Posts by gerrit
A barometric altimeter is supposed to be more accurate than a GPS altimeter in the relative sense (total ascent, total descent, during stable weather), but may have considerable error in the absolu...
I've only once experienced a nights' sleep that my sleeping bag didn't handle. I was only 200 metre from civilisation, and I hardly slept, but it was not really dangerous. I'd expected temperatur...
Put them in your sink and fill the sink with warm water and possibly some soap. Leave them like that overnight, then hang them to dry the next morning. You won't smell them while they're in the w...
On my treks, I often need to ford rivers — on my last trek (3½ day) I forded five, including four on a single day (not counting >100 smaller streams). My current practice is to take off my boot...
On my hiking trips, I mostly sleep in my tent, but occasionally I appreciate to have a roof. Mostly by chance, I've found on my trips a number of free and open huts in Norway that are not owned by...
This weekend, on a 3-night hiking trip, we decided to head for the Pieggaluoppal wind shelter for the final night. When we arrived (at 23:15 and after 13½ hours of hiking) we were a bit disappoint...
I've read that in the United States, national forests, ranger offices, etc. often have some safety-related equipment for rent, such as bear canisters. Do they rent out Personal Locator Beacons, sa...
In this excellent answer, LBell quotes the U.S. definition of wilderness: (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substanti...
Omnimap seem to have all 1:50k maps with a delivery time of around two weeks. However, Omnimap are quite expensive (US$ 16.95 per sheet). By comparison, MapWorld New Zealand charges NZ$ 7.90 (US$ 6...
What is a free-standing tent? What are the advantages of a free-standing tent as opposed to a tent that isn't, and what are the disadvantages? See also: What is a self erecting tent and why should...
My personal opinion: Yes. Once, while hiking in the mountains, I found by chance a ~30 year old train ticket for transporting some freight between two train stations that have now been closed a lo...
I'm looking for a freely accessible website that provides access to recent high-resolution (<~1–5 km) satellite-based snowcover estimates (snow / no-snow). Many meteorology websites provide an i...
I'm looking to buy a new trekking tent, a good quality one, e.g. Hilleberg, Fjällräven, Vaude, etc. At Vaude they categorise tents in 2, 3, 4, or 5-season. What's the difference between a 4- and a ...
When on holiday, I want to get as far as possible from civilisation — the furthest I've come is seeing only a single cairn during a full day. In Scandinavia, hiking and camping is permitted unless ...
I'm planning a hike in the White Mountains of California; see also this related question. So far, all my hiking have either been day hikes in the densely populated hikes, or treks for up to three ...
Sometimes, regardless of the pins, it's simply impossible to put pins into the ground no matter the technology. In such a situations, boulders may be your friend: Raising a tent between Baugevat...
What is a self erecting tent? What are the advantages of a self erecting tent as opposed to a tent that isn't, and what are the disadvantages?
Christmas 2014, my wife and I spent camping on an otherwise uninhabited car-free island in the Pacific Ocean. On Christmas Day, we hiked all day in superb weather in a spectacular landscape, less ...
As an extension to Openstreetmap, I recommend Opentopomap. It has the same trail data as Openstreetmap, but adds contour lines, which can be quite handy when hiking. However, I recommend to never...
Is it safe to follow a equestrian trail and assume I can ford where the horse-trail does? Or should I expect equestrians to ford rivers too deep or swift to ford on foot? I'm thinking of the situ...
In spring 2018, I intend to visit Bears Ears National Monument. Not any more; President Trump has declared to reduce the size of the monument. The area I intend to visit, around the Valley of the...
The Navajo National Monument website notes that Betatakin can only be visited on a ranger-guided tour. It states that groups leave daily between May 27 and September 3, and cliff dwellings are clo...
There are two conflicting accounts of the route of the E1 through Børgefjell. After coming back from Børgefjell, I believe that the route through Børgefjell is probably the toughest part of the E1...
Suppose I get one of those text messages, like the Icelandic authorities send to travellers: ...Wind gusts could reach speeds that are known for blowing cars off the road and even pulling up th...
When travelling on extremely remote roads, you need to prepare for the worst. This is even more true if you are travelling in a climate where the weather might kill you within days, such as in ext...
