How to be happy? Head to the mountains. It's where you truly feel alive. Two weeks of backpacking was such an incredible experience. I took a train from Venice. There's a direct connection! There are so many hiking trails, and plenty of great routes for mountain biking too.

Don't know where else to post this, but prepping for my first overnight trip of the year and realized I weigh the same with my pack on as I did the same time last year without it on. Lost just about 35lbs over the past 6 months.

I have lifted weights on and off for the past 10 or so years, but never really cared about what I ate or doing any cardio. I have been religiously tracking my diet and added ~45 minutes of cardio at the end of every lifting day. Really looking forward to seeing how much my physical fitness has improved since last season.

Went on an incredible solo backpacking trip in Kings Canyon National Park a couple weeks ago. 60 mile loop starting from the Bishop area. Some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve ever seen.

I’m planning to backpack around southeast/east asia next year and after that going to Australia on the whv. I’ve bacpacked in SEA before and have a budget in mind but I have no clue how much I need when go to Australia and start to look for a job. I think I’d like to find a job as soon as I get there and then later maybe travel around. I’d still want to be comfortable in case it’s harder to find a job. I think it would be around june-august when I’d leave SEA to go to Australia. What would be a realistic budget? I’m hoping to find work in hospitality and am pretty flexible about where.

Parameters:
-3 night trip
-dog with me (very capable but has to allow dogs)
-peak fall colors
-vibrant fall colors
-within 8 hours of Fort Wayne
-leaving in an hour lol

Thanks!

The last week of August 2026, I went backpacking to Mount Assiniboine starting from Banff Sunshine Village. 4 nights/ 5 days. It was stunning!! 28 kilometers each way. It was warm and sunny the first several days, then the 4th day the temps dropped a bit (Aug 29). We knew there was a chance of snow on our last day (Aug 30) so we luckily had packed proper warm gear.

However we never could've anticipated the amount of snow we woke up to on Aug 30!! 2nd pic is at Howard Douglas Lake. Overall, this was truly a once in a lifetime kind of trip. I think that waking up to all the snow on the last day made the trip all the more memorable. But we were definitely glad to only have snow that last day because we were pretty miserably cold and exhausted by the end. 10/10 would do again!

The site is right off of the river so the chilled water in the fall weather is tremendous. The white noise as you rest makes the 4mi hike in worth it, as the foliage drops youre to be wary of the roots. Beautiful hike and park.

Hey everyone! 👋

Feel free to ask me anything about treksd! Whether you're a beginner planning your first trek or an experienced trekker looking for your next adventure, let's discuss.

What I loved most about this place is how different the landscapes were. One moment you're walking through a peaceful forest, and the next you're surrounded by incredible mountain views. There are plenty of hiking trails for different fitness levels, so you don't have to be an experienced hiker to enjoy the area.

I feel like I know which one most people will pick between the two, but the kicker here is the Flash is currently on sale ($159) and I also have credit at REI so I can easily get the Flash for “free”. On the other hand I love the idea of the extra weight savings of the Kakwa at not much price difference (Ultragrid -$199). It’s also worth noting that there are still a few other items I’ve been eyeing at REI so that credit won’t go unused either way.
Depending on how many creature comforts I decide to pack I’m thinking my solo base weight is set to be around 11-13lbs (this is not counting the backpack weight). Occasionally might increase when trips become a family event but shouldn’t be by a lot.
I’m open to other suggestions outside of these in the same price/capacity range. I was looking at the Exos Pro but with the Flash being on sale, it just didn’t feel comparable.

Comfort is subjective but is there anyone out there that has experience with both? which did you prefer? Is the Flash really as fragile as some make it out to be?

A long and hopefully stimulating read for the weekend. I take a look at the complicated history, commercial incentives and consequences behind the adventure industry’s obsession with records and firsts.

I just got to thinking, the sport that we love is a dangerous one. You can be a true professional (not that I claim to be one) and do everything right, but still die due to just bad luck. And while that is a rare occurrence, at least for people who take it seriously and treat it with respect, I just feel like things going wrong or getting g a bit scary can’t be uncommon with this hobby or lifestyle.

I have a few, but they’re just really minor things not really gone wrong worthy. I do have one though, which is what made me think of this post. Although I wouldn’t really say it was like near death, but it was much less than ideal. So this story happened 3 years ago. The summer of 2023.

