still fuckin with climb cuz climb pays: the ILX hiking thread

Sounds great. Was this continuously? Did you camp when you stopped or stay in towns/hotels?

Yes this was in one go, from August, 12th to August, 30th. We didn't camp. Most of the time we stayed in hostels/hotels. But as it is a Way of St James there is also a network of pilgrim hostels where you sleep in dormitories and you pay what you want to pay. Once we slept in a parish house, just the two of us, once we slept in a monastery and another time we even slept on the first floor of a church, another couple slept on the second floor below the ceiling.

That sounds incredible. Did you carry your gear or was there something arranged to assist you?

We carried the gear. But we always minimise. Including 3 liters of water and maybe a kg of food I still didn't have more than 10 kg on my back. We only have two sets of underwear, socks, shirts & trousers. That's why we wash every day.

Once we slept in a parish house, just the two of us, once we slept in a monastery and another time we even slept on the first floor of a church, another couple slept on the second floor below the ceiling.

I don't know if I have it in me to do this, but it sounds like an incredible experience.

I got out for a real hike today (as opposed to a stroll on a trail with my wife). I hiked 12 miles, 3150 ft of elevation gain, in nice cool, cloudy weather, and the bonus was... I did not meet one other hiker on the trail all day! This is getting to be a great rarity, as hiking has really exploded in popularity in recent years. Sweet!

ilx hikers are killing it

On our last stage on Sunday in the Thüringer Wald, we did not meet anybody in the forest for about 20 km.

I've been walking the Pilgrim's Way (Winchester to Canterbury) and despite this being a busy area, you could be forgiven for thinking England is empty. I regularly go whole days barely seeing anyone. After a day of such solitude, I walked into a tiny church. I'm not religious but churches entrance me. Somehow all those years of accumulated belief, all that sodden stone bowed and bevelled by human heat, induce a peculiar calm. This day, as I entered the knave a tiny voice said 'are you a pilgrim?'. I nearly shat myself but I looked left and it was just a little old lady (more air than substance), kneeling in a pew - offering me a stamp for the guidebook some people carry for the walk.

Her question is still bouncing around in my head and I'm no nearer an answer.

great story, chinaski. those are the encounters that make a pilgrim's day!

During the first week it was extremely hot on our hike, more than 30 degrees celsius. In a village we went into the small church mainly looking for shadow. It was better than I had imagined. It was deliciously cool and fresh in there. Suddenly we heard a deep but low- key sound. We asked ourselves what could it be. After a minute or so of intense listening it dawned on me. It was the clockwork of the church clock slowly turning around. I don't believe in God but when I realised that I immediately thought this is God's heartbeat. I had to write about this experience into the note-book for pilgrims and visitors, I had to get this idea out of my system into the world.

Going on a hike today up near the Lehigh Furnace Gap section of the AT with the pup and husband. Have done sections of this trail before, but never this exact link-up. Will report back.

Nice hike yesterday, gradual start then led to some more serious (as serious as it can get in the Mid-Atlantic) climbing, then a lovely ridge trail with views of the Lehigh river and small cities like Palmerton. After some miles stop the ridge, we circled around to the AT for a slow, rocky, and knee-crunching ascent. About 7 miles altogether-- the pup's need for water and her walking pace keep us from going too fast, which is both a good and bad thing.

Looking forward to doing it again sometime, perhaps in the fall. We're pondering getting up there with some packs and camping for a night.

AT section was descent, not ascent. I always forget how rocky the AT is in this area.

Spent a few days last week backpacking around the Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest in the Catskills. Gorgeous time. Didn't rack up heavy miles but got some good elevation gains and excellent camp spots into the trip.

Sounds lovely. We're going to be spending the week of Thanksgiving near Woodstock. I am hoping to get in a good hike or two while in the area.

Nice. some great stuff in those parts!

I am hoping to take my 8-year-old daughter for her first 1 or 2 night backpacking trip next weekend. We've done huts up in the White Mtns and decent day hikes but this will be her first time backcountry camping. I live in Western Mass. I was thinking we'd be messing around on the AT near or on Mt Greylock but apparently all Massachusetts backcountry camping is closed for COVID and the person I talked to in the parks office said they'll ticket cars left at trailheads overnight. Anyone have any good recs in Southern VT/NH, NW CT, or the Taconics? Looking to do something like a 2-4 mile hike to reach a campsite or lean-to...

I can't help you, but that sounds like an amazing experience for you and her. Hope you find something suitable.

Have fun y'all!
I'm leaving tomorrow for Grand Canyon North Rim. Been to South Rim a bunch. Twice as long as a drive for me to get to North than South. Don't have a plan really! Boondock just outside of the park. Can't have fires whatsoever and it'll be down near freezing overnight. Can't use charcoal grill so will have to make do with a tiny msr white gas backpacker stove, plus whatever I can find at the one cafeteria in the park that's open. Guess I won't shower til I get home Tuesday.

Thanks PBKR. I'll let y'all know what we end up with.

Have fun Granny D!

https://azdailysun.com/news/local/outdoors-taking-a-forest-bath-along-walnut-canyon-on-the-azt/article_27336f20-5b45-5484-959e-cff637d10e2f.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

"I always feel that way when I hie myself over to run the Arizona Trail's Walnut Canyon Rim segment in the predawn stillness. It soothes, as they say, the savage breast and serves as a resetting of one’s internal equilibrium..."

lol what a typo

Not a typo. The original quote is "savage breast", not "savage beast".

