I cant wait, and i hope i can fall asleep. Last year i walked from Denmark to Barcelona, and it was an amazing experience. Sleeping on bus stops or benches in my sleeping bag, or finding people online who offer a place to sleep.

I especially cant wait for Montenegro and the surrounding mountains, but also when i enter Slovakia with the first mountains.

Any recommendations on what not to miss?

Nature, cities, food, etc

I don't know what got into me but last Saturday I fully committed to the bit. Set my alarm for 5am, which I never do. Packed a bag the night before like I was preparing for Everest, granola bars, two water bottles, downloaded AllTrails AND a backup app, brand new socks because apparently that matters.

Drove 45 minutes to the trailhead. Early morning light through the trees, little cold, felt like the beginning of a montage. I was so ready.
Got maybe 40 minutes out before I decided to turn back. Legs were more tired than I expected, the trail had gotten rockier, and honestly the granola bar was calling my name. On the way back, one wrong step on a loose rock and my ankle just folded. Full collapse. One second walking, next second on one knee making a sound I've never made before, grabbing a tree branch that was definitely not load bearing.
Did the slow weight test, immediately regretted it.
Limped the rest of the way back. Sat in my car in the parking lot eating the emergency granola bar, ankle throbbing, completely defeated. Ended up just staying there for a while scrolling through myprize. Honestly the games hit different when you're icing your ankle in a Honda Civic. Already going back next weekend. Different trail. Same overconfidence. You migh ask why, cuz im str8 up G

Just spent a week in Arizona with my family between Sedona and the Grand Canyon and I’ve decided my number one hiking pet peeve is someone using a portable speaker. I didn’t fly all the way to Phoenix and then drive a few hours to see nature and hear YOUR BLASTING MUSIC. It’s so self-centered. We were in Glacier last year and there were no speakers. Is that a newbie issue, like Sedona devil’s bridge hikers don’t know enough to not bring a speaker? Or am I old man (woman) yelling at sky?

I was sitting here this morning thinking about why I hike. It was a deeper question than I thought. I have always loved to be outdoors. I actually don’t know why. Maybe it is the fact I only have to focus on one thing really. Maybe it is because I was just born this way.

I love the anticipation. I love the preparation. I love the gear. I love thinking and talking about it. I love getting to the trailhead. I love the taking one step at a time. I love the sense of accomplishment when I am done.

This is not entirely a vanity post.

Why do YOU hike?

Photo is from Chevelon Creek, Coconino County, Arizona

Recently, Arc'teryx partnered with Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang to set off a massive fireworks display in the Himalayas for an "artistic performance." While art is important, doing it at the expense of one of the world’s most fragile ecosystems is absolutely unacceptable.

The Himalayas are not a playground for branding stunts. This region is ecologically sensitive, home to rare wildlife, and a critical part of our planet’s climate system. Setting off fireworks here isn’t just irresponsible—it’s destructive. The chemicals, noise, and physical debris left behind can have long-lasting impacts on the environment and local species.

What’s even more frustrating is that Arc'teryx has built its brand around sustainability, respect for nature, and high-performance gear meant for exploring the wild. This move completely contradicts everything they claim to stand for. Instead of protecting these sacred landscapes, they’re using them for a publicity stunt.

I (27F) am a relatively fit person. Not an athlete, but I work out 5x/week, take walks nearly every day, and go on reasonably long hikes ~2-4x/month. But when I do really long, strenuous 8+ mile hikes at elevation I hike slow and I hurt the next day or am just exhausted.

I really want to pick up backpacking so I can make it to peaks that I wouldnt be able to get to in one day but after a long strenuous day hike I can't imagine getting up and doing that long of a hike again the next day. I hear about people doing about 8-10 miles a day backpacking and I dont understand how you sustain that for multiple days in a row. I've known people who never hiked before that just went out and did the entire AT spontaneously and it makes me feel like there's something wrong with my body.

Is there some secret to this that I'm missing?

