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I've hiked a lot in Swedish Lapland, and I used to live there for nearly six years. The mosquitoes can indeed be very bad in summer, in particular in the forest.
Mosquitoes wake up between mid and late June and are worst at the beginning. For a very early season hike, you might have none at all if you go just before they wake up, or you might get ...
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 ...
25
I climbed Mount Fuji 5 years ago. I would say:
I don't think Earthquakes are a realistic danger on Mount Fuji (if there is one, probably better to be out in the open than under a roof that can collapse anyway).
As ohers have already mentioned, the climb is not too technical but quite tiring. The last hour is especially terrible, walking on volcanic sand and ...
24
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 ...
14
Wikivoyage will tell you all you need to know: Mount Fuji
The TL;DR version:
The mountain is officially open to climbers only from July to early September. Visiting outside the official season is legal but inadvisable unless you know what you're doing, since everything is closed and the weather can be extreme.
It's cold up there, temps at the summit can ...
13
You should go. I've never been to Montenegro, but I have been to various places in Dalmatia, and I have spent a good deal of time in and around Sarajevo, where my mother in law lives.
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "trekking" (and I have no idea what you mean by "integrist"). Land mines are a problem in Bosnia, but the problem is dwindling, thanks ...
13
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 ...
12
I'm not brilliantly positioned to answer this, but since nobody else has...
So I walked a small section of the route back in 2000 or so (Sounkyo Onsen to Kurodake and back) as a day trip, just enough to realize that it's a pretty "serious" national park and you'll want to be well prepared for a serious hike:
As you can see, the problem is not that it's 55 ...
11
I have not "trekked" through the Balkans but I have cycled unaccompanied with no support through Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia and found the people very friendly and helpful and the overall experience 'safe'. Although my description of safe may differ from yours.
I stayed in a hostel/b&b for one night in Podgorica but the rest of ...
10
I'll answer my own question after staying in Rio and doing the trekking.
This trail is completly safe in all sense. There are police controls in the first part of the trail (the Pista Cláudio Coutinho) and in the upper part (the cable-car station). In reality, all the area is a militar settlement, so I doubt that anybody try to attack you there.
In the ...
9
You expressed your will to camp in Daizetsusan, so my answer will focus on Daizetsusan, see jpatokal's answer for more general information.
I have hiked across Daisetsuzan for several days, and camped various different kinds of places:
Spots of ground and poles, nobody except other campers. Just put your tent on a spot big enough, and put your bags of food ...
9
You can have warm days and hiking is definitely possible. But the first week of September is very different from the end of October and anything can happen, even snow. There is certainly a decent chance of wet and relatively cold weather but that's not the end of the world, on a multi-day mountain trek, you have to be prepared for that anyway.
The main ...
9
For established long distance routes, you can find them on Scotland's Great Trails. These are waymarked long-distance routes, that you may be able to get special maps covering the route. There's also a slightly better overview map at WalkHighlands. Most of these long-distance routes however delibeatley avoid unnecissarily summiting however, which conflicts ...
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You are quite safe if you have no European good-looking girls in your company. If you have such girls you might be in big trouble, because Bride kidnapping is still a popular ritual in Georgia and Chechnya.
Pass the border between Georgia and Russia is better in Kazbegi (Other roads go through Abkhazia and North Ossetia - if you want to visit those countries,...
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Short answer: Not really, as long as your venture falls into a hike.
Although you are technically experienced, the advance first-aid certification does not make one technically capable of leading a expedition in Himalayas.
For any of the mountaineering adventures above 6000 m, IMF mandates that a expedition leader should have a Advance Mountaineering Course ...
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It is sad that most companies claim 98%, because there is really no truth behind those fact. If you ask them for the actual numbers most will not release them. We decided to climb with E-Trip Africa as they do put up statistics that seem a little more realistic. They claim 88-89% overall, and when I asked for actual numbers of people it calculated ...
7
Trekking around the general area is possible around the year, but the weather is of course something to be worried about.
Here is a monthly temperature chart of the base camp. This should give you an idea, minus 36 degrees celsius is surely something to write home about. The issue however will be the snow rather than the temperature. According to ...
7
Duration
Is it feasible in six days? Certainly. Is if feasible for you in six days? That depends on you.
In general the organised treks will take a few days longer than what you propose. But those are meant to be accessible for overweight, middle aged, European coach potatoes. If you are in reasonable physical shape, six days is fine. If you are really fit ...
6
It sounds to me like your Quecha jacket should do the job - the main advantage of more expensive fabrics is improved breathability etc - it's ppossible for quite cheap materials to be very waterproof. Although investigate the zips - if they're not sealed/taped then water will ingress through them in sustained rain.
Be aware that in the hills of the UK, the ...
6
There is not a lot to find about permits, but you can find where you need to pay for entrance, and photo and video cameras.
In the extended text you can find the text:
Govind Wildlife Sanctuary Information Center
Wildlife Warden
Govind Pashu Vihar Sanctuary,
Purola, Uttarkashi.
and
Divisional Forest Officer,
Tons Forest Division.
...
6
In popular hiking regions such as Karakol, hostels / guesthouses and outdoor equipment rentals can often provide you with suitable maps.
If there's a CBT nearby, you might be able to buy maps there - although sometimes they don't in order to promote their local hiking guides.
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Common sense suggests that if the law says it's illegal to wear it as a civilian then "but they're available for sale on Amazon!" probably would not be an effective defence in court.
is it really going to get a civilian in trouble if he wears any kind of Army camouflage for a trip?
Hard to know for sure.
It is only the beret and badges that ...
6
felias-fogg.de provides a list of Schutzhütten, which is just about any