Posts by gerrit
I recently came back from a 17-day backcountry hike. At the start of the hike, my backpack was 28 kg. At the end of the hike it was around half of that or a little bit more. I'm fine hiking with...
The most important reasons have already been given in other highly upvoted answers. Planning, coverage, resolution, etc. I want to address the cost aspect. Given the low price and weight of e...
You could consider a smell proof bear bag. Although bears are not a danger near Tromsø, the bag is generally useful as a stuff sack for food. My friend keeps all his food in such a bag, even when...
I am considering a late October trek through the boundary area between Ticino (Switzerland) and Verbano Cusio Ossola (Italy), including the Valle Cravariola. This takes be along several bivouacs a...
On the Genshtab (Генштаб) Soviet military maps, I can read that this ford through the stream Вертный has a stony bottom, a depth of at most 4 dm, and a width of 29 m (under typical circumstances)¹....
I did not use to think of geotagging photos as a leave-no-trace issue. In fact, one slogan says leave only footprints, take only photos. Yet the Leave No Trace Social Media Guidance states: T...
When we venture into the wilderness, we bury our solid human waste (or may even have to pack it out in some places). The basic guideline is to not leave faeces anywhere where it can be discovered ...
I used to complement my 3 litre hydration bladder with one or two 1.5 litre plastic bottles in dry climates, where carrying 3 litre of water may not be enough. However, when I first hiked on multi...
Due to forest fires in Sweden, many Swedish counties have issued a total fire ban, such as Västerbotten and Jämtland. In most cases, this includes camping stoves, and therefore has the potential t...
According to Wikipedia: Aconcagua is arguably the highest non-technical mountain in the world, since the northern route does not absolutely require ropes, axes, and pins. Of course, non-techn...
Get out. You can quickly cool down when it's raining out, in particular when the rain is horizontal and it's 4°C outside. You say there's no shelter anywhere near. Then walk as fast as you can t...
What is a good time of year to see autumn colours in the higher areas of the Maritime and Cottian Alps, in particular yellow larches such as in this photo¹? I may have the opportunity to visit eit...
We're heading to the Ardèche in France in spring, an area with hundreds if not thousands of campgrounds. Many of those are massive with lots of entertainment provided by facilities such as multipl...
Burn it. True, campfires are not really a perfect example of leave no trace. But what you can do: Carry the carcass far above the treeline, where there is no vegetation Carry firewood to the sa...
The Subway, Zion National Park Within Zion National Park, for most of the year, day-use permits are required for The Subway and Mystery Canyon. They are awarded by advance lottery, or by last-min...
A mug outside the backpack is far easier to reach. In some areas, you will pass streams very often. During my first ever backpacking trip, with a group of Swedish people hiking Kaisepakte – Pessi...
I live in England and I like forests. Where do I find the largest protected forest in England? By protected I mean: no commercial logging (management logging is OK considering no forests without ...
Of course, there are many long-distance hiking trails without any available maps. As far as I'm aware, none of the European long-distance trails have dedicated end-to-end maps, unless you count Op...
An ultralight tent makes me feel unsafe. I have tried the ultralight Big Agnes Slater UL1+, and I was not happy with it. The fabric seems really fragile. In a small space, condensation is worse ...
The book Sierra de Grazalema: Complete Guidebook to the Natural Park includes a chapter on canyons, describing two routes: one Garganta Verde and one through the Garganta de las Buitreras. Both re...
The Swedish tent company Hilleberg has packing lists with masses on their website. Their itemized list includes a lower and upper range for a list of items, leading to a very large range of masses...
Although I have not found IUCN Level II protected areas, there do exist areas with a higher level than national parks. So as regards are there at least areas with a protection level stricter than ...
As a child, I remember walking with my family over the Gornergletscher to reach the Monte Rosa-Hütte. I remember the same for crossing Vadret da Diavolezza. In both cases, we did not have crampon...
In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, national parks are in IUCN Category V rather than II. Are there any protection levels stricter than what UK National Parks have?
If you want to get a similar feeling at a lower elevation, there is one simple solution: head north (colder) or head west (more snow — shorter growing season). The treeline in Yosemite National Pa...
