Hey There, Fellow Hiker! So, you’re planning to hit the trails for a few days, huh? Awesome! But let’s talk about that lifeline we all can’t seem to live without—our smartphones. Yeah, they’re great for selfies with that epic sunset, but they’re also kinda important for, you know, not getting lost. Problem is, these gadgets […]

Michinoku Coastal Trail Southbound Elevation Profile (Hachinohe to Soma) The below profile shows the elevation if you thru-hike the Michinoku Coastal Trail SOBO(southbound). So, starting in Hachinohe towards Soma. The highest point on trail is just outside Hachinohe, so hiking SOBO means you’ll have a hard start. Michinoku Coastal Trail Northbound Elevation Profile (Soma to […]

Pooping. We all we do it. When out hiking or climbing mountains or even just out camping for a night taking a dump comes with some extra steps. For years my poop kit just included a ultralight trowel, some TP and hand sanitizer. However, on some my recent hikes (the Colorado Trail for example) I […]

Hiiker is a mobile app and website that allows hikers to discover, plan and navigate over 25,000 hiking trails worldwide.  Since 2020, its community of hikers has grown to over 600,000 and continues to expand.  It was founded in Ireland in 2020 and is now extensively used across the world by hikers and mountain rescue […]

Day 1 Date: 15/7/21 Miles: 11.2 Miles to date: 11.2 Had a late start, due to having to call up AT&T to fix my SIM. Walked to line D tram, to mineral station (isn’t that in pokemon?) and a quick uber to Wateron Canyon. I rearranged my gear, sunscreen water, all that good stuff. When […]

Date Daily Mileage Miles to Date Resupply 7/15/2021 11.2 11.2 Denver 7/16/2021 16.1 27.3 7/17/2021 13 40.3 7/18/2021 16.9 57.2 7/19/2021 14.7 71.9 7/20/2021 17.1 89 7/21/2021 16.6 105.6 7/22/2021 0 105.6 Frisco (free bus) 7/23/2021 16.1 121.7 7/24/2021 18.1 139.8 7/25/2021 19.6 159.4 7/26/2021 18.8 178.2 7/27/2021 2.1 180.3 7/28/2021 0 180.3 Leadville,exiting at […]

If you’re planning on thru-hiking or section hiking the Colorado Trail, you may be wondering what gear you need to protect yourself against bears. I thru-hiked the Colorado Trail in July 2021 and I brought a bear canister with me, specifically the BV450 bear canister. Not to bury the lead I would say you don’t […]

I love Darn Tough socks. Simple as that. I first used them on my section hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2019 (400 miles). Then my coast to coast hike across Ireland (400 miles) and most recently my thru-hike of the Colorado Trail (500 miles). As well as a bunch of day hikes and everyday […]

1897 to 1921 is often referred to as the Heroic age of Antarctic Exploration. Antarctica was just empty outline on the map To fill in the map and discover Antarctica’s interior,  humanities physical and mental limits would be tested to their breaking points with 100s of remarkable stories of survival and heroism. Today we remember […]

I climbed Kilimanjaro successfully back in 2016. It was an amazingexperience and would recommend it for anyone. If you’re planning on climbing Kilimanjaro one of the questions you’ll have(I certainly did) was do I need to take Diamox when climbing Kilimanjaro? What Is Diamox? Diamox, also known as Acetazolamide, is used to prevent and/or reducealtitude […]

I summited Kilimanjaro back in 2016. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life and there are a few hard earned tips I’d like to share with any future climbers. Hopefully these will increase your chances of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro all the way to Uhuru Peak. Approximately 50,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro […]

On a recent day hike in Sicily I arrived back into Palermo and realized my fingers and hands were swollen. I had spent the day cleaning up trash on a local mountain. It was a hot day, at least a hot day for my Irish head. The above photo is a quick example of how […]

If I was to mention Georgia and Hiking most people would probably think of the Appalachian Trail. However, nestled in the Caucasus mountains the countries of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are quietly building a long distance trail that I’m confident will one day be a bucket list item for any long distance hiker. You can […]

Many in the ultralight hiking community repurpose items from non-hiking communities for their hikes. The Showa Waterproof Glove was originally popular with Japanese fisherman then Andrew Skurka, a prominent hiker, talked about them on his blog. Now they are a popular glove for the ultralight hiker. I use them myself and love them. There are […]

It’s the middle of the night, you’re snug in your sleeping bag or quilt, the rain is pouring, the wind blowing. You need to pee. Good god! This is when a pee bottle becomes a glorious luxury item to have when out hiking. But there are plenty of different pee bottles out depending on what […]

I’ve had to cancel my PCT thru-hike for 2 years in a row now. Thanks Covid! Back in 2019, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I started researching the trail and what gear I would need. Should I send resupply boxes? Crampons or Microspikes? I went through the entire process, got my permit and was ready to go […]

Now that Covid is over the PCTA are issuing long distance permits again. So a long distance hike in the USA is not possible again for many international thru-hikers. Now, strictly speaking having insurance is not a requirement for doing a thru-hike. It’s not like a B2 visa (check out our visa guide), you can […]

Today I wanted to talk about my cooking pot: the Vargo BOT HD 1L. The HD just means it has a handle. You can get it with or without the handles but for the extra 0.2oz/6g I think it’s worth it. This is a top of the line premium cooking pot that will serve any […]

Today I wanted to talk about the Zpacks Duplex versus the Altaplex DCF tents. I’ve used both now. In 2019 I did 400 miles on the A.T. using the Duplex and recently I sold that and bought the Altaplex and used that for 400 miles when I did a coast to coast thru-hike across Ireland. […]

In 2020 I thru-hiked across Ireland coast to coast. From Dublin to Cork along the E8 Long Distance Trail Route. I wild camped every night in my Zpacks Altaplex tent. The trail was 650km/400 miles and took around a month to complete. The E8 Long Distance Trail is part of a trail that stretches from […]