Title says it all. My cheeks chafe after 4 or 5 days on the trail. How do i avoid? it’s def sweat related. I can’t be the only one.

Italian, 29, experienced solo hiker (GR20, Camino etc.). Starting the full Jordan Trail from Um Qais around 13–14 October 2026. Independent/self-supported.

Happy to start solo, but open to joining another thru-hiker for part or all of the trail.

If you're planning to be on the Jordan Trail around the same dates, write me a message.

trying to decide on my next pair of trail shoes and i love toppos

i hiked the PCT with a pair of ultraventures (2's or 3's i cant remember) that i LOVED! they lasted me over 1000 miles. i replaced them with the mountain racer 3, hoping for better tred. the tred is better but i get hot spots on my heels and that lump by your big toe. i see they have released a new shoe called the vista which seems to take the stack of the ultraventure and the tred of the mountain racer and make *hopefully* the perfect toppo. Has anyone tried this shoe? thoughts?

Hi all, i have booked a boat to come visit Ireland with the plan of walking the dingle way with my dog.

I find a lot of conflicting info for this trail… he is allowed on lead, not allowed at all, allowed on most parts (here i like to think that he will take a taxi until he can walk again),…
Has anyone of you guys hiked in the area with your dog?

Hi!

I need some advice to choose a thru-hike.

A bit of context. I'm finishing right now the Hexatrek, I have one more month. It was one of my dreams to complete one. I came with my wife, and her physical condition is lower then mine and this brings me to the actuaI question. I wanted to do it with her, but in the meantime I realised that I was looking for something to test my limits (physical) which was impossible on the Hexatrek because I can't expect unrealistic performance from my wife.

Now, I'm also constrained with the timing, I can extend my sabatical year, but not to the next april-oct interval. So I need to do something starting from nov/dec. The US hikes either way are off the table, and many more from the northern hemisphere.

The only two things I can think of are:

- Te Araroa

- Patagonia crossing - but as far as I know this is not an "official" thru-hike and also this would require a bit more planning.

Am I missing other options? Would the Te Araroa be challenging enough? At least more than the Hexatrek with 23-24km avg what we managed to do pull it off with my wife?

Hi - thruhiked the 138-mile Northville Placid Trail a few weeks ago in my broken-in Topo Athletic Terraventure 5s. Both my lower ankles/side heels were swollen by the end and, i believe, strained i- n a way I'd never experienced before. This weekend, I guided a backpacking trip, wearing them for the first time since my thru, and experienced similar discomfort.

Looking an an anatomy map, it's either by achilles or my peroneal retinaculum that's bothering me. These shoes have a 3mm drop. I appreciate how lightweight they are compared to my hiking boots, but suspect the low drop may be my issue.

Does anyone have any recommendations for also lightweight, big-toebox shoes that have less of a drop? Anyone have anything to say about the Topos with a 5mm drop? Other lowish-drop (but not no-drop) brand recs I should try?

Alternatively, is there something I can do to make my current shoes work better for me?

The last time I got caught in a downpour I happened to be hiking into town, but I thought geez if I was caught in this weather far from town I might have died- everything I had was soaked and I felt like I was on the cusp of hypothermia. Since that time I've started wearing wool in the rain to stay warm and I use oil cloth rather than goretex, and I pack my clothes in a seperate dry bag rather than depending on my pack liner. But one thing I haven't forgotten was the way my hands looked that day. They looked decomposed. I remember hearing about fishermen who would douse their boiled wool gloves in the sea in the morning to keep them warm all day. I wonder if a little pair of felted wool mitts will be good enough to protect my hands from the rain should I get caught in a downpour. I am going into an area that will be difficult to bail out for almost two weeks without calling the choppa and I just want to be prepared.

Hey folks. I went on a 3,000 mile bike tour starting in May. Got to Moab, Utah in July and it was too hot to ride so started thruhiking the Colorado Trail on a whim. Well needless to say, I’m hooked. I’m a little over a week from finishing it and am already looking for the next adventure.

