Places

An open letter from a grandfather to his two grandsons, about his CDTA volunteer time. Read More...

Trip report from the New Mexican high desert: three fellow BPLers (strangers but for the forums) and a father-in-law unite to experience the thoughtful introspection and cheerful relationship inherent in a group backcountry trek. Read More...

Race report, gear and food, and, for the really ambitious, pointers for entering a wilderness race. Read More...

Can a backpacker more comfy on the trail find love with a lady for whom three stars is roughing it? An excerpt from Ron's recently published memoir, Pathfinder: Blazing a New Wilderness Trail in Modern America . Read More...

Encountering waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, rivers, volcanoes, and boiling hot springs during a difficult but delightful Icelandic summer. Read More...

Danny Milks and Kristin Tennessen left California in September 2009 to embark upon a two-year international backpacking adventure. Follow their travels, break down their gear lists, and step into their photos for a global adventure like nothing you've ever seen! Read More...

My wife and I retraced the steps of Martin Luther on the 500th anniversary of his famous pilgrimage to Rome... it wasn't quite the thru-hike I had anticipated, but it had a satisfaction all its own. Read More...

Lightweight backpacking in Bolivia's northern Andes. Read More...

Trekking in one of the world's deepest canyons. Read More...

Escaping the "boxes" of modern society in the heart of the breathtaking Peruvian Andes. Read More...

Anyone who hikes the long trails is asked “Why go?” There are many answers: the physical challenge, being immersed in the wilderness for months at a time, the joy of seeing new sights every day, the camaraderie of people we meet along the way. Ultimately, the reason I go is for the journey itself. Read More...

At first glance, doing a round-trip (a yo-yo) on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) seems like a waste. Why not hike a different trail instead of hiking the same one two times? However, unlike the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, the CDT is never the same trail twice. Read More...

The westernmost place in the continental United States is no longer the furthest west, geographically. It is rather that most rugged landscape generally arrayed across the Continental Divide as it marches from Canada to Mexico. Read More...

Months of travel can wear on people, even as they enjoy the "other" of another country. We found the perfect combination of comforts from home and the diversity of a foreign culture in Bariloche, Argentina. Read More...

The CDT is off-the-charts gorgeous, a great challenge, and it is my favorite of the big three long-distance trails. However, as with the Pacific Crest and Appalachian Trails, the CDT is not without its tricky areas. Read More...

We discovered why Torres del Paine, Chile is the poster child for Patagonia's wilderness playground. Read More...

In this Global Test Photo Essay, we arrived ill-equipped for a trek over an ice field. Setting up a base camp and sticking with day trips ensured that we didn't miss out on one of the most beautiful parks in the world. Read More...

Our seasoned crew decided early on a mostly off-trail trip on a high route through the Teton Range. With no navigational resources but map and compass, we planned to formulate our route day by day as we progressed north to south through mountains. Read More...

In nine months backpacking around Latin America, there was much grandeur to be seen, but there were also tiny treasures that required a closer look. Examine their petite beauty. Read More...

With nearly constant cloud cover and a few mornings waking up to a thick layer of snow on the ground, the focus of the last days on the trail went from staying dry to just staying warm. Read More...

Blisters, hiking solo, and lightning-started fires marked the stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail from northern California through Oregon. Read More...

The desert portion done, fear (and trail gossip) centered on snow in the Sierra, with six major passes above 11,000 feet. Read More...

Tackling the Pacific Crest Trail is a big job, made harder by a stream of scary stories filtering down from other hikers. Read More...

Designed as a European cultural itinerary traversing the continent along the backbone of the Alps, you can experience jaw-dropping Alpine beauty, culture, nature, ecology, history and cuisine in whatever region you like! Read More...

Hopscotch over lakes, skip the main trail, and discover the jewels of Peru. Read More...

Planning a 2-day, 20-mile trip with my 11-year-old brother meant going SUL, as he wasn't going to tolerate being babied with a lesser load. Read More...

Trip report and photo essay of a wildflower-filled circumnavigation of Oregon's famed peak. Read More...

Nearly 40 years after his first visit, Tom brought his son's Troop to experience the magic of Philmont - and the magic of lighter packs! Read More...

The Ozark Highlands Trail winds through the Boston Mountains of northern Arkansas for approximately 165 continuous miles. Planning to yo-yo it for my first thru-hike, I had to come to terms with adjusted expectations. Read More...

In 1993, Save Mount Diablo, a charity that works to acquire and preserve land on and around the San Francisco Bay Area’s Mount Diablo, proposed a multi-use recreation trail to showcase the region’s cooperation efforts to preserve area land. In 2007, they produced the first map highlighting the thirty-mile trail. Read More...

Tackling big mountains with lightweight gear is becoming our trademark, and it never gets dull! Read More...

To test his latest creation, a sub-5-ounce pack, Jamie filled it with the rest of his MYOG kit and took to the Great Smoky Mountains. Read More...

With amazingly light loads that included skis, packrafts, dry suits, winter camping gear, and a week’s worth of food, we set out to visit the Frank Church Wilderness in winter to prove a point. Read More...

When the snow resembles cement and you're making one mile per hour or less at times, what would YOU do? Read More...

A high school class laughs their way through five days in the Escalante National Recreation Area. Read More...

After a knee injury put me on the ropes, I got back into the ring with a long, slow hike over many miles, hoping that the Himalayan trail would not be an impossible opponent. Read More...

Join some of the Backpacking Light crew for their three-day circumnavigation of Crater Lake. In January. On snowshoes! Read More...

In 2008 and 2009, I got better acquainted with the lovely ladies that make up the Three Sisters in the Cascade Range. Read More...

The greatest rewards come when you choose to get off the beaten path and build a personalized hike that mixes challenge and fun at whatever level works for you. Read More...

I went looking for a long-distance hike in the midwest and found the 225-mile Katy Trail. No time like the present to try out my first thru-hike! Read More...

600 miles of trail and it's not the Long Trail or the AT! Sure, it's got some rough spots, but it's a nice taste of something different when you want to cover some mileage in the northeastern U.S. Read More...

Lightening up on Alaska’s classic mountaineering route. Read More...

A light and kind-of fast expedition on one of the world’s great mountains. Read More...

We are pleased to announce the winners of our 2009 Reader Photo Contest! Read More...

We entered at Benchmark (on the South Fork Sun), exited at Silvertip (on the Spotted Bear), and had the time of our lives over a few relaxing days while making long miles in a packraft on the South Fork. Read More...

There were 37,000 new wilderness acres in my home state... how could I not go walking? Read More...

Father and son float trip in the lowlands. Experience Ryan Jordan's wild ride through skeeters and heat exhaustion, including running low on key supplies. Or... not. Read More...

The summer of 2008 got Backpacking Light's Wilderness Trekking School off to a great start. We ran three trips in three wildly different locations: Northern Rockies, Pacific Northwest, and Desert Southwest. Each allowed for a unique experience and permitted us to focus on the core curriculum of the Wilderness Trekking format. Read More...

On the Haute Route, a 21-pound pack is over-inflated. At sixty-two well-used years, I submitted myself to random weight checks to remain sub-twenty pounds and passed most of them. Making the formula feasible are the huts and hotels which always appear just when you've had enough. Read More...

With dozens of peaks above 6,000 meters (nearly 20,000 feet), Peru’s Cordillera Blanca range is one of the highest, most rugged sections of the Andes, and the most heavily glaciated of any mountains in the planet’s equatorial zone. It is a well-known mountain climbing destination, and hundreds of kilometers of hikeable trails have made the range increasingly popular among trekkers. Read More...