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The UK isn't a very wild place, at least compared with New Zealand, so there isn't a lot of call for 'public huts', by which I'm assuming you mean shelters which are free for anyone to use in remote areas.
The only such things I know of are 'bothies' for hikers. You can find out more at the Mountain Bothies Association. They are basic shelters, almost all ...
33
To add to the other answers, some paths my be susceptible to soil erosion - from foot traffic and rainfall. This eventually makes some sections almost impassable for some people, as well as damaging the terrain and surrounding vegetation. I have seen this first hand in Hong Kong. For example:
So in many places, steps are built. In HK these were originally ...
33
What's called a refuge in French is a Hütte in German. In both cases, it can be staffed (gardé, bewirtschaftet) and possibly offer some basic catering or be unstaffed (refuge non gardé, Selbstversorgerhütte) or a mere shelter (cabane or abri de secours, Notlager or Biwakschachtel).
The German and Austrian alpine clubs run many of them and also maintain ...
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These are known as bothies. A bothy is a basic shelter, usually in a remote location. They are unlocked, and available for anyone to use, free of charge.
There are many different styles and sizes of bothies. A lot of them are old cottages, others are purpose-built wooden huts.
Guirdil bothy, on the Isle of Rùm. Photo from Geograph, by Calum McRoberts, CC-...
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Now that you've clarified in the comments, yes, it's entirely 'possible', but not easy, by any means. As mentioned by @Relaxed, only 37 people have been recorded successfully completing this challenge.
As an American, you'd be the 5th American citizen to complete it, if you did it now.
Some (crazy) people have even run across Australia.
One of the ...
27
Longyearbyen is a very small town with a population of not much more than 2,000. Within the town centre, you can reach everything easily by foot and even the outskirts of the town are only 2-3km from the centre. The area is quite steep though. The Nybyen district in the souther part of the town is about 300m higher than the city centre.
The only public ...
26
I was surprised to discover that a long sleeved "technical" shirt with a high Sun Protection Factor (SPF) kept me much cooler (and reduced the amount of water I needed to drink while cycling) than a cotton T shirt. It's 100% recycled polyester, so there is more to this than just what it's made of. I tested this out cycling a specific route near my home. In ...
23
A few things to understand about trekking in the Himalayas, especially in re: everest base camp trekking:
While it is true that if you trek from Lukla to Base Camp, you will have ascended and descended more than the 8848 meters that Everest is, this is not cumulative. You will be hiking between mountains, not over them, for the most part. (Where you draw ...
22
Japan does not have a general "right to access" like Scandinavian countries, wild camping on public land is theoretically illegal and wild camping on private property requires the landowner's permission.
That said, both rules are only loosely enforced and there's a bit of a tradition of "urban camping" (野宿 nojuku) in Japan: simply put, if you pitch up a ...
21
As others have said, a car is not needed and not that useful. But there are in fact a few roads and a taxi service beside the airport shuttle. Nybyen, where the only hostel is located, is a bit outside the rest of Longyearbyen, maybe a couple of kilometres up Longyear Valley. That's perfectly doable by foot (that's what I did most of the time last winter and ...
20
In many regions of Spain and depending on the circumstances, the costs associated with search and rescue are passed on to those who need it. It has been the subject of intense media coverage in recent years.
Tenerife News: Reckless behaviour will cost you dear.
The new rule which allows the Canary government to charge for rescues caused by “reckless ...
19
The company that owns the crater notes that there are guided rim walks and a few separate lookout points from which you can see the crater. However, it doesn't appear to be possible to walk around on your own. Access to the floor of the crater is not allowed, according to a representative of the company on TripAdvisor:
Thank you very much for your ...
18
This will most depend on your own pace, so this is hard to predict.
However, on Wikipedia we can find that the PCT association recommends 6 to 8 months for the entire trail. Starting near San Francisco (at Lake Tahoe, still hundreds of kilometres from San Francisco?), you seem to be able to start near the California Section K, which starts at mile 1092, out ...
16
I would not only recommend sunglasses, but also suncream and clothes that protect you from the sunlight. UV radiation is generally lower during the winter months, but snow reflection can double your overall exposure, especially at high altitude.
15
Assuming you're also exluding mountains only accessible by via ferrata, the highest one I've heard of is Mont Taou Blanc (3438 m) in Italy near the border to France.
