I love lurking this sub, I’m always curious about the meaning/story behind all the different trail names.
Would love to hear :)

Hi everyone! I recently bought the osprey eja 58 L for doing the gr10. This is a light weight (1.2 kg), but framed backpack. My base weight is around 7-8 kg and with food and water around 11-12 kg. I bought it because my previous backpack (forclaz 65 L) was showing signs of old age and I wanted an upgrade to a better quality pack that weighs less. My torso length fits the backpack well ( 46-47 cm ) - I checked in two stores - and I was very happy with it after one test hike of around 12 km. However, yesterday I hiked 23 km and now my lower back area hurts a lot. I noticed the pack really presses into my lower back even if I loosen the hip belt. I couldn't continue my hike today because of it and I think I need a few days of rest in my training. I think I wore it wrong yesterday (the hip belts to low on the hip), and that I should try again in a few days with the hip belt higher up and walking a shorter distance, but I am worried that this pack is not for me as I never had this issue with my previous pack. Your hips should be carrying the weight right? Not the lower back? Maybe I just have to get used to the backpack and wear it better, but I was a bit shocked it caused me so much pain. Is this a thing with lighter backpacks? Anyone with a similar experience?

So I just finished up my thru hike of the Colorado Trail taking collegiate west. I was so elated to have finished and felt so fit by the end of it, but for some reason today on my first run back, it felt harder than any 25+ mile day out on trail. I don’t know why and it’s super discouraging to see this setback especially after feeling unstoppable on trail. Wanted to put this out there just to see if anyone else had this issue. For context it’s been a week since I’ve got off trail and this was my first run.

Anyone hiking the aawt, I'm 41 and reasonably fit and have lived pretty wild in my past, I now live in remote central nsw, I'm gona do the aawt quite slow maybe 50-60days, and fish along the way. I'm interested to hear in peoples past aawt walks, gear and meal prep, cache stash and drop points? And if anyone gona be in the trail in that time?

I have some free time from October 20-mid December and I am looking to do a thruhike in North America, im looking for suggestions. So far my research has turned me off the AZT due to closures at that time, the CDT due to weather and ive already hiked the desert section of the PCT.

Super keen to hear any suggestions of hikes!

Hello everyone, I'm just hopping on here for some advice since the doctors here are closed at the moment.

I'm currently thruhiking the HexaTrek in France, but I'm having a weird feeling in my feet, ankle and just above my ankle. I can't quite describe how it feels, but I guess like springy/snappy. It doesn't hurt but is really uncomfortable, kinda like anything can go wrong at any minute. It's only when hiking and can take some time to show up. Also the location of the feeling is not fixed, like it can kinda jump around. At the moment its predominantly on my left foot side, but I've had felt it on the right side as well.

Additionally my shoes are starting to become more worn though after 850km. I wear Topo ultraventure 4s (Idk if this helps)

I'm not looking for a complete self diagnosis, but I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced this. Thank you for your time.

I’m backpacking the Lofoten Crossing Traverse (south to north) sometime between August 16–28 and am looking for fellow backpackers to join me! I’m hoping to complete it in 12 days, but I’m flexible and would be happy to finish anywhere between 10–14 days.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, I’d love to connect! I’m a female in my 20s and am hoping to find some like-minded hiking buddies for the adventure.

I'm fixing to start the Tahoe Rim Trail and trying to figure out my battery situation. By my estimate I'll need five—call it six—batteries for my 13-day hike.

It seems like I have three options:

1. Pack all 6 batteries : at 80g per, that's about 320g of extra weight.
2. Pack 2, send 2 in each of my two resupply boxes : save on weight, but now I need to mail home the 2 batteries I replaced.
3. Pack 2, no extras, charge on trail : theoretically, the 10W panel I'll be hanging off my pack could charge a 2200mAh battery in 1–2 hours. Call it 7–8 under real world conditions.

Option 3 seems simplest, but it's also most conditional.

Photographers that go for long stretches between towns — what all do you do about your battery situation?

potentially planning a PCT SOBO hike in 27 if all goes well and am starting to gear up for it. as a decent gear nerd i am just curious on how much your gear changed from finishing your first hike to stopping foot onto your 2nd? i was stupid UL on my AT thru hike and some of the gear that i have has changed and was surprised making my lighter pack that my base weight has gone up nearly 2 1/2 pounds from then. not that i’m upset because i’m still extremely comfortable, but just surprised that a couple changes made a decent size jump on the base weight. most thru hiking veterans i met on the AT, talked about how their comforts changed from trail to trail, and here it is for me too. lastly, what was your base weight on the PCT?