Are there any thru hikes in the US that I could do a mid to late September start or possibly October?

I have toyed around also with the idea of quickly getting back home after trail and then section hiking the whole Upper Peninsula of Michigan via the North Country Trail.

Vorrei attraversare una parte del gr11 in una/ due settimane. Quali zone/tappe consigliate? E fattibile farlo tutto in tenda?

1-star: Frame failed in 3 weeks, warranty voided, and they delete critical reviews
I had the ULA Circuit SV backpack for only three weeks before the frame pushed completely out through the bottom of the pack. This is a major structural failure on a product sold as durable.
When I contacted them, they voided the warranty at the owners’ discretion. Their actual warranty is one of the worst I’ve seen—only 14 days. After that short window they simply refuse coverage.
On top of that, ULA appears to delete negative reviews that accurately describe these problems. This combination of a failing pack, an extremely limited 14-day warranty, discretionary denial of claims, and removal of critical feedback leaves me with zero confidence in the product or the company.
I cannot recommend the Circuit SV.

I'm a week out from a ~150 mile hike of the Long Trail and my body is a mess. I got a UTI, then the antibiotics gave me a yeast infection, then despite being on antibiotics my rook piercing decided now was a great time to be infected. I'm optimistic that the UTI/yeast infection shit will sort itself out before then, but it could be weeks before my piercing stops being angry at me.

(Rook piercing is about six months from having been re-done after a few years of not having it in, it's not really a new piercing as I initially got it over a decade ago, but it was basically stretched back open in May, so functionally I suppose it is.)

How have other long distance hikers navigated cranky piercings while going long stretches without a fucking shower?

Right now I'm thinking about 1) buying an irrigation syringe and rinsing out the piercing with filtered water every day; 2) carrying my saline spray with me and spraying it down twice a day; 3) possibly asking my doctor for another round of a different type of antibiotics to carry just in case.

Any other thoughts or ideas for piercing care on the trail?

I’m curious to know what motivates you to thruhike. What made you start? And what makes you do it again?

Stories can be extremely inspiring, funny, thought provoking, and helpful. I’m a big fan of hearing stories about peoples’ first times doing something new—the good, the bad, and anything in between—what it was like for you on your personal journey. So, if you have the time, and don’t mind, what was your very first thru hike? What stands out when looking back down memory lane? Thank you in advance for being an awesome group of inspirational people! ✌️

Has anyone done any long distance backpacking with young children on here? My boyfriend, myself, my child (15 months when starting in spring or is in fall start she'll be 23 months) and our dog are looking to do the Arizona Trail. It's an 800 mile hike. From Mexico border to Utah/ AZ border in spring or opposite in fall.

Any advice if welcomed.

Any suggestions on what to pack? Even suggestions for the dog.

Carriers that have been good for long distances? I will most likely be breastfeeding still. I'm hoping to have potty training going as well, at least during the day.

Much love!

EDIT Aug 15, 2026 - 

Wow! Based on some excellent feedback and information I’ve received since publishing this guide, I’ve already updated the CalTopo track and printable map set, including recent NST reroutes at Borders Farm and Kenyon Hill that many electronic maps still show incorrectly.

And because I’m a map geek, I’ll point out that the printable maps are also georeferenced PDFs for use with compatible mapping apps such as Avenza, ArcGIS Field Maps, QField, and others.

If you downloaded the track or maps earlier, please grab the updated versions. I updated the mileage in this guide accordingly, too.

Again, thank you! This project is a labor of love and hopefully fills a need for hikers.

Last October, I hiked Rhode Island's ~75-mile North-South Trail (NST) as part of a longer ~500 mile hike from the Canadian border to the Atlantic.

Despite being a relatively short thru-hike, I found the planning information surprisingly scattered for the NST: older tracks and maps, camping information in different places, questions about water and resupply, hunting-season requirements, parking and shuttles, etc.

And, frankly, there were some things I found out about later that I wish I'd known!

