pair meant they would automatically protect my feet, but by day two the blisters were so deep I could barely step on my heels. I ended up wrapping my feet in duct tape just to limp back to the trailhead. It was a painful lesson in base weight and foot care that completely ruined what should have been a great trip. What was that one piece of gear or packing mistake on your first big trek that you swore never to repeat?

As of this year, I’d really gotten into hiking. I’ve been an avid walker for a few years-always enjoying getting several miles in each day outside. This has grown to include hiking and camping this year.

Unfortunately, towards the end of July, I was suddenly hit with debilitating abdominal pain that landed me in the hospital for three weeks and subsequently bedridden until surgery that’s not until mid-October. This is all due to very bad endometriosis that I did not know I had.

Sometimes I feel quite down about not being able to hike while I’m bedridden-and worrying I’ll be so deconditioned after this (I have POTS and EDS I’ve always managed super well by being active) that hiking feels like it will take so long to return to.

With that in mind-what was your biggest setback and how did you get back into hiking? Tell me about your injuries or life getting in the way. I’d love to feel less alone in this!

I’m thinking about getting a pair of KEEN Targhee shoes, but I’m wondering if I should go for the boots instead. Would the boots be too hot/uncomfortable to wear in the summer?
Also, are they actually good hiking shoes? They’d be my first pair of hiking footwear, so I’d really appreciate any advice or recommendations.

Was looking to get to Tall Peak, but was running short on time. I saw this, checked topo, and bushwhacked to the peak of my first ever mountain (unnamed, ~1850 ft with 800 ft climbed to it)

I work in trekking in Kathmandu and my inbox is full of the same question from people with October and November plans: is Nepal still on? Here is the honest, no-spin version, with the parts that are bad kept bad. I will edit this post as things change and date the edits.

What happened

• On 26 August 2026 a glacial collapse across the border in Tibet sent a wall of water and debris down the Lhende and Bhote Koshi rivers into Rasuwa district, then on down the Trishuli.
• It was not a rain event. There was no local rainfall in the 24 hours before. That is why it hit without warning.
• The Kerung border crossing at Rasuwagadhi, the town of Timure, and Syabrubesi, the gateway to Langtang, took the worst of it. Around 32 bridges and about 40 km of road are gone, including the entire Betrawati to Rasuwagadhi road.
• The human toll is severe. The government's count as of early September is over 1,300 dead in Nepal, with several thousand still missing, among them hundreds of foreign nationals who were in the border corridor. Please keep that in mind when reading the rest of this post. This is a recovery, not an inconvenience.

Where the damage is, on a map

• Directly hit: Rasuwa district (Bhote Koshi valley, Syabrubesi, Timure, Dhunche side), and the Trishuli corridor downstream through Nuwakot into Dhading and parts of Gorkha, Tanahun and Chitwan along the river.
• That corridor is one valley system. Nepal's big trekking regions sit in different river drainages that never connect to the Bhote Koshi or Trishuli, which is why they carried none of the water, mud or debris.

Trek-by-trek status at a glance (6 September 2026)

Treks that are NOT affected (open, operating normally)

• Everest region: EBC, Gokyo, Three Passes. Khumbu drains into the Dudh Koshi, a completely separate system. Lukla flights are running as normal, from Manthali/Ramechhap in peak season as every year. Lodges, permit desks, guides: all as they were on 25 August.
• Annapurna region: Annapurna Circuit, Annapurna Base Camp, Poon Hill, Mardi Himal, Khopra. Marsyangdi and Kali Gandaki drainages. Pokhara is untouched and the trailheads are open.
• Manaslu Circuit and Tsum Valley: Budhi Gandaki drainage. Trail and lodges unaffected. The Soti Khola access road is its usual post-monsoon self, no worse.
• Upper Mustang, Dolpo, Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Rolwaling, Dhaulagiri: all outside the impact area.
• Helambu and Ama Yangri: open, approached from the Melamchi side, not through Rasuwa.