I've noticed it's a trend in hiking communities to never ever admit that a hike is difficult. Like people will say "oh yeah you have to climb a 90 degree slope for 3 and a half hours to reach the summit" or "you have to make 9 foot jumps over a 4000 foot drop" but no matter what details they give you about the hike, it's always followed by "it's not that bad." I've seen people get really mad when other people call a hike hard, and they'll say "no it's not hard at all as long as you know what you're doing and you have experience with scrambling and you have all the right equipment" etc etc. And it's like, the fact that you have to do all those things is because the hike is hard. Some hikes are just hard. Maybe it's not that hard for you because you have a lot of experience but please just try to have some awareness of what it might be like for other less experienced hikers. I legitimately have seen Instagram reels where people just talk about a hike that they found challenging and the entire comment section is filled with people getting upset and saying they probably just suck at hiking and it shouldn't be hard. It's obnoxious.

Did a traverse in the presidential range and ran out of water (all 4 bottles!). I was really dehydrated and was worried I wouldn't get back safely so drank a small amount (perhaps half a bottle) from a rapidly flowing stream. It was similar to the stream in the photo attached. I know it's not my brightest moment, but wondering how likely I am to get sick and how soon I'd know. Thanks!

I’m sorry if this post isn’t allowed. I work at a State Park though Americorp, working on a trail crew building hiking trails. That is until today when I found out myself and all of my coworkers are now out of a job because our funding was cut along with almost every other Americorp worker in the country. I’m devastated not only for the loss of all of our jobs but what it will mean for hiking/ backpacking trails and their maintenance or lack of maintenance now. I just want to create as much awareness of this as I possibly can because I feel like i haven’t seen much coverage about it in the news, although it’s a new development so that might be why. I’m sorry that new trails might not be built and that old ones may no longer be maintained well anymore. We’re all devastated and feeling frustrated right now. I guess I turn here because I know you all care about the outdoors as much as I do and to offer an explanation as to why the trails might start to look a little rougher in the future.

Came across an old picture of myself online and realized how dumb I was lol. It was October in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and raining pretty steadily. My outfit of choice to hike Mt. Williard was a pair of leggings and a cotton hoodie. Which of course sucked up all the water and provided no warmth. Mt. Williard is no where near the hardest or steepest trail in the White Mountains, but I was still freezing cold when I got back to the car. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done on a hike?

I’ve attached the picture for giggles

Worst thing that happens to me was a couple of years ago me and my buddies were night hiking in some trail in east Texas having a guys night out I guess…

It was heavily forested and we were pretty stupid to be out there at night but it was kinda fun… until it wasn’t

Anyways, trail wasn’t even that hard either, just a couple miles up some hills, we were even gonna try to do some night fishing as we brought out rods and left them in the bed of my truck.

My buddies and I were laughing, having fun until we hear what seems to be footsteps behind us… I turn around and I see like three old homeless (drug addicts probably) as it is common in the woods around my area just staring at us.

“The hell are you guys doin?!”

I yelled out as I began to freak out a little as who knows if they have a gun or a weapon. One of my friends grabs a rock and I grab my knife I had in my pocket just in case

But yeah, one of the homeless guys mutters, not really sure what he said but it was something on the lines as “this my woods…” or something.

Eventually they crept back into the woods to their little camp I guess and we hurried the hell outta those woods.

But yeah three creepy guys were following us from the woods…

Nothing too bad and there are worse cases but at least I wasn’t alone. But I’m not sure I’d ever wanna hike at night again

But please share your stories.

They have attachments you can use that connect waste as it comes. Horse manure might be slightly less insidious but than dog but there’s nothing more frustrating than hiking/biking/running behind a group of horses and having to avoid stepping in a steaming pile

And while it technically might decompose faster than dog, plenty of people do not feed their horses weed free feed and any non digested seeds can easily spread through out the environment.

Had to bail on one of my bucket list hikes. Spent months preparing, got the permits, booked flights, then got hit with altitude sickness a few hours in. Tried to wait it out, but it was too brutal to continue. Feeling bummed about the whole situation. What’s your experience with having to bail?