My wife and I had a ~24 mile trip planned through a particularly remote stretch of Appalachia. And we frequented this general region, but hadn’t been to this specific spot yet. Every other time we had been to this region, there was a plethora of water. And I studied the route, made sure it followed along creeks at least at parts. Of which, there were many.

I didn’t plan on encountering anyone else the whole time. And. We didn’t. We didn’t even see any cars on the way in for the last maybe 45 minutes.

Anyway. We started the trail with 4 days of food, planned on taking our time and doing it in 3 days. Starting off there was a huge creek crossing, almost like more of a river than a creek. We followed alongside that creek for the first ~3 miles, then crossed. Boots got full of water, it was way deeper than we thought it was. We laughed it off and pressed up the mountain on the other side. It was steep as hell. We gained 1400ft in less than a mile, it was more like a climb than a hike. I knew that this existed beforehand, but once you hit the “top”, it pretty much evened out into some meadows or declined the rest of the time. There was another ascent, but not nearly as much gain.

We made camp around 7 miles in and just hung out the rest of the day. Beautiful campsite right beside a small waterfall, surrounded by rhododendrons. Dried our boots out by the campfire. Went to sleep. Continued on the next day.

So the next day started off heading across this meadow. The trail was really beat up with very uneven footing and deep, like, trenches? We were careful walking through, super beautiful. Saw lots of deer, bright pink flowers blooming. No water up there really, just standing puddles.

It was probably around mile 11 or so that it started to descend, pretty rocky. It was uneven and it was steep, but not that steep. The total descent was like 2 miles down to the next creek on the map. Which is where we were going to refill our water.

About halfway down, my wife twisted her ankle. Pretty good. We assessed but she decided we were already halfway through and if we turned around, she would have to go back up, back across that really uneven trenchy meadow and then back down the super steep mountainside. So, we just pressed on.

We made it down to the bottom and something rather unfortunate was there. The creek on my map, was dried up. No water. And keep in mind, it was like high 80s and super humid. We still had water, but not much. I was relying on this trail having plenty of places to refill, as all of the others in the area did. And her ankle was killing her, so we just stopped and made camp.

By morning, after making breakfast and getting all prepped to go, we were out of water. We decided, we’re just going to make it the remaining ~10-11 miles back to the car. Which was not ideal for her foot, but neither was taking it slow with no water and an injury. So I took most of the weight out of her bag and put it into mine, which had me carrying about 35, maybe upwards of 38 pounds of gear. I weighed around 115 pounds at the time, so that sucked.

We progressed further and further and further along this creek. No water. There was the final real incline coming up and on the other side, another small decline, then another, different creek.

We made it there and did not like what we saw. The elevation gain was probably only 300 feet or so, but it was boulders. Like I had to check the map several times, because it did not look like the trail. It just looked like a path of big ass boulders laid out by the mountain. You did not simply walk over them, you lifted yourself onto them.

I had to help her the whole way up. We got to the top and liked what we saw even less. No dirt, no grass, just like big loose gravel rocks. Not necessarily like shale, but kinda close. This fucked her ankle all the way up. And the sun was baking us alive. No tree cover. And then we descended. Not a rough descent.

Make it to the next creek. No fucking water. And by this point we were getting a little bit woozy. Particularly me. The weight of that bag was kinda taking me out, but there’s no way I was gonna give her more weight, her ankle was looking pretty rough. It definitely took a turn for the worst on those rocks. We had to stop, a lot, for both of our sakes. 10 miles is not that far, as a day hike I could clear that in 4 hours with a lunch break no problem. With no water, peak sun, too much weight, an increasingly injured companion, breaks every 20 minutes, it was taking all day.

Well thankfully the rest of the hike wasn’t that bad and a few miles later we made it back to the start of the loop where the initial water crossing was, we both drank a lot of water and made it back to the car. Then ate a big meal. Those last few miles before the water, we were both dead silent and the only thought in my head the whole time was one foot, one foot, one foot, one foot. Like I said, under normal circumstances, 10 miles is nothing, but I was going through it with dehydration and I also stupidly opted to not eat all day to get back to the car faster for her.

All was well, obviously. That’s the only gone wrong story that I have after 6 years of backpacking. And hopefully I won’t have another, but time will tell.

