Introduce yourself 👋

#1

I’ll start

My name is Oz and I’m from London, UK. I was born in Turkey and my family immigrated to London when I was very young, so I feel an affinity to both places :slight_smile:

My introduction to thru-hiking happened only a couple of years ago, when a colleague told me that he walked the whole height of the UK, starting from the southern tip of Cornwall and ending at the northern tip of Scotland. I thought that was a ridiculous thing to say/do and I didn’t understand how he could have done such a thing. That led to a rabbit hole of watching thru-hiking videos on youtube, discovering the existence of the big hikes like the PCT or the GR20 scattered all around the world and ultimately falling in love with the culture of thru-hiking.

I would consider myself new to thru-hiking, having only really done the South Downs Way in England. My plan is to eventually complete a really long thru-hike (I would absolutely love to do the PCT) and I’m excited to share my journey with you all!

Welcome to the Thruhikes forums
#2

Hi everyone I’m Jack,

I’m from London UK but I grew up in Bath.
I can’t say I’m an experienced hiker but I enjoyed lots of great hikes through the Lake District and Snowdonia as a kid and the lockdown has renewed my appreciation of the great outdoors. I’m excited to start tackling some more ambitious hikes soon.

Thru-hiking ticks a lot of boxes for me. It’s got nature, travel, fitness and you get to geek out on cool well designed bits of kit. What more could you want out of life?

Near term I’m looking forward to hiking the west highland way but one day I’d love to do something insane like the Appalachian.

Anyway I’m excited to be a part of this vibey and adventurous community. Let’s go!

1 Like
#3

Hello there!

I’m Nick, originally from Devon - sad to say I’m currently stuck in London but moving hope to move back to Devon soon. Love the South West some great walking along the coast path, Dartmoor and Exmoor.

I’m the nutter that decided to walk the length of the UK, it was an incredible experience. Enjoyed every aspect of it, especially the simplicity of things - it’s very easy to ‘live in the moment’ when the biggest worry you have finding a nice camp spot. You can check out the whole hike here: Polarsteps - Automatic Travel Tracker - Explore. Dream. Discover.

My two biggest tip for people getting started with long distance walking:

  • Don’t overthink it too much, although planning a hike is super fun, you honestly don’t need to worry too much about things like where you’re going to camp or find food or water etc. especially in UK (you might need to worry about water if you’re planning a desert hike!)
  • Use the lightest gear you can afford. It’s worth it to beg, borrowing or steal to save a few kilos. https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/ is a great resource (mainly US focused but still very useful) I’ll make a post about good light weight gear that’s available in the UK
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#4

You are a great source of inspiration my friend :heart:

Thank you for joining and I’m really looking forward to reading your recommendations!

#5

Hi All, I’m Jeff from Massachusetts USA. I would certainly not call myself a hiker. I am a runner who enjoys ultramarathons, on road or trail. A typical race for me is anywhere from 30 to 100 miles. I enjoy running more than hiking because I can cover much more terrain in much less time and carry less gear.

Additionally I am a gear nerd. I love talking about packs, shoes, trekking poles, gps watches and all sorts of stuff in the hiking/running.

Cheers!

#6

Hi all, I’m Keshav from California USA. I mainly go for climbing and big-wall adventuring, and have hiked all over the Yosemite/High Sierras wilderness. My goals for this year are to do more long hikes and climbs around the United States - I have been converting a camper van for the last year or so, and am finally ready for my first cross-country trip.

Oz - thanks for putting together this community! I am excited and grateful to be a part of it. If anyone out there ever needs an adventure guide in California hit me up!

#7

Hey Jeff, welcome! It’s great to have you here and I’m looking forward to reading more about ultramarathons. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do but in all honest, I’m just not very good at running!

I’m definitely a gear nerd too, so I’m sure we’re going to have a lot to talk about :smiley:

#8

Hey Keshav, welcome! I’ve only seen Yosemite/High Sierras on youtube and my god, it looks so beautiful. I’m jealous.

It’s great to have you onboard and I look forward to hearing more about your adventures!

#9

My name is Michael Hunter. I live in Bend, Oregon. I grew up in Souther California. I started backpacking in the 70s in the souther Sierras and have continued since. I havn’t done any really long hikes. The longest being about 300k. But I love that this site exists to amalgamate hikes and provide resources to people who want to do them.

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#10

Hi All,

Thank you @oz, for inviting me! Looking forward to reading all the nice hike tips and stories :slight_smile:

My name is Adriaan, and I am from Holland but living in Spain for almost six years now. Holland is pretty flat and never really got into longer hikes when I was living there. When I moved to Spain, I started with day hikes and the last couple of years I go on solo-hikes for once or twice a year. So, I am pretty new to this myself. Some of the longer hikes I did are the Alta Via 2 (Dolomites), GR20, Mare e Monti, Rota Vicentina.

