Posts by gerrit
I've recently learned about the U.S. national trails system, apparently akin to the European long-distance paths. I found an (incomplete?) table of U.S. national trails and a rather poorly layed ou...
I'll have the good part of a Saturday to enjoy in Boulder, Colorado on 18 May. What is a suitable area for a day, loop hike close to the city? My criterion for "close" is that the start of the tr...
I live in Sweden and I hike a lot in the wild. My personal top three properties to look for in a handheld GPS receiver for The Great Outdoors: Battery life Battery life Battery life I honestly...
I've read one one of the US national forest or wilderness websites that when camping in the wild, one should camp at a certain distance from a water source. Should I understand a water source to m...
A page like this one, as well as a number of questions on this site, discuss how to pack food safely from bears. What about other animals? This post advises a pretty sophisticated way to protect ...
I've read that in the western US, backpackers need bear canisters or bear bags, for bears or for other animals. For example, a post comparing different methods is here. I must admit I'm a bit dau...
I think you can safely take any undocumented variation of a white-red marking to mean this is the right way, unless it's clearly a cross: Red-white-red markings below the Scatta Minoia, between A...
Start by day hikes where you can frequently exit. For example, find a day hike where after 2 hours, one has the option either to cut it short to a 2½ hour hike in total, or to extend it to 4 hours,...
You cannot book most huts in advance. You simply arrive and get a place to sleep. If you're late then you will have to sleep on the floor. Places are awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. I s...
In May this year (6–8 May) I will have a workshop in Mammoth Lakes, California. I would like to do some hiking in addition to this workshop (roughly one week). I have never been to the United State...
This question may seem obvious — but is a national forest always a forest? In Norway, statskog — which quite literally means national forest — is a state agency owning forest land, but also vast am...
One such resource would the website of the Alpenverein. On their website, you can find an interactive hut-finding service. If you click on any of the huts, you will get detailed information about ...
From browsing this site, I have learned that US national parks and wilderness areas have restrictions and that campsites need reservations, sometimes months in advance. I've never seen anything lik...
It's late October and in cold, northern hemisphere climates, winter has arrived, and moderate northern hemisphere climates will follow soon. In my area, small lakes are already frozen and people ha...
In many European countries, dedicated long-distance hiking trails are marked with a white-red marking, like in the photograph below: Source: Wikimedia Commons. I've seen this in at least The Net...
This comment raises the idea that PLBs may not be allowed inland in the UK. A later comment refuted this, but I never even considered they would be disallowed anywhere, but simply rented one and to...
Down sleeping bags and down jackets should not be stored in the stuffbag, but as loose as possible. Tents, as far as I know, can be stored stuffed as long as they are dry. Are there any other mater...
There are also excellent hiking books that describe hikes along with their difficulty. Even if the description may take some work to decipher (although with a dictionary and some time you should be...
Since Iceland has the "right to roam" similar to other Nordic countries, you're virtually allowed to go wherever you want. You probably won't even be able to see the road due to the snowcover, so i...
For hiking in polar bear country, this answer cites a page that advices to avoid camping under the stars at all times. Yet people do go trekking on Svalbard, and I don't think the density of huts i...
One of the biggest problems I have keeping warm in the cold are my shoes. When I'm out cycling in temperatures below -20°C, ordinary sport-shoes or hiking boots fail to keep me warm Cycling to wo...
Some animals are big and dangerous and, when hungry, may realise that humans contain a pretty decent amount of meat. I've never hiked in such areas, but they do exist. Photo from Wikipedia, CC-B...
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?
This year, a Danish citizen went missing without a trace in the mountains of northern Sweden. It is not the first time; in total, ten people are registered as missing after venturing into the mount...
