Category: long hikes

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NEW – 3000km HexaTrek in France

HexaTrek is a 3034 km hiking trail, connecting 14 of the most beautiful nationals parks and crossing France from the Vosges to the Pyrenees.

The path follows the highest mountain regions of our country, often nicknamed “l’Hexagone” for its hexagonal shape, joining together some of the most emblematic summits, natural wonders and wildest places.

47 Great Hiking GR®  trails have been brought together in a single path to create this thru hike.

en.hexatrek.com

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

2022 is the first year of the thru hike. But they already have an app.

Wild camping in France is technically illegal. But you are allowed to … Bivvy. Tent only in the dark in certain areas.

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Thru-hike the new 1,800km Transcaucasian Trail

We’re seeking intrepid, experienced hikers to be the first thru-hikers on the new 1,800km Transcaucasian Trail. Will you be one of them?

For the past 6 years, we’ve been stitching together routes, building trails, and putting new destinations on the map (literally) across the Caucasus. …

The route weaves between high alpine passes, red desert canyons, bucolic meadows, volcanic plateaus, and more– all while traveling through one of the most culturally and biologically diverse regions on the planet.

Now, we’re inviting the first cohort of intrepid hikers to hike the Transcaucasian Trail through Armenia and Georgia in summer 2022. …

transcaucasiantrail.org
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International Appalachian Trail Ulster-Ireland

We’ve added the IAT Ulster-Ireland to our list of the best hikes in Europe.

Traversing lush coastlines, rugged mountains, and everything in between, the Ulster-Ireland section of the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) takes hikers on a tour through some of the most stunning landscapes in the country.

The section’s governing body was established in 2011, and since then the organization has worked towards constructing this 279-mile trail, which runs from west Donegal in the Republic of Ireland to Larne, Co. Antrim in Northern Ireland. …

The Trek
  • Established 2011.
  • Ireland’s only coast-to-coast hike
  • average 24 – 30 days
  • section hiking is popular
  • Slieve League Mountain, one of Europe’s highest cliffs
  • Giant’s Causeway Coast

Official website – IATUlsterIreland.com

Click PLAY or watch a teaser on YouTube.

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500 Days in the Wild

Dianne Whelan is making a film about her solo adventures on the non-motorized Great Trail (the Trans Canada Trail).

From pushing 150-pounds of bike and packs over rocks, to hiking through flooded bogs, paddling the largest lake in the world, snowshoeing through dense coniferous forests, skiing across wind-blown plains, the trail beckons.

Dianne travels the ‘Old Way’, the slow way of the turtle,seeking wisdom from those that live close to the land, asking the questions “what have we forgotten?”

“What do we need to know?”

500daysinthewild.com

Click PLAY or watch a teaser on YouTube.

related – Is it called the Trans Canada Trail … OR Great Trail?

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Hiking Prince Edward Island

Everyone loves PEI, one of the Canadian Maritime provinces.

Population only about 165,000.

Nora, Marian, Danny, and Bryson were first to do the NEW Island Walk as a thru hike.

  • 700 km
  • 32 sections
  • one month
  • easy compared with most other thru hikes

A detailed guidebook is available:

Digital: Etsy
Paperback: The Bookmark

I’ve cycled a lot of PEI myself. As it’s quite flat, I’m predicting cycling the Island Walk will be even more popular. Alasdair Veitch cycled it.

Details on theIslandWalk.ca

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Risk of Hiking Injury

A survey of more than 700 John Muir Trail thru-hikers gave researchers insight into what makes a hiker more likely to get injured or ill while backpacking. …

First off, the (2018) study didn’t find sex to be a determinant of getting hurt or sick on the trail.

Here are the factors correlating with injury:

  • younger age
  • higher BMI (body mass index)
  • higher BPW (base pack weight)

Surprisingly, older hikers reported fewer adverse events on the JMT.

… Often abbreviated as BMI, body mass index is a measure of the size of the human body, calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms dividing by the square of their height in meters. …

The study’s authors found that base pack weight correlated with an increased risk of illness and injury; the heavier the pack, the greater the likelihood of morbidity.

This Study Predicts Who Is Most Likely to Get Hurt in the Wilderness

I hiked the John Muir Trail myself in 2021 at age-63. And found myself ‘healthiest’ on finishing after 19 days. I got in ‘shape’ by hiking.

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