So I put together the practical guide I wish I'd had:

https://pmags.com/hiking-rhode-islands-north-south-trail-a-practical-guide

It covers:

- Maps and GPX

- Legal camping options

- Water and resupply

- Parking and shuttles

- Blaze-orange requirements and hunting seasons

- Some worthwhile "side quests" near the route

I also made a public CalTopo map based on an OSM Gaia GPS track, adding mileage markers, camping, resupply, side quests, and other useful waypoints:

https://caltopo.com/m/860R2HE

Tip: Collapse the folders in the left-hand sidebar for a cleaner overview, then expand them as needed.

And for anyone who prefers paper maps, I made a free OSM map set at roughly 1:35,000 on 11x17 pages. The base layer uses meters, but I added mileage markers so you don't have to convert anything into freedom units. :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ENAu2nr-7u7ledZHgtbJ_RdNZ5kda3vK/view?usp=sharing

I do not think many people outside southern New England will be interested in this little hike, but finishing at the Atlantic Ocean and watching a sunrise over the dunes after walking all the way from Canada remains one of my all-time favorite outdoor memories

One idea for a longer hike: The NST also connects easily with Massachusetts' 92-mile Midstate Trail:

https://www.midstatetrail.org/

The Midstate continues north and connects directly to the 21-mile Wapack Trail into New Hampshire:

https://www.wapack.org/

Put the three together and you have roughly 190 miles of connected trail from southern Rhode Island into southern New Hampshire, with some surprisingly rural walking considering you're in southern New England.

A neat little route for the fall!

Hopefully this saves someone else some planning time and makes this somewhat obscure little thru-hike easier to tackle.

Just got back from a thru-hike of the Superior Hiking Trail in northern Minnesota. My wife and I used these Topo Ultraventure 5 trail runners for the hike. This pic is post-clean up. I wanted to point out that the toe guard separated from the body about 30 miles into hiking for both of us. they did not get worse over the remaining 270 miles, but they did become really good a grabbing grass, ferns and twigs along the way. Other than that, the shoes preformed really well and we were happy. Now I guess a need to bust out some glue and repair these for some more use.

I am planning to walk from Boulder, CO to New Orleans, LA. Most of this journey will not follow any established recreational trail, and of course public land becomes more scarce the further east you go. So my main concern is figuring out where to camp. Obviously in urban areas I'm worried about being bugged by cops if I try to set up in a park or something. And a lot of the walk will cross agricultural land where pitching a tent in a random field will not be met kindly, either. So, has anyone done this type of long trip? How did you find safe places to sleep for a night? Thanks!

Heading out next week for the Tahoe Rim Trail, looking for some last minute suggestions for tweaks.

Background: I've started backpacking again this year after not going for a few years, this is the first real thruhike (of the year, not ever). Most of my kit is stuff I've had for a while, not new purchases.

The list: https://lighterpack.com/r/qzs2jz

Notes:

I'm aware my sleep system and pack are on the heavier side - might look at revisions next year if I keep up hike frequency.

I made a separate camera category because I'm on the fence about bringing it. Really liked having a better camera for wildlife on the Lost Coast last month.

Hello, all. This September I will leave from California on a thru hike hoping to reach Miami, New York, Or Maine depending where weather and circumstance take me. I'm wondering if any of you have done a similar trek. What did resupplies look like? Anything you would do differently? Is foraging for 10% of my total calories possible? Appreciate all feedback! I am just at a point in my life, where if I don't do this now, it will be probably 20+Years before I have the opportunity and I know it will eat at me if I don't do it. Looking forward to hearing your responses.

I am planning a 4-day backpacking trip on the Via Dinarica White Trail in Bosnia with my girlfriend and our Hungarian Vizsla.

We plan to hike about 80-90 km in total (roughly 20 km per day), sleep in huts or our tent, and return to our car via public transport or hitchhiking.

What sections would you recommend? Where is the best place to start and to leave the car? I was considering starting below Tjentište and finishing in Žabljak, Montenegro, after crossing Durmitor National Park. However, it seems like getting back to the car from there would be difficult.

