Author: Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.
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Continental Divide Trail Gear 2022

Mac posted his annual statistics on the Continental Divide Trail.

Most important to hikers is finding out what gear works best over that long haul.

Most Common CDT Backpacks

  1. ULA Circuit
  2. Hyperlite Mountain Gear Southwest
  3. Zpacks Arc Haul

Most Common CDT Shelters

  1. Zpacks Duplex
  2. Zpacks Plex Solo
  3. Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL1

Most Common CDT Sleeping Bags/Quilts

  1. Enlightened Equipment Revelation
  2. Enlightened Equipment Enigma
  3. Western Mountaineering Versalite

Most Common CDT Sleeping Pads

  1. Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite
  2. Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite – Women’s
  3. Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite, Short

Most Common CDT Insulated Jackets

  1. Enlightened Equipment Torrid (Men’s/Women’s)
  2. Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer/2 Hoody (Men’s/Women’s)
  3. Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer/2 (Men’s/Women’s)

Most Common CDT Shells

  1. Outdoor Research Helium (Men’s/Women’s)
  2. Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite2
  3. Montbell Versalite (Men’s/Women’s)

There’s much, much more:

Continental Divide Trail Hiker Survey (2022)

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Peak of the Balkans Trail

Accursed Mountains. Three nations.

This 192km circuit will take you through the mountains of northern Albania, eastern Kosovo and southern Montenegro.

The ancient routes were cut during the cold war when tensions were high between Yugoslavia and Albania.

The German Development Agency through a project to support the communities of these three countries restricted the trail and turned it into an amazing touristic offer. The route offers a diversity of landscapes and cultural experiences. …

10 day Guided Hike

Read Peter Elia‘s trip report.

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Trailed by Kathryn Miles 

Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders (2022) is deep dive into the unsolved murder of two free-spirited young women in the wilderness, a journalist’s obsession—and a new theory of who might have done it.

In May 1996, two skilled backcountry leaders, Lollie Winans and Julie Williams, entered Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park for a week-long backcountry camping trip.

… During their final days in the park, they descended the narrow remnants of a trail and pitched their tent in a hidden spot. After the pair didn’t return home as planned, park rangers found a scene of horror at their campsite, their tent slashed open, their beloved dog missing, and both women dead in their sleeping bags.

The unsolved murders of Winans and Williams continue to haunt all who had encountered them or knew their story.

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David: I’d Rather Be Hiking

Over the pandemic, I really got into creating hiking videos. Learning how to edit. Getting a drone. I had the time.

Time enough to launch the BestHike YouTube channel.

I was based out of my parent’s house on Vancouver Island.

Over the pandemic weeks and months, I closely followed David’s I’d Rather Be Hiking YouTube channel and Facebook page.

David is also based out of Vancouver Island. And inspired many of my own hikes there.

Click PLAY or learn about his story it on YouTube.

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Pacific Crest Trail GEAR 2022

Details on Mac’s Halfway Anywhere Pacific Crest Trail Hiker Survey (2022)

There is much, much more on the Halfway Anyway survey results page.

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BestHike VIDEO Highlights 2022

Some of the BEST video clips captured by BestHike editor Rick McCharles in 2022. 

Norway, Portugal, Spain, Canary Islands, finishing in British Columbia.  

His favourite music of 2022 was by Odesza — so it’s appropriate that the soundtrack is one of their songs: Wide Awake.

Here’s to us all being Wide Awake in 2023. 

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

For comparison, before Rick got a drone, here’s his 2021 Highlights VIDEO. 

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.