Quick overnight trip to my favorite hidden gem in Tennessee, Savage Gulf State Park. We had been once before back in 2023 and did the North Rim to South Rim loop. This time, we decided on the Collin's Gulf loop done counterclockwise. Both have their own difficulties, but this recent trail was tough. Boulder fields galore and the ascent back to the parking lot was a burner. RIP to my knees.

The calculated distance on AllTrails is very wrong, lol surprise, surprise! We did roughly 9.6 miles the first day down Stagecoach Rd to Sawmill. Beautiful spot to set up camp. Couple of close trees to hang hammocks down at site 2! Otherwise pretty level for a tent, too. Water access was limited other than Schwoon Spring, which was also a trickle. We had to really climb up behind the rocks and into the cave to reach down and collect water from basically a puddle. It was crystal clear and cold though, so I wasn't complaining after the long day we had.

Day 2 we packed up and headed towards the parking lot. About 5.5 miles up in total, where AllTrails claimed 3.5 (haaa) On the way up, Horsepound Falls was flowing nicely and we collected some water there, not sure when we'd see more. Got up to Suter Falls and that was basically non existent. The pups were pretty gassed at the end, and I was craving a Coke Zero. Fantastic trip all together!

Hello! I’m new to backpacking and will be going around europe for about a month. I’m wondering what some good backpack brands are (in general, like ones that fit tsa carry on regulations or are durable). i won’t need to have it on me constantly and it won’t be going through any sort of weather.
My apologies if this is vague, i’m just lost as for what backpack i should bring. any recs help!

edit: i’ll be backpacking- but not wilderness backpacking. sorry again if it’s vague, i’m not even sure what questions i should be asking

A stunning natural area in northern Czechia, very close to the Polish border, which has its own similar landscape – Góry Stołowe. This protected nature reserve consists of a labyrinth of massive sandstone towers, deep gorges, mysterious caves, and crystal-clear waterfalls. Well-maintained hiking trails and hidden passages make this area a popular tourist attraction, especially during summer when tickets often need to be reserved several days in advance. To protect the site as much as possible, the number of visitors is limited and entry is allowed only at a specific time slot.

We started our hike from Teplice. This side is much quieter, has a more authentic hiking atmosphere, and there is no fixed entry time for starting the trail. The trails themselves also feel more like proper mountain paths, while in the Adršpach section you can literally see people walking around in formal clothes (I think I even caught some of them in one of my photos).

Quite quickly, we reached the Strmen viewpoint, located on top of an exceptionally high rock formation. To get there, you need to climb around 300 rather steep steps (and, for my huge feet, surprisingly narrow ones) to reach the platform offering a beautiful view of the surrounding rocky landscape, the valley, and distant mountains.

Further along the trail, we passed impressive sandstone formations – shaped over millions of years by wind and rain acting on relatively soft rock that slowly wears away. Most of them have names based on what people think they resemble. Honestly, though, many of them did not really look like the signs suggested.

The narrow canyon between the rocks truly feels like a passage into another world – almost like a fantasy landscape. It is fascinating to walk through a corridor that is sometimes only about 50 centimetres wide while the rock walls rise vertically around 50 metres above you. Another interesting detail: outside, the temperature was around 20 °C, but inside the gorge the microclimate was almost cave-like – it was only 8 °C there!

From Teplice Rocks towards Adršpach, we continued through Wolf Gorge (Vlčí rokle). The trail is about three kilometres long and is actually the only legal way to walk between the two areas while using the same ticket. The gorge itself is an attraction worth experiencing. It feels like complete wilderness, with a perfectly maintained trail winding through rocks and semi-wetland terrain all the way to Adršpach’s main highlights: the Rock Lake, where you can take a short boat ride (about 300 metres in a boat resembling a gondola ), or continue through another beautiful and extremely narrow gorge leading straight into the magic of this even more popular area.

Along the way, you will pass the Great and Small Waterfalls, as well as the Lovers rock formation, the largest and most famous rock tower in the area. Standing around 80 metres high, it is also a very popular climbing spot.

For most visitors, this is the beginning of their route, but for us it was the perfect finale – a picturesque lake reflecting the surrounding rocks and forest, with a short but beautiful trail around it that is accessible to literally everyone.

Things worth knowing...