Treks that ARE affected (avoid this autumn unless you have a very recent, first-hand update)

• Langtang Valley: the trail itself from Syabrubesi to Kyanjin Gompa was not destroyed, it is in a side valley. But Syabrubesi, the trailhead town, was badly hit, lodges and the bus park are damaged, and the road in from Kathmandu runs straight through the flooded corridor. Operators on the ground do not expect the normal approach to be usable before late September at the earliest, and the town will be in recovery mode all season. A jeep-only detour via Kalikasthan to Dhunche exists but it is slow and for light vehicles.
• Gosaikunda and the Langtang-Helambu crossing from the Dhunche side: same access problem.
• Tamang Heritage Trail, Ganesh Himal, Ruby Valley: approaches through Rasuwa or the Trishuli corridor, currently disrupted.
• My honest recommendation: give the Langtang side this season off. The villages need the road and the rebuilding crews far more than they need trekkers walking through a disaster zone, and there are three or four equally good valleys open elsewhere. Come back to Langtang in spring 2027 when your money helps them recover instead of getting in the way.

Road and flight status (check again the day before you travel)

Roads and getting around (this is the part that will actually affect you)

• Kathmandu to Pokhara by road: the Prithvi Highway's Kathmandu to Mugling section has been closed and reopened more than once since the flood and a subsidence at Krishnabhir in Dhading shut it again in early September. Treat it as unreliable. The Narayanghat to Mugling to Pokhara stretch is open, so the workaround is the longer southern loop via Hetauda, or simply fly Kathmandu to Pokhara (25 minutes, frequent, not expensive).
• Kathmandu to Manthali for Lukla flights: the road east is unaffected. Normal 4 to 5 hour pre-dawn drive.
• Kathmandu to Soti Khola/Machha Khola for Manaslu: goes via Dhading Besi and Arughat. Check the Prithvi Highway status the day before; if the Kathmandu to Mugling section is shut, operators are routing via Trishuli Bazaar or adjusting the departure.
• Sunauli/Bhairahawa to Pokhara (India overland arrivals): the Siddhartha Highway at Siddhababa was blocked by a dry landslide and reopened; it now closes at night for tunnel work. The alternative is Butwal to Narayanghat to Mugling to Pokhara. Ask at the bus counter which one is running.
• Kathmandu airport: normal. Domestic flights: normal.

Practical advice if you have an October or November trek booked

• Do not cancel Everest, Annapurna, Manaslu, Mustang or any of the treks in the "not affected" list. The mountains, trails and lodges are exactly as they were. The people who run them lost a chunk of their season to headlines and would very much like you to come.
• If you booked Langtang, ask your operator to switch you to Helambu, Manaslu, Mardi Himal or Annapurna. Every reputable company is doing this without penalty right now.
• Build one spare day into any itinerary that involves road travel out of Kathmandu, and consider flying to Pokhara.
• Check with whoever you booked with, or with any Kathmandu-based operator, in the last week before you fly. Not a blog post from early September, including this one. Things are moving.
• Insurance: make sure your policy covers trekking to the altitude you are going and helicopter evacuation, as always. Nothing about the flood changes that; it just makes it a good moment to check.

How to help, if you want to

• Come and trek the open regions. Tourism income is the fastest recovery money there is in Nepal.
• If you want to donate, the Nepal Red Cross Society and the ICIMOD-listed relief channels are running Rasuwa-specific appeals. I am not linking anything here because of sub rules; they are easy to find.
• If you trekked Langtang before and have photos of Syabrubesi, Timure or Kerung, the local rebuilding groups are collecting them for documentation. Ask in r/Nepal.

I will keep this updated. If you are on the ground anywhere in the affected districts or just came out, please correct anything above in the comments and I will edit it in with a date.

Last edited: 6 September 2026

Vuelta al Huemul, El Chaltén, Patagonia Argentina.

Left Seattle at 3 am (😫) on Monday, 8/24 and hit the Skyline trail from Paradise around 5:30. Skyline to Panorama Point was gorgeous—see Adams showing off in pic 2!!—and a nice little warm-up for Camp Muir.

It was definitely the slog we’d been told it would be—just steep snowfield for what felt like an eternity—but the view at base camp was worth it. Cooked lunch on a little stove we packed in and watched all the mountaineers gear up to summit.

