http://www.jimmys-adventures.net/long-distance-hiking-europe/
hiking tips ?
hey i am 15,live in england and would love to get into some long distance hiking and mountain climbing. I love the outdoors, camping, being away from the materialistic soceity we live in, but in truth i have never done a really big hike before, bascally i was wondering what tips people can give me in terms of where to start(preferably in Europe near or in England) and what survival skills are reqired to become pretty prepared in future. Don’t get me wrong i am not totally new to this, i have done overnight hiking and camping before and i am fit, but i mean for a few weekS. Finally i really want to do the pacific crest trail, maybe when i am 18, after i finish school, i know i seem naive but how much experience would i need and how hard would it b. thanks a lot
There are a couple of really important things that you need to know about doing long distance hiking
The concept of HYOH >Hike Your Own Hike >
Regardless of how much advice you get on the subject matter ,you ultimateley have to do your hiking in a manner that works best for you and nobody else
Case in point 1:
I’m big tall person who has a body that was made for external frame packs: so I carry my trusty old Kelty Tioga almost everywhere
Point 2 :
I’ve also come within 400′ of dying of hypothermia so I carry a little more gear and a litttle more food than somebody who has not been that close to death in the wilderness would carry.
Point 3:
I’m an old guy that hates do-dads & hi-tech toys so I tend to use maps & compasses rather than GPS..a younger person would probably do just the opposite
Somebody once said that good judgement is the result of experience and experience is the result of bad judgement .
Between now and whenever try to spend as much time as you possibly can learning the fundamentals of your craft so that you will eventually be able to figure out what works for YOU
Long dstance hiking is actually more of a psychological test than it is a physical test.
Don’t get me wrong you obviously need to be in good physical shape >But that you can train for
What’s hard to train for is the mental aspect of day in and day out hiking in possibly crappy weather and over possibly very difficult terrain
While thru -hiking the AT >Appalachian Trail >can be and is a very social experience ;The PCT is just the opposite .Rumor has it that it can get really lonely out there
Interestingly enough I was talking to somebody at PCT HQ yesterday about whether or not a PCT thru -hike was do-able in a season [ she said that it probably was ] and one of the things that we discussed was how to deal with long lonely stretches
The PCT is a really hard trail to thru -hike and more than a few people will thru -hike the relatively easier Appalachian Trail first and then use the lessons that they learned on the AT and apply them to the PCT
Sources of good info
The Complete Walker IV >simply put the best book available on the subject of backpacking
Whiteblaze .net
A great source of collective long distance hiking knowledge >Just be a little careful when you start asking Q’s & giving A’s. Think of being a new kid in school and that you are entering a world where a lot of people have long term relationships with each other…and can be rough on each other..and new kids
DeLorme Road Atlas and Gazeteers
If you get their CA,OR & WA Atlas’ you can easily get an idea of the route and terrain of the PCT
http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtdItemDetail.jsp?forge_prod=TtzyUDc6n4M9X9tvoIXrickp%3AS&item=28185§ion=10048&forge_prod_pses=forge_prod%3DTtzyUDc6n4M9X9tvoIXrickp%253AS%7E
Good luck
Alpine Pass Route Across Switzerland