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/143494-music-hath-charms-to-soothe-a-savage-breast-to-soften

Wtf

chalk it up as your future winning answer on Jeopardy in the 'Quotable Congreve' category

btw, I think I might be able to get out for a hike in the woods tomorrow and briefly escape whatever smoldering crater the election has created

My latest pair of boots have given up the ghost (Keen). At a rough count, I reckon I've got about 4000km out of them - mostly trails and hills. I both love and hate looking for new boots, mainly because of the terror of choosing badly. Does anyone have any particular methods for choosing? I've got my eye on either a pair of Lowa Renegades or Inov8 Roclite 345s but I'm not entirely sure...

Fit is the most important thing about hiking footwear. The second and third most important are also fit. Because shoe companies all use different lasts, if I find a particular shoe or boot that likes my feet I tend to go back to the same company as my first preference on the assumption that the basic form of the shoe or boot will closely resemble the last pair. That isn't always true, but it does tilt the odds in your favor. Be wary if the company got bought out by another company between times. That's usually a very bad sign they're being ruined.

If I'm changing brand or model and I'm unsure about my choices, I buy at REI if I can, because there's a store near me where I can try them on and their return policy is bulletproof. If I already know that a brand/model makes my feet happy, I'll try to locate another pair when that model is being replaced by a newer, "improved" model. The old style is usually closed out at a discount, and I snap up a pair for future use.

Why not just get another pair of keens? I just get the same model every 6 months or so

Another pair of Keens is a good shout but I don't think I was ever *completely* sold on them, partly because it seemed to take an age for them to feel properly comfortable (I guess the measure is when you're not really aware you wearing them). They were the first time I'd gone to a mid-ankle. I liked the lightness but I did suffer from blisters early on.

Assuming there's not a physical store nearby to try them out at, I'd order both online with a good return policy and return the one I didn't prefer

My feet are so callused now that blisters are never a problem, but when they were I found wearing sock liners to be a godsend.

These guys have pretty good user reviews:
https://www.trailspace.com/gear/boots/

I use the thinnest, cheapest sort of nylon 'dress' socks as liners. They're slick, thin and nearly indestructible. They go a long way toward eliminating blisters, but the biggest thing I ever did to stop blisters was switching to trail runners w/o waterproof liners, so they can really breathe. My feet get dusty, but they never blister.

I'd happily give trail runners a go in the summer, but I tend to buy one pair of boots, wear them all year round and run them into the ground. And that means a good 6 months of walking on damp-to-boggy ground.

Were the blisters on your toes, the bottom pads of your feet, or back of your heel? The first is most often pressure points from too small a toe box, the second from heat retention and feet 'sloshing' around forward and back, the third from too stiff a sole and 'heel lift' up and down. All of them tend to be problems with fit.

Heel, always heel. I bought my last pair online (from a recommendation). I do have a half-decent shop nearby with a good fitting set-up; I'll go down there.

Thanks for the link, Andy - I should have said that I'm in the UK (hence walking in bogs and sludge half the year).

I have nothing but positive things to say about both my Salomon hiking shoes and winter boots. Been using only their products since about 2015, won't ever go back.

After trying a few brands I was a Salomon guy. But then I ordered a replacement pair of the X Ultras and had this sharp pain on the top of my foot. Felt like a piece of metal pressing against that big winding nerve that goes across top of foot. By chance I had another pair mistakenly sent to me, and those also had the same problem! Both pairs just the right foot.
So I've been going with other brands since. But saw a pair of Salomon on sale this black Friday and figured I'd give the brand another try. These are super comfy right out of the box. I'm going to give them a field test right now.

Have fun!

I have the X Ultra 3 boots for winter, and I must say, I've never had a boot take more long hikes to really break in. But I wore them during some backpacking in the Catskills in early October, and they were just a fucking dream— warm, dry, and very grippy.

I like the 90's Asolo 520 so much that I hunt down NOS pairs on eBay... but alas my feet have somehow gotten larger recently (settling with age?) and I have to use stretchers to make them fit... itself a cool process.

I've got my eye on either a pair of Lowa Renegades or Inov8 Roclite 345s but I'm not entirely sure...

I have a pair of Lowa Renegade GTXs that I like quite a bit. Caveat is that they are the only serious hiking boots I've purchased so I don't have experience with other brands to compare. That being said, they are quite comfortable and, despite the bulky appearance, are deceptively light. I had no blisters (I wear Darn Tough socks). Re: waterproofing - last year I hiked in 2-3 hours of absolute downpour through plenty of puddles and small streams they got slightly damp, but afaict, that was more water getting through the top as my pants became soaked rather than water getting through the sole/seams.

Waterproofing of all my shoes wears off before the shoes themselves need to be replaced. And I go thru a pair about every 6 months due to hiking 400ish miles in rough terrain.

I've done a bunch more reading and it's down to the Lowa Renegades and the Salomon GTXs - the ringing endorsements of both on here are just what I needed. I'll go try both on and see.

God, I need a long walk.

went for a real nice hike this weekend. camped up in an alpine meadow with a pal and then tagged north truchas, which has been on my list for a few years now. feels good man

good to see you coming up for air here on ilx!

thanks! hadn't realized that it'd been so long

been a long 1.5 years

I walked myself into the ground during August. Highlight was a two day walk up in the Brecon Beacons. The second day was lit by the most beautiful sunshine. I'm still feeding off it.

And the Lowa Renegades are by far the best boots I've ever had. Magnificent.

Excellent!