Buy tickets online in advance – they are cheaper, and for Adršpach you can reserve a specific entry time.

One ticket covers both parks only if you walk between them through Wolf Gorge (Vlčí rokle).

Bring warmer clothes – temperatures in the narrow gorges can be more than 10 °C lower than outside.

Teplice Rocks offer fewer crowds and a more hiking-oriented experience, while Adršpach is famous for its lake and boat rides.

Take the train back – the ride between the two entrances takes only 4 minutes and costs around €0.30.

Adršpach is suitable for strollers, while Teplice Rocks have many stairs and steep sections.

Strmen viewpoint is not ideal for people afraid of heights – more than 300 steep steps lead to the top.

Dogs are welcome, but they must remain on a leash (entrance fee around €2).

Allow enough time – if you want to visit both parks in one day, plan for 6–7 hours of hiking.

Cards are accepted almost everywhere, but carrying some Czech koruna (CZK) in cash is still useful.

Arrive early, especially on summer weekends, to avoid crowds and find parking more easily

More info about it and many other outdoor adventures on my instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/crobackpacker/

I did my first multi day hiking expedition and I really enjoyed it. I did a hut to hut hike but I met some really cool outdoor backpackers on my trip and it seems interesting to me. I plan on renting some gear and trying an overnight backpacking excursion to dip my toes in the water and see if I enjoy it.

Any tips for a beginner? What is something about backpacking you've learned that you wish you knew about when you first started?

I finally finished researching ways to deal with rodents eating/chewing stuff. Basically for food and anything with an odor store it in the bear canister. A mouse can't get in lmao.

For shoes store in tent because ppl woke up to shoes missing and they are more likely to eat them if you keep them outside. I'd rather wake up to a hole in the tent.

For trekking pole grips I'd just wash them with soap and water (or river/lake) literally every day. Otherwise this happens (https://imgur.com/a/porcupine-ate-trekking-poles-lrBYFQc). I can't store them in the tent because it's a trekking pole tent. Regardless, if they do get chewed I won't fix them. Unfortunately they don't make poles with plastic grips. Pretty stupid because this is a common problem.

The backpack was the most annoying. Number 1 is don't store food or anything with a strong odor in the bag; including sanitizer, unscented soap (yes, bears can smell it), and DEET lmao. Store ALL of that in the bear canister. For each of the below numbers we are assuming rodents are going for your bag regardless of food in it or not. There may be trace crumbs and THERE IS odor and they may go for it. Especially in populated campsites where they are basically trained to go for the bag no matter what.

1. If you store it inside the tent, mice will make a hole in tent and then a hole in your bag straight to whatever it is. You 90% of the time won't hear them, so no, you can't stop them.

2. If you store it in the vestibule, racoons can drag your bag away, and mice can still make holes. Also for both methods you risk a large animal trying to get in the tent.

3. You can store it outside the tent on ground with all pockets open. Will prevent mice from making holes. But still allows animals to drag the bag away and I don't want to empty bugs out of my bag.

4. You can bear hang it. Rodents will climb tree and down the rope and make holes in your bag. Spiders, ants, roaches will still make home in pockets if open.

5. The foolproof way that I found out works 99% of the time that rarely is used because 99% of ppl are stupid anyway and just sleep with their food lmao. Bear hang the bag (deer can't reach). On the end of the rope don't attach the bag. Attach a fishing line. Practically impossible for mice and especially larger animals to climb a fishing line. At the end of the fishing line have a carabiner and then the bag.

They technically can still attempt to climb down so there is a chance they drop down right on top of the bag. For that attach a rope to a tree trunk, then fishing line, then carabiner, and that to bottom of bag. Bag will be pulled to the side so if they attempt to climb the top rope and fall, it's not directly on the bag. Tip: Leave slack on the rope portion on both top and bottom to account for difference in distances.

This method pretty much 99% guarantees they aren't getting in the bag. Not even ants can climb a fishing line, so that keeps crawlers off too. The 1% is a flying squirrel or dumb luck that a rodent falls/jumps on the bag.

In the rain I'd simply put the entire backpack in a trash bag and pull the top line thru and tape off. Being that there is a fishing line leading to the bag there should be minimal water running to the bag.