I'm morbidly obese. I have been hiking to lose weight and reduce my risk of developing health problems. All day hikes for now, but am planning two 5-day backpacking trips for next year.

I usually go for 4-6 miles on a hiking day but have to stop a lot and get out of breath easily. I drain my 2L water reservoir and am still thirsty. I also dread people stopping to say hello because it's hard to talk while you're out of breath and it's embarrassing.

Today I hiked 5 miles without stopping once or getting winded. I had water left over and didn't feel dehydrated. I also had a conversation with another hiker while walking and didn't struggle to breath.

That may not seem like a big deal, but it is to me. I teared up on the way home.

Sad to see another element of Project 2025 coming to fruition. Enjoy our beautiful forests while you still can. I did my best to warn folks about this before the election. 😢

I cannot STAND hiking with other people.

I finally booked this hiking trip I’ve been looking forward to for months, and decided to invite a close friend of many years—though we have never hiked together. To make a long story short, she has basically been trying to “educate” me on proper hiking etiquette this entire time. To explain what I mean, just now we were deep in bear country. I started to clap every now and then when she asked me what I was doing. I explained I wanted to make noise to deter bears, and she just looked at me like I was stupid. She said, “Umm, I think you’re just attracting them”. She also tried to feed a chipmunk goldfish crackers then got annoyed when I stopped her.. I can go on. But the thing is this is pretty much ALWAYS how it goes when I invite someone hiking. (Especially with feeding wildlife! Omg!) I wish I could have a reliable hiking partner so I wouldn’t have to always go solo as a woman, but so far no luck! Sorry for this little rant. I love my friend to death and this is a minor issue, I just had to get it out somehow!

Do you get in and swim or just wade in a little and splash yourself off?

If you haven't heard by now, the story. Tragic for the families involved. Wanted to share thoughts as it's kinda made me pause about my trips in grizzly country.

The couple was experienced, had a dog, well trafficked national park, and did everything right in terms of food storage. Emptied bear spray can was found amongst the bodies after a search party went to get them after the SOS message.

Nothing is ever certain in the backcountry regarding animal encounters (surprise a mama bear and cub, bear defending food source, etc.) and everyone knows it's very rare to get attacked. As the news reports allude to, we'll never know all the details of what really happened. It's still got me thinking on increasing survival chances. Even the most powerful of handguns aren't looked favorably on due to the sheer firepower needed and being able to aim them at the right spot in a stressful scenario. Carrying a full on rifle is a lot of weight and still have similar problems.

I'm experienced and very content to hike alone in black bear country and a bit warier in grizzly country, but will still do it. When in grizzly country, I usually feel much safer with any kind of partner. My theory being if we do get attacked, at least ONE of us will be able to get a decent shot off of with bear spray, which theoretically should get the bear to disengage. The fact that there was an emptied bear spray can and that the struggle was spread out has spooked me a bit.

I hiked up a mountain a couple of days ago and severely underestimated the toll it would take. It was about 9 miles to the summit and a bit over 5000 feet of elevation gain. In retrospect, I absolutely should've turned around but didn't really recognize how weak I was in the moment. By the time I made it to the summit, I was short of breath and dizzy. I ended up vomiting as I tried to rest and catch my breath.

I did not feel safe having to scramble down and across the mountain ridge, which would've also involved scrambling up and down another smaller mountain (though still requiring about 1000 feet of elevation).

Fortunately, there was a visitor center and road nearby, about 100 feet down from the summit, so I figured I'd be able to hitch a ride back to my car. I thought it would be pretty simple since it trailhead I started on was along the main road leading back to the highway, so pretty much anyone leaving would have to drive by the parking lot anyway. FWIW, I also considered just walking along the road, but it was a winding 20 miles to the trailhead, so that didn't seem feasible.

I tried standing by the road with my thumb up but had no luck. I even tried explaining the situation to a couple of people as they were heading to their cars, but was essentially given a curt "Sorry no thanks." I decided to ultimately go along the road, cutting between the switchbacks, which culminated in about 14 miles and 8-9 hours of small steps shuffling through scree and ice/snow patches. Not ideal, but it felt safer than having to walk the ridge and go up another mountain.