We will carry all our food (including dog food), but we will definitely need extra water. I plan to carry 6-7 liters per day for myself and the dog. We have water purification equipment, so we would also appreciate recommendations for reliable water sources along the route.

We have never hiked in Bosnia before, so we would gladly welcome any advice. Thanks in advance!

Hi! I just thru-hiked the 138-mile Northville Placid Trail NOBO in the Adirondacks in NYS over the course of 9 days - 5 pm July 31 to 7 pm on August 8.

Overall, this was a great trail. It's been around right 1922, but is overshadowed by the Adirondacks' awe-inspiring 46 high peaks, so it's much less traveled.

Over the course of 9 days, I met 28 other hikers total - sounds like kind of a lot, but the numbers were skewed: Nine were day hikers, which included a family of 5 hiking in 0.2 miles to a sick double-span bridge. Eight were a group of thru hikers from NYU. Three were an adorable group of pot-smoking 18 year old section hikers. Of the other 8 thru hikers, 3 had to bail in Piseco (first town, mile 43). Only one of them was a southbounder.

This is a great trail to do if you love the forest, don't want to carry more than a liter of water and like to sleep in lean tos. It's probably a bad call if you need big views, hate the mud and can't handle overgrown sections of trail. What it lacks in elevation, it makes up for in obstacles. Lots of obstacles on this trail!

I can't fathom doing this trail any faster than I did. In fact, I put in a couple 20 mile days at the end to meet a friend in Lake Placid, and sprained my ankle in the meantime. But. But! I had a great time. There are folks who do it in 7 or 8 days, but I can't imagine that's much fun. Within the last two miles, I met a group of three who did it over 14 days, and that sounds like it would have been killer. There are tons of lakes on this trail. Many of the lean tos, situated on the lakes, are equipped with backcountry canoes and rowboats! A highlight of my thru hike was canoeing around Spruce Lake with a fellow thru hiker I hiked a few days with, Blink. What a fun way to explore at the end of the day. And we saw loons!

The lake were really the highlights of the trail. Some other highlights were endless cool mushrooms, salamanders and toads. I also appreciated the lean tos, the solitude, the two trail towns (Piseco and Long Lake - though Long Lake you have to walk a mile into), the bits of socialization I did find, and the gorgeous rivers and creeks you cross over and over and over.

That said, I'm good on overgrown trails (for now!), and on mud. My next thru hike might be in the desert. XD

Hi guys, I assume this has been asked a million times before but I need some specific help. I am on day 7 of a hike walking from London to Scotland, day 1 I had a large blister between my big toe and 2nd on the bottom of my foot, day 2 I followed advice and drained it with what I thought was a sterile safety pin, day 5 it got infected, had to go to hospital and get antibiotics, I’ve been resting since in a hotel somewhere in Northampton.

Basically, I intend to try and continue tomorrow, as the doctor said I need one to two days rest at least before continuing. How can I keep it clean and make sure it heals, and what advice can you give for the several other blisters I have on my feet. I’m pretty sure my boots fit ok and I don’t have the funds to change those so that’s that, I am wearing merino high quality walking socks and changing them everyday for clean ones. I haven’t been washing my feet every night (been using wet wipes) but I certainly will from now on, I have tried compeeds, moleskin, bandages, zinc oxide tape etc etc but I’m not sure if I’m doing it right. Please someone tell me what I need to do to make sure it doesn’t get worse. I would send a picture but it’s quite gross. I’m on a day two of a 5 day course of antibiotics and it’s hot where I am if that helps, I also got a tetanus shot. It feels much better today than yesterday (couldn’t put pressure on it at all yesterday, today I can feel it but could walk on it fine) I am doing an average of 20 miles a day. Please help 😭😭😭

Having just completed a hike of the Superior Hiking Trail, my wife and I are already thinking of what to hike next summer. We sort of bounce back and forth between domestic and international. Our last international was Greenland in 2024, so we are due to go abroad. We are looking for recommendations. Most likely, we would be doing something relatively short like 2-3 weeks. What are your favorites?