Tag Archives: Featured

Alps, Hut-to-hut walks, Italy, September, Switzerland

Tour of the Bernina

After hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc in 2018, we were eager to complete another long hut-to-hut circuit in the Alps. For this, we again prioritized fantastic scenery and comfortable huts. We also hoped to visit a quieter set of huts and trails than the Tour du Mont Blanc and to visit a different part of the Alps. After considering many routes, we decided on the Tour of the Bernina, circling the Piz Bernina massif on the Swiss-Italian border. We hiked our 90-mile route in 10 days.

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Kyle at Thousand Island Lake
Backpacking, California, Day Hiking, July, Oregon

A Cascades & Sierra Nevada Road Trip

One summer at Cold River Camp, another guest presented on backpacking the Muir Trail and through the Ansel Adams Wilderness. This presentation inspired our summer 2016 backpacking trip from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley. The image that most stayed in my mind, though, was a sunset photo at Thousand Island Lake.

Kyle & I finally visited in July 2021, stopping at Newberry National Volcanic Monument and Crater Lake National Park on the way there, and Lassen Volcanic National Park on the way back. This made for a one-week road trip with three days of backpacking in the middle.

Compared to the photo that inspired our trip, the sunset over Thousand Island Lake sunset was muted, but it was still excellent.

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Sealy Tarns
Day Hiking, February, Hut-to-hut walks, March, New Zealand

Planning a Hiking Trip on New Zealand’s South Island

For the 2018-2019 academic year, I was on sabbatical. While I was still working, I had a lot more flexibility in when I could travel. New Zealand had been on our to-visit list for a while, but seasons and distance make it hard to visit during a normal year. We took advantage of my flexibility by planning a three-week trip to New Zealand for February and March — late summer / early fall.

Over the years of wanting to visit New Zealand, we had accumulated an extensive list of places we wanted to hike and explore. As we got into planning the details, we narrowed our trip to focus on hiking in the mountains of the South Island (Te Waipounamu). Just that easily filled three weeks.

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View toward Suilven and Quinag from Stac Pollaidh
Day Hiking, May, Scotland

Scotland: Hiking and Whisky

In May 2019, we had the opportunity to return to Scotland for a week of hiking and whisky. Starting in Inverness, we spent the first half of the trip hiking in the northwest Highlands. We then drove down the west coast, took a ferry to Islay, and spend three days visiting distilleries, trying whisky and exploring the island.

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Seven guanacos in a field in Parque Patagonia, with snow-capped mountains in the background
Backpacking, Chile, Day Hiking, March, South America

March Hiking in the Aysén Region of Patagonia

In March 2018, we returned to Patagonia to explore and hike the Aysén region between Coyhaique and Cochrane in Chile. We spent a week in Bariloche last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, but wanted to explore more on the Chilean side this time around. Our trip included the rugged drive along the Carretera Austral (Route 7) and hiking in the Cerro Castillo and Patagonia National Parks.

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Kyle stands in the pass, looking down at the trail, mountains, and valley.
Day Hiking, Europe, Hut-to-hut walks, July, June, Spain

Picos de Europa: Overview

In June and July 2017, we spent a week hiking in Spain’s spectacular Picos de Europa. The jagged limestone peaks, verdant green pastures, delicious food, and a pleasant stop in Bilbao made for a fantastic trip.

Read below for our notes on planning a trip, getting around, and where to stay, or jump right into our description of the trip:

  1. Bilbao and the drive to Espinama
  2. A three-day, two-night hike on the Central Massif
  3. A rainy stop in Covadonga and Arenas de Cabrales
  4. Hikes from Camarmeña, including the Cares Gorge, back up to the Central Massif, and a bit of the Western Massif

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Copyright Sean Munson & Kyle Wright.