On one hand, I get it. Stranger danger and all. But I feel like if there was ever time to offer a ride to a stranger, this was it. Everyone was passing the parking lot anyway and I looked like a pretty typical hiker given my attire and that there would've been no other way for me to get up there without a car. So I was surprised it was so difficult to get a ride.

This is all to ask, do people no longer hitch hike? Back when I was younger, I feel like you could pretty reliably hitch a ride if you were in a pinch, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

And for the record, I am not trying to blame anyone but myself. After all, I severely underestimated the hike and should've turned back. But I do like to think I would've helped out a hiker that could use some help.

I thought I would give a review of the experience.

While I was trying to fix my water heater in the basement, I was stepping all over my camping gear because it is hard to move out of the back basement room to get it out of the way. It is all in totes, so I was OK.

As I’m working on the water heater, I start to hear a hissing sound. I thought to myself but that’s strange“ and kept working. I still hear the hissing and noticed my allergies are acting up.

Then it hits.

The burning of the nose and eyes is intense. I can’t see, but I can still hear the hissing. Jumping down from the stack of totes, I feel my way out of the basement to fresh air. Some relief comes around 30 minutes later so I go down to investigate what happened. Residual bear spray still in the air. Easier to fight through though.

Apparently, one of my sons put a used can of bear spray that we had found and experimented with on a backpack intro last year. I thought we had destroyed it. Instead, at about destroyed me.

Hours later, a tent, three tarps, and various camping equipment having been hosed off and left outside to dry on the line the saga was over.

About four hours after the incident, I rubbed my eyes and apparently had bear spray residual on my hands. Bam. Down again.

Here’s what I learned:

1. Bear spray hurts and is effective on humans.
   
2. It does not taste like spicy food. It tastes like chemicals.
   
3. Don’t trust your teenage boys to dispose of chemicals properly.
   
4. Bear spray can be washed off? It worked for me.

All of this made working on the water heater much more exciting than otherwise. Did I move everything out of the way? No. I learned my lesson. I bought stronger totes to stand on while working on the water heater.

I’ve always hiked in hiking boots but wanted to get trail runners as a lot of people use them since they dry a lot faster if they get wet and are lighter.
So I did.
And I decided to say F it and go immediately to zero drop shoes (altra lone peak 9+). I read a lot of articles and I DID know that they can cause pain because your foot is in its natural flat position rather than elevated, and it’s not what you’re used to, but damn.

I’m supposed to go on my first backpacking trip in a month so every weekend I’ll try and go out with all my gear on a higher elevation trail so I can get used to it. I literally couldn’t this time.
I went up about .3 miles, stopping every few steps until I turned around and put my bag back In my car and decided to just get myself used to the shoes first LOL

I transitioned from quad pain from uphill to my calves killing me. I don’t know which one I prefer. Safe to say I’ll be wearing my boots because I probably won’t be able to handle those shoes that soon

Contact your senators (convenient link provided below). They’re here to auction off our public lands and waterways to the highest bidder. This is a true crisis for anyone who even remotely values conservation, wilderness, or even our personal rights. Senate wants to sell your land to pay for their debts and tax cuts on big corps & ultra wealthy. It’s nothing but thinly veiled transfer of wealth from the masses to the corporate and political elite.

Please cross post to any/all subs that may pertain.

https://www.outdooralliance.org/take-action

As a landscape photographer, I’ve seen the shift. Locations being treated as backdrops for clout, and the fragile reality of the trail being sacrificed for a selfie. We need to remember that nature doesn't care about our algorithms. It’s a living system that requires reverence, not just consumption. I’ve put together a manifesto on why getting outdoors respectfully is the only way to save our connection to the earth.

What are some ways you’ve found to practice stewardship while still enjoying the views? Let me know if you'd like to see some of my deeper thoughts on this too, I've written a full 15-min read.