No mention of the Colorado Trail? It’s a world class thru hike. Easily doable in about a month. Starts just 20 miles outside of Denver city limits!
Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
51–60 of 133 posts
Re: Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
#52Some US additions that don't appear to have been suggested elsewhere: AT, PCT, CDT, which collectively make up the triple crown of North American long-distance hiking. All easily googleable by acronym. Less famous: the North Country Trail, Florida Trail, Hayduke Trail, Buckeye Trail, Benton McKaye Trail, Mountains to Sea Trail. And of course the Long Trail.
Replying to self with some long distance non hiking trails: Northern Forest Canoe Trail (I hope it is self explanatory how one is expected to travel this trail) Catamount Trail (cross country ski) Kokopelli Trail (mountain bike)
Thanks for letting me know about the Catamount Trail! I've lived 15 miles from the start of the southern end of it for 17 years and this is the first I've heard of it.
Re: Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
#53Nice list! Noticed a few decent US hiking trails that aren't on it though. There are tons more of course, especially if you include BDR stuff. Ice age trail - https://www.iceagetrail.org Superior hiking trail - https://superiorhiking.org/ John Muir trail - https://www.johnmuirtrail.org/ Long trail - https://www.greenmountainclub.org/the-long-trail/ Pacific Crest trail - https://www.pcta.org/ Hayduke trail - http://ww…
PCT is on the site (now anyway, in case it was recently edited).
Re: Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
#54Is there a good resource or tutorial on how one would prepare and execute one of these hikes? I would love to try a multi-day hike, but I have zero experience camping / backpacking. Where to get started? Are there hikes for complete novices that e.g. go from town to town with places to stay overnight?
Consider the Camino de Santiago. I've done the last 300 km. The distance between places to stay is manageable, lots of infrastructure, lots of friendly people who could help you if you get stuck. You don't need to carry much because you sleep indoors and there is food available along the way. The next step would be doing a hut/refuge to hut/refuge hike in the Alps. A hut/refuge is a hotel with a restaurant, private r…
I just want to add, for actual American-style backpacking, I think the best place for somebody who wants a managable challenge is the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, maybe a trip that would have you enter the mountains via Bishop or Kearsarge passes. Here are things that can make a backpacking trip easier or harder:
* Grizzly Bears - Some great backpacking places - the Winds, Alaska - have grizzly bears which require more discipline about food. In the Sierra, there are bears but no history of them eating people.
* Lightening - Not as likely to make you shit in your pants as the Rockies in Colorado or Wyoming.
* Water - Some great backpacking places - the Grand Canyon - you MUST get from point A to point B that day because you need that water at point B, there's no water along the route. Water sources are plentiful in the Sierra
* Where to camp - Some great backpacking places - the Grand Canyon, the Tetons - are tightly regulated by permit as to where you can camp each night, so you have to know your pace beforehand and then stick to the plan. The permit system in the Sierra is easier - you pretty much just say where you are entering and exiting
* People - if you are a novice, it's good to have other people around, not too many and not too few. There will be more or less the right number of people around in the Sierra
* Logistics - Getting to the trailheads from Bishop, CA, not so hard.
* Reward - So beautiful. You have long distance views. You aren't just in the trees.
* Lyme Disease, etc - Not so bad.
Re: Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
#55Cool list. Just one point of feedback. Having hiked a good portion of the AT, I would re-classify the Difficulty (if this is referring to physical difficulty) as hard, and Accommodation Access to easy.
Re: Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
#56Is there a good resource or tutorial on how one would prepare and execute one of these hikes? I would love to try a multi-day hike, but I have zero experience camping / backpacking. Where to get started? Are there hikes for complete novices that e.g. go from town to town with places to stay overnight?
For not having any experience this is a lot like a non-runner asking how to run a marathon. You should probably start smaller with a couch-to-5k approach and work your way up to it. Going too hard too fast is an easy way to have a terrible experience. I've watched far too many people abandon the hobby because their first attempt was too ambitious and they got in over their heads.
If you're really starting from zero my recommendation would be to get yourself a decent pair of trail shoes and a small day pack. Find some short local day hikes and hit the trail for a couple of hours on the weekends. Mix in a little car camping and see how it goes. If you have friends who have gear, start by borrowing what you can and if the camping/hiking bug bites you slowly start building out your own set of gear. If you don't have friends that backpack find some and go on an overnight trip away from the cars. Ask them about the gear they brought and why. They'll have lots of opinions.
After you get a bit more comfortable with the basic stuff and have a better sense for what you need then start planning a longer trip like this.
Re: Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
#57Is there a good resource or tutorial on how one would prepare and execute one of these hikes? I would love to try a multi-day hike, but I have zero experience camping / backpacking. Where to get started? Are there hikes for complete novices that e.g. go from town to town with places to stay overnight?
Consider the Camino de Santiago. I've done the last 300 km. The distance between places to stay is manageable, lots of infrastructure, lots of friendly people who could help you if you get stuck. You don't need to carry much because you sleep indoors and there is food available along the way. The next step would be doing a hut/refuge to hut/refuge hike in the Alps. A hut/refuge is a hotel with a restaurant, private r…
Wow this comment is gold, thank you! I did not know group trips were a thing.
Re: Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
#58Is there a good resource or tutorial on how one would prepare and execute one of these hikes? I would love to try a multi-day hike, but I have zero experience camping / backpacking. Where to get started? Are there hikes for complete novices that e.g. go from town to town with places to stay overnight?
For not having any experience this is a lot like a non-runner asking how to run a marathon. You should probably start smaller with a couch-to-5k approach and work your way up to it. Going too hard too fast is an easy way to have a terrible experience. I've watched far too many people abandon the hobby because their first attempt was too ambitious and they got in over their heads. If you're really starting from zero m…
Thanks, I appreciate the advice. I am comfortable hiking long distances, it is just the multi-day aspect that I find daunting.
Re: Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
#59Is there a good resource or tutorial on how one would prepare and execute one of these hikes? I would love to try a multi-day hike, but I have zero experience camping / backpacking. Where to get started? Are there hikes for complete novices that e.g. go from town to town with places to stay overnight?
When I was preparing to hike the Appalachian Trail this year (cancelled due to covid), this was by far the best single resource that I found: https://youtu.be/VC0MIV8OTtM
Hah I put that video on earlier this year so my girlfriend could get a feel for backpacking before we did some overnights on the AT. Was joking about how long it was at the start, but we ended up watching the whole thing. She did a great job with that video making things approachable for beginners.
Re: Show HN: Thruhikes – A list of long distance hikes around the world
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