Hiking guides and trip reports throughout the world, including day hikes, backpacking, and other hut-to-hut hikes.
For the Tour of the Bernina, we flew into Zurich. The next day, we took a train to Oeschinensee for a day hike, returning to Zurich in the evening. The following morning, we dropped our luggage and took the Bernina Express train to Pontresina.
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.
In August 2022, we backpacked a new part of the North Cascades for us: the Devil’s Dome Loop on the western edge of the Pasayten Wilderness. We hiked the route clockwise, from the East Bank Trailhead, taking four days and three nights.
This was a stunning loop that took us to parts of the North Cascades we had not visited. We enjoyed excellent weather and beautiful views.
Our total distance, including a side trip, was about 41 miles, and 10,800′ of elevation gain. Trail conditions made the route more difficult than the stats would imply.
We backpacked the Teton Crest Trail in August 2021, adding on a stop in Yellowstone National Park before and backpacking in the Wind River Range after. Our two-week Wyoming trip included two days of walks and day hikes in Yellowstone, five days on the Teton Crest Trail, and four days in the Winds.
On our way home from backpacking Ediza and Thousand Island Lakes in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, we added a day for Lassen Volcanic National Park. Because of smoke from wildfires, we decided on a day of short walks and hikes combined with stops at various viewpoints, rather than climbing Lassen Peak.
The highlight of our July 2021 road trip was backpacking to Ediza Lake and Thousand Island Lake, in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. To get an early start, we stayed in Lee Vining the night before, which also gave us a chance to visit Mono Lake.
For the first part of our July 2021 Cascades and Sierra Nevada road trip, we visited central Oregon, stopping in Bend, Newberry Volcanic National Monument, and Crater Lake National Park. Each of these destinations merited more time than we had, but we still enjoyed the three days we had to explore.
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.
We started the second part of our trip, two self-guided Great Walks, by heading to Te Anau. There, we saw glowworm caves before starting the Routeburn Track the next day. We did the Routeburn Track as a three-day, two-night hike, staying at Lake Mackenzie Hut and Routeburn Falls Hut.
After our time in Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, we had a couple of days to get back to Queenstown. During that time, we explored Lake Tekapo, had a relaxing night in Ohau, and saw a couple of other destinations in Mount Aspiring National Park.