For humans/large animals attach a tripwire alarm to the tree used for bottom rope using fishing line going straight to bag. Do similar setup for bear canister, but put bear canister under burlap camo to hide from humans. Will go off and alert you and hopefully scare the human/animal. If it doesn't, you are AWAKE and have a GUN.

Having to do that everyday would suck ass but I rather that than have my shit eaten/torn or full of bugs. Fortunate many people never have a problem. It really only matters in populated areas or shelters. Some places require you to sleep in a shelter. I won't.

Hi everyone 👋 I am trying to plan out a backpacking trip to do half dome with my fiancé, mom, and dad this upcoming year. I’ve been to California as a small child, but don’t recall anything about it, so this’ll pretty much be my first time. I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed about it and want to get everything planned and set up right. We’re all pretty fit and love the outdoors and have prior camping experience as well, but when it comes to planning stuff I feel like it’s going to be a lot of me and my fiancé doing the work to figure out the details on how/what to do.

I’m anticipating my parents will be flying out from Pennsylvania, and my fiancé and I may be driving out from Colorado. My fiancé and I have typically driven to our camping/adventure locations out here in the west (Arizona/Utah/Wyoming/New Mexico) and we’re not even sure if this is the right move at all, so we’re wondering if we should consider flying ourselves? But also flying all the camping equipment out has to cost a pretty penny I assume?

Besides travel accommodations, the other part I’m kind of antsy about is the permits. I’m fairly positive we all are not trying to do Half Dome one single day out and back, even though we’ve all done that distance and elevation gain before. I’d like to make a backpacking trip out of it to really fully immerse ourselves in the nature of Yosemite. I’ve read there’s options for this that all include a Half Dome permit with the backcountry camping permit:

Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley
Happy Isles past LYV (Donohue pass eligible)
Sunrise Lakes
Cathedral Lakes
Rafferty Creek to Vogelsang

I’m interested in hearing about some of your treks. and also how you did the permit process, cause I’ve read attaining a Half Dome permit can be quite competitive.

Would our best odds be for each member of our group to submit a permit for each one of these back country permits and just cross our fingers and hope one of us wins? I’m assuming if all four of us submit a 4 person permit for all 5 of these we’d have a good shot right?

The travel and permit situation is really what’s got me anxious, (and maybe what gear we’d need) and I feel like once that’s figured out the rest of the trip will kind of plan itself. TBH I’m not really keen on going to the city or anything too urban/congested (I know it’s California, so I’m going into it anticipating congestion anywhere we go). Prioritizing experiences at national/state/local parks out there is my main objective, I just really want to connect with the nature I’ve never had a chance to experience before. I’m open to all suggestions though, as I’m obviously not a local, and I have no idea when I’ll ever be back in California.

Thanks so much for the help, I’m just overwhelmed at where to start planning this. Hoping that everyone reading has an amazing day 🫶

Moin, ich starte im November meine Reise nach NZ und suche somit noch Wander/Arbeitsschuhe mit Stahl/Kevlarkappe die sich für beides eignen. Hat da jemand Erfahrungen und kann mir ein passendes Paar empfehlen, oder haltet ihr das für unsinnig und würdet getrennte Schuhe kaufen?
Vielen Dank schon mal für eure Antworten:)

We hiked the Arctic Circle Trail on the West Coast of Greenland.

An incredible 10 day trek, 160 km across Greenland. Starting with a tour of the ice cap at Point 660 and following the Southern route of the Arctic Circle Trail to Sisimiut. 

It was a dry year in the area and we were blessed with blue skies.

A video with further highlights can be seen here.

Distance: 160 km
Duration: 9 days (Originally planned for 10)
Terrain and Conditions: Well marked with red painted cairns. The main route is mostly a narrow singletrack trail with occasional sections of ATV trail. The Southern Route has largely no trail underfoot but is marked with cairns. Recommended to have a GPS with waypoints for navigation along with maps and compass. 

Key Takeaways

There are no trees in the Arctic Circle, there is little shelter from the rain, wind or in our case the sun. While our biggest concern was applying enough sunscreen, wind and rain could be a real concern under different conditions. On day 2 we were able to canoe down the lake instead of hiking it. What an experience!

There are some basic huts along the trail but you need to be ready to camp as well. We were in a tent for 3 nights.

Don't be intimidated by the distance. There was up/downs but nothing extreme.