Backpacking - Tumblr Posts - Page 4
it just occurred to me that i went on a backpacking adventure like 1 or 2 months ago and never even posted anything on here
wowee
probs gonna upload more in a min, but i had a fab time traipsing around the west coast of anglesey with little more than a sleeping bag, a bivy and a few tins of spam
The first time I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes, I found myself constantly internally screaming at Ginny. You don’t just FOLLOW SOME RANDOM GUY IN ROME to HIS HOUSE when you are all alone! And with the number of strangers that she talked to and told her personal info to and told them that she was all alone in her little tourist outfit... it’s amazing that she wasn’t kidnapped or something worse. And her parents actually LET her do this?? Without a phone or destination or someone she knows???? And she wasn’t even 18 - don’t you have to be at least 18 to stay at hostels and stuff by yourself?
Okay, sorry. I love this book, it fills me with wanderlust, but Ginny is an idiot. And you can tell that the author probably has never backpacked through Europe before or even traveled that much. But I digress.
Relaxing with some Westland after an incredible 17 mile hike at Colorado Bend State Park. #whiskylife #westland #westlandwhiskey #backpacking #hiking (at Colorado Bend State Park)
by Erik De Leon on Flickr.Roof top view over the city of Cuenca in Ecuador. The center of the city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its many historical buildings.
by will.copestake on Flickr.Mackay Falls on the Milford track - South Island, New Zealand.
I feel that by now a few introductory words are in order.
I have a plan. It consists basically of walking from Denmark to Spain, ending on Cape Finisterre on the western coast of Spain.
My only company on the road will be Chanel. She is a six year old Jack Russell terrier with a slightly neurotic mind, an abundance of energy and an obsessive curiosity. She became mine a little over a month ago when her owner became too ill to care for her.
The Danish part we have already covered, following Hærvejen/E1 from Nr. Snede to Padborg (the border). The German part of the trail follows the E1 long distance path, the Rheinsteig, and some trails found on Waymarked Trails. The French trails are The Alsace wine trail and the Camino de Santiago from Thann to Vézelay, and from Vézelay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. From Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port the plan is to follow the GR10 trail, which runs along the Pyrenees all the way to the coast and Irún where the Camino del Norte starts. The Camino continues on to Santiago de Compostela, and from there it’s only 90 km to Cape Finisterre.
I am hoping to spend around four to six months on this project. Any longer and I would just be drifting, any less and I would be setting myself up for failure. But who knows, maybe I fall and twist my ankle a few days across the border and this will all seem pretty silly… Hopefully I will make it through without a (serious) scratch, and return home with some great stories to tell.
I will try to keep this blog updated with stories and observations as well as pretty pictures.
Wish me luck.
one time in college i wanted to hike out into the wintery woods and camp for the night. it was already pretty late and i couldn't convince any of my friends to join me, so i decided to go out by myself.
i packed my backpack, put on my warmest clothes, turned on my headlamp, and set out.
once i made it to the trail, i stepped into my snowshoes and continued into the winter wonderland. i was hiking for awhile before i started to hear what sounded like drums in the distance. reader: i was miles from anywhere people should be, let alone the sound of drums.
naturally, as any normal person would, i immediately shut off my headlamp, got off the packed down snowy trail, and continued toward the drumming in the soft, quiet powder.
as i got closer, i began to hear chanting, and eventually, i noticed the flicker of a flame on the top of a very steep hill. and that's where the chanting and drumming was coming from.
it was cold. night was here. i was scared. but i had to know more.
i found a path up the far side of the hill, far from the fire light. i slowly crept up it, careful not to make any loud noises. or as careful as i could be through a dense forest up a hill with 40lbs on my back.
finally, i made it to the top and saw the fire. and the drums. and the source of the chanting.
it was 10-20 college students hanging out around a fire with alcohol and other substances, with several of them banging on bongos and what they probably called "singing".
they didn't notice me. i had a choice.
i could leave, continue on with my original plan, and go sleep alone in the woods.
i could go back to the dorms, leaving all of this behind me.
or i could walk up to these strangers (at night, alone, miles from civilization), hope they're friendly, and see what happens.
so i walked up to the group. and then through it. and then i was standing in the middle of it. right next to the fire. and no one noticed me.
and they still didn't notice me. what happens when they notice me now. should i leave? but then they'll notice me. do i say something? i don't want to scare them. but will not saying something scare them more?
the one closest to the fire looked up at me.
"holy shit! who are you? want a beer?"
and that's the story of how i met a bunch of hippies in the middle of the woods one night. apparently they were at a house party and bored, someone suggested a fire in the woods, they drove out to some trailhead, and hiked into a spot they liked with bongos, beer, and other stuff.
eventually they got tired and hiked back to their cars; i hiked back to campus. i stopped at a friend's room when i got back and told them the story; pretty sure they thought i made it up.
the next week, i was hanging out with a friend and he said hi to some of his friends we passed. i recognized them from that night in the woods. it's a small world.
anyway, sometimes doing things alone earns you a cool story you can tell years later that no one believes. sometimes it gets you weird looks at the movie theater. and sometimes it ends horribly.
glhf, it'll probably be fine
people are saying do it scared, but you also gotta do it alone. you'll miss out on so much you want to do if you wait til someone will do it with you. do it scared and do it alone.
Near the Rio Grande well below the Marufo Vega Trail near where I camped on a solo b’backing trip
I’ve rafted the canyons of the Rio Grande but I was backpacking when I was struck by the crystal clear reflection of the canyon walls in the river. Note the shadow resembling the state of Texas
Spotted this rock rattler in of all places—the rocks! Of course there’s plenty of rocks in Big Bend. Enough to satisfy the most discriminating rattlesnake. He didn’t look like he wanted to chat so I just snapped a picture & bid him adieu. I’ve come across many snakes in the backcountry. They don’t want to bite you any more than you want to bite them.