Here's a video of the ascent. The most difficult/dangerous part can be seen at 1:40 - and you can see that it's a very popular tour.
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When many people climb the same path every day, natural rocks become smooth, slippery and dangerous. An example in Europe is the path to Château de Montségur in the french Pyrenees.
Stairs are less prone to such wear over time.
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It really depends on where you hire the porter, your bargain skills and what kind of porter you want. A price between $10-20 is probably ok, but remember that if you do this using an agency the porter will get very little himself (maybe $4-8 a day) because all the profit goes to the middlemen.
Therefore, please bargain hard with the agency and rather give ...
14
It comes down to the definition you want to adopt but apart from the Northern and Eastern periphery (especially Russia), I think there is no real wilderness in Europe.
You can have some feeling of remoteness in parts of the Alps but the region has been inhabited for centuries and shaped by humans in many subtle ways. You are also never really far from ...
14
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/offices-bureaux/658-eng.html
This is the customs and immigration office, if you cross inside the park. (There is a highway border crossing along the east margin of the park, at Chief Mountain, that would be a perfectly suitable place to cross for certain.)
If you are going to be hiking when you cross into Canada, it looks ...
14
It's not public in the sense that you can just walk there wherever you want. The crater is owned by a private company, which operates a visitor center and guided tours for a fee. It looks on Google Maps as if the crater itself is also fenced.
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I've been researching routes for my trip to the Camino in June/July. It appears that the most popular routes are the Northern way and the French way. Here are the differences between the two.
The French Way
More popular and crowded.
Traditionally starts in Saint Jean Pied de Port, France and crosses the Pyrenees into Roncesvalles, Spain. A lot of French ...
13
For anyone stumbling upon this question, or for your future hikes in Tatra Mountains.
I recommend this website: mapa-turystyczna.pl
It is in Polish only, but it uses interactive Google maps, which is self explanatory and great for planning routes. All you need to know is that:
"z" means "from",
"do" means "to",
(and after clicking on a point) "ustaw jako ...
13
The Galilee region of Israel is considered quite safe, and is not near any of the hot spots you are concerned about. You're more likely to be bitten by a scorpion.
The Jesus Trail FAQ goes into some more detail, and says in part:
The Galilee region is quite stable. There is always some risk associated with hiking and camping alone in any part of the ...
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Probably not
This is a rather vague half-answer, but it's more than a comment.
Through the commercial tourism association http://www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info/ I found the different organisations that take care of the national parks/reserves there. They are all listed in the footer of that page.
I called the one for the north and asked. They said their ...
13
After a rescue operation, there will be an enquiry to determine the circumstances that led to it.
They will check everything you did, what kind of equipment you had with you, clothing, shoes... If they are not happy with what they see you may be accused of "conducta imprudente" (reckless behaviour) and will have to pay for the rescue.
So yes, you may have ...
12
I did some research and it seems that Inneres and Üsseres Barrhorn in Switzerland are the highest mountains in Europe that can be reached by hikers. This is also mentioned on the English Wikipedia page. The German Wikipedia page has more information about that. On hikr.org, a very popular hiking platform in Switzerland, it is also mentioned that the Barrhorn ...
answered Dec 2 '11 at 12:20
RoflcoptrException
35.1k46 gold badges171 silver badges389 bronze badges
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my name is Brando Yelavich. I'm 19 and I'm simply walking around New Zealand without using roads, so on the beaches and coastlines living off the land. You can watch my progress here http://wildboy.co.nz (facebook page).
I'm 78 days in and just about at the bottom of the north island. It is going to take me about 1 1/2 years. I'm doing it solo, so no ...
12
There are numerous hiking trails in Iceland, ranging from easy half-days to strenuous multi-day affairs.
The website of the Icelandic Touring Association lists several options, but the list is nowhere near exhaustive. The most notable route is Laugarvegurinn.
I'd certainly recommend a proper nature hike over walking the ring road. It can't be much fun to ...
12
The short answer is that paths are rarely marked well, and it is generally necessary to have a map and to know how to read it.
Scotland has a long-established right to roam, meaning you can walk anywhere as long as you avoid cultivated land, gardens, and area immediately around buildings. That's great for hikers, but the flip side is that there are few ...
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