For me, thru-hiking is a fundamental part of my life; when I’m on the trail, I feel so good that I feel like a different person. So I wanted to share something with you. And I also hope that maybe someone can tell me about their experience with this.

Since January, I’ve been having really severe stomach pain. I tried to keep training, but sometimes the pain became just too intense. Sometimes it felt like the pain was radiating to my colon, which really puzzled the doctors. They kept telling me, “There’s nothing wrong with you; maybe it’s psychosomatic,” but that wasn’t the case. After spending a fortune on medical tests, they diagnosed me about a week ago with gastric erosion. They also told me that this issue might be due to a “not exactly healthy” diet. That would make sense, since last year I went on several long hikes (the GTA and various high-altitude trails) totaling more than 1,700 km. Now, you know very well how people eat on these kinds of trips, so it’s very likely that the cause is indeed the food.

Over the past few months, I’ve been really scared—the thought of not being able to go back to through-hiking really upset me. More than I was scared by the fact that, despite so many fruitless doctor’s visits, I kept feeling so terrible. I was planning to set out on the PCT in April 2027, and all of this has really ruined all my plans. I’ve lost a lot of weight—I went from 85 kg to 73 kg. Not to mention my muscle mass… Right now I feel very weak physically. And all my plans for the summer have gone out the window. So, both financially and physically, I find myself having to postpone it for a year.

I try to stay positive and tell myself that everything will pass, but I have to admit that I’m still very scared because, despite everything, I’m afraid it might come back. Now I’m going to start a course of proton pump inhibitors and other medications, and in the meantime, I’m trying to keep myself busy with other things to avoid thinking about it too much.

Has anyone else ever gone through something similar? Any advice or warnings?

Seriously, every comment is greatly appreciated and helps me stay hopeful that I’ll get through this rough patch and get back on the trails.

Thank you so much to everyone who decided to take the time to read this post. And please excuse my English. It may not be entirely correct.

Hey guys! About a year ago I finished my AT nobo thruhike. One of the less discussed benefits I’ve noticed is how much less frequently I roll my ankles. When I started the trail I would roll my ankle every so often but as the trail went on that started to go away even in rockier states up north and with movements that would have really hurt my ankle previously. In the year since finishing I also haven’t rolled my ankle a single time. Has anybody else experienced this? Was also curious if anyone has any data or studies to share on thruhiking or related activities and ankle strength/health. Thanks!

hey dudes and dudettes, i have some time off in october so i was wondering if you have any 1-2 week hikes in europe that would be good at that time of year?

Hi everyone,

my friend and I are planning to thru-hike the GPT starting this december. However, recent meteorological forecasts are pointing towards a highly probable and potentially severe (Super) El Niño event for the upcoming season.
Given the extreme and unpredictable weather patterns this phenomenon can bring to South America - we are trying to assess the potential impacts on the trail conditions and overall safety.

How are you factoring this forecast into your planning?
What are your thoughts and strategies on this?
thx!!

Got the last piece of gear today (a bear keg) and think I’m ready for my first thruhike. Curious what this group recommends of High Point to Del Water Gap in NJ for a first trip? I’ve hiked a decent amount of the trail, but not as a thru hike. I’m an experienced camper, endurance athlete and hiker so I should be ready to go, just down to planning my first route. I’ll take any advice or tips this group has to share that I haven’t read already.

Hi Guys
I want to hike the GR11 this year starting on 1st September
I want to do it in 47 stages like the guidebook i found in the net advices to
If I would start on 01.09 i would finish on around the 17th october
Is the weather to harsh/cold at this time?
Does anyone have experience hiking this trail in winter?
I wondered if i could avoid the weather by hiking from east to west instead of west to east because in that case i would hike the higher part first before the weather gets even worse

So I’ve been a long time ultra runner but the body just can’t handle the running so I thought perhaps hiking would be the next best thing, get outdoors on some great trails but be easier on the body..

Well, I don’t know but I think all the things that helped with being a runner are working against hauling gear on the hike. No upper body or upper body strength, because just carrying a 15ish lb pack over the miles definitely wears on me so far.

I had been slowly ramping up for the past 8 weeks..30 min, 1 hour, etc all way up to 4 hour stuff. I went on my first overnight just to get a shake out of everything these past 2 days and oh boy.

Does the pack feel lighter or just easier? Should I go slower pace to just ease up on everything? I was doing about 2.5 miles per hour and did about 2k ascent on the first day for 22 miles while taking it easier on the 2nd day due to 3200 ft ascent but only 15 miles.

I did some searching but really couldn’t find any definitive pace/elevation/time for multiple day hiking. Also what do folks do or to make the pack feel “lighter”?