Last year, I didn’t do any long treks, due to the restrictions. But I am looking forward to starting to plan my new trip and looking for inspiration. For me, hiking is like meditation. In the beginning, my head is full of thoughts, and my body needs to adjust, but after a day or two, I become part of the surroundings, and everything starts to flow.

I met so many great people and heard so many great stories while staying in huts and having dinner with people I never met. That is one of the best parts of solo hiking for me. The people who like to walk tend to be all super lovely and adventurous people.

Looking forward to being part of this forum and start sharing experiences; tips and excitement about hiking!

#11

Hi, and thanks for the invite!

I’m Ben and I’m from the UK, currently living in South Wales. I’d really like to get into hiking, especially with elements of wild camping. My only foray so far was to walk the length on the Gower Coastal Path (about 45miles) with everything I needed on my back, which I did in 2 days with an overnight stay on the clifftops. I’d like to do this again when the weather improves, but this time a little slower to take in the sights more, and skipping the first 10 miles or so, which were tediously boring.

After that I’d really like to explore many more parts of the much larger Wales Coast Path, especially the route around Pembrokeshire. When I was walking previously I met a group who were walking all of it in sections, in no particular order, it sounded great! Who knows, I might venture out of Wales and look at some other hikes in the rest of the UK!

Looking forward to seeing how this forum evolves, and sharing some pics of my future walks.

Ben

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#12

@tahoemph @adriaanb @Benbread

Welcome guys! Great to have you all on here and looking forward to seeing what you have to share :slight_smile:

#13

Hello to everyone.

A little about me, my name is Alex, I was born in Romania, and hiked around Moldoveanu Peak for a few days while living there.

Aside of that, I had a road trip across Canada, but only visited a few parts of trails(had an old dog with me).

I’ve been a student at University of Waterloo in cs and math. I live in Canada now.

I enjoy a more rough/intense/adventurous approach to hiking rather than a tranquil/confortable one. But not neccesarily a rushed one.

Found Oz’s website through hacker news.

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#14

Hello! I’m Ellen from the US but currently living in Hong Kong. I got interested in hiking while living in South Korea 10 years ago while I was teaching English. South Korea is quite mountainous (had no idea before I arrived!) and hiking was a popular weekend pasttime so I picked it up and have been hiking ever since.

It wasn’t until maybe 3 years ago that I started to do more backpacking trips and would do weekend trips to the southern parts of the Appalachian and other areas around the state of Georgia.

My longest trip was doing the W trek through Patagonia, Chile. The most beautiful and amazing experience, and beginner friendly. Highly recommend it!

Ever since then I’ve been trying to do more longer hiking trips and am itching to get back out there once the world becomes normal again.

Loved reading all your intros! Good to meet you! Thanks for having me on this forum :slight_smile:

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#15

Hi everyone,

I’m Dorian from Bavaria in Germany and first of all thaks for the invitation :slight_smile:.
I’m also new to thru-hiking.
I’m hiking a lot with my family (every one to two weeks) in the Alps, but my only long trip so far was the GR20 on Corsica together with my father. I really enjoyed it and would like to follow up on it this summer.

Therefore I’m happy to hear about your experiences and looking forward to see how this forum evolves :slight_smile:

Regards, Dorian

1 Like
#16

Hello. I’m James Gaston and I live in British Columbia though much of my life was in northern California. I’m a long-time hiker, mostly day hikes. California, Washington, BC, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and Greece. More relevant to this group are three longer hikes, the Tour du Mont Blanc, the Dolomites, and the Haute Route, in that order. These hikes caught my eye because they offer places to spend the night. All were wonderful. The Dolomites stand out for scenery and accommodations.

Since I’ve been avoiding travel I’ve been traveling virtually, currently stepping through the Haute Route photos. I’m (mentally) in Fionnay, hiking up to Cabane Louvie. The hike the next day, from Louvie to Prafleurie was killer long. Saw an Ibex. Anyway I post a photo or two a day, it’s slow travel since I’ve lots of photos, with a map or link to a map, starting in Chamonix. Lovely town, do not miss the Aiguille du Midi. I know, sounds crazy but imagined travel is better than no travel.

Anyway, nice to meet the group.

  • James

Attached is Louvie to Prafleurie.

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#17

Welcome James! My wife and I are hoping to do the Tour du Mont Blanc this summer :slight_smile: I’ll start a thread about it soon and would love to hear any thoughts/advice you might have on it.

Great to have you here!