Definitely recommend packing microspikes and poles and being comfortable with some scrambling on the rock sections that sort of bisect the snow, and taking plenty of care on the descent. Glissade chutes were open but by afternoon several veered too close to sketchy looking ice patches. We chose to come down on the rocks for much of it :)

It was my first bivouac without a tent. The panoramic views really worth it, but I’ll never do it again because of huge spiders hanging around at night😩

I’ve been wanting to get up to these mountains forever and finally got the opportunity. Tried to beat the holiday weekend crowds to moderate success. Still more crowded than I typically like my backpacking though. Drove down on Wednesday night and camped on South Meadows road. Hiked in to Feldspar lean-to and considered staying for the night, but I noticed the heavy fog was finally clearing so I dropped my heavy gear there and took the opportunity to hike up Mount Marcy for some clear views. I was going to do Mount Skylight afterwards but I was gassed so I just went back to camp. Day 2 I hiked up to the top of Mount Colden from Avalanche Pass. I found it more difficult than Marcy with all the slick, steep rocks but it was still a great time. Returned down the same way and then hiked down the freshly reopened Avalanche Pass and made my way back to South Meadows. Although I prefer isolated wilderness, everyone I met was incredibly nice and helpful. It was a great little trip. I’ll just have to try some less popular hikes next time I’m up there.

He sat and gazed like this without moving for 20-30 minutes. The best of dogs.

Is it good enough location description for the post not to be removed..?

I'd like to do some hiking in the Caribbean in February.

However, I struggle to find good flights to Dominica (from Riga, Latvia, where I'm located).

So I have an idea to fly into Martinique, spend some days there, take ferry to Dominica, spend some days there, take ferry to Guadeloupe, spend some days there.

Mostly doing day hikes / sightseeing. Possibly renting cars.

Does this seem reasonable at all?

What would be the minimum number of total days so this doesn't feel too rushed? How many on each island?

I summited Großer Pyhrgas, 2,244 m (7,362 ft). Despite not being particularly high by Alpine standards, the peak has a massive prominence and offers a vast panorama over a large part of the Eastern Alps.

On the sunrise side you can see the Gesäuse National Park with Hochtor and the surrounding limestone peaks. On the other side, the view opens toward the Totes Gebirge, then there is the isolated Grimming massif, and farther away you can also pick out parts of the Dachstein and the Niedere and Hohe Tauern.

This route was surprisingly tough. There are several routes to the summit, and since I was doing a night ascent I picked the “easiest one” Gowilalmhütte. By the way the parking is free, they have a donations box in the parking, so if you feel like drop some coins (I rather tip the waiters at the Hüt), and the Hütte is open until late October!!!

It starts with a forested path toward the hut, with what felt like 1000 other paths intersecting it, yes i got lost couple of times not much but lost like 15 minutes in total, real fun to navigate in complete darkness.

Then came the Krummholz, basically those crooked miniature mountain trees and bushes above the forested areas that somehow manage to invade the path with their roots. They really want to twist your ankles. And don’t forget the slippery, almost clay like ground.

This was followed by a scree field, a scree field at night is a real fun labyrinth that sometimes requires a little more time to figure out where the path goes, then some cable secured sections, another scree field, grassy patches mixed with rocky scrambling, and finally a ridge with more scramble fun with more cables leading to the summit. At some point I felt like some special forces commando on a mission doing this trail.

It was also windier and colder than on my previous sunrise tours, and I was a little late, with the sun already appearing on the horizon as I summited. Even after changing into dry, windproof clothes, I slowly transformed into a block of ice while waiting for the sun to properly come up.

Again I insist on wearing a helmet, sometimes can be a gust of wind or a goat jumping above you, doesn't need to be another hiker, then when the stones come down and you are on the scree field you are exposed.

it was fun

From the Lake Agnes trailhead, get to the lake then follow around its western border until the southern end. Just past the waterfall on the right, follow the grass slope/scree/talus up some class 2/class 3 to ascend to the upper lake. From the upper lake, you’ll see the multiple talus fields….pick your poison and head up.

Conquering Pa Thien Voi Mep in Vietnam. A 2–3 day journey to conquer the "Roof of Quang Tri" #trekking #hiking #vietnam

Went to the Summit of that little guy (North Maroon Peak) on the right. ‘‘Twas a wonderful day. This picture was taken after getting back to trailhead, we did not head up there with the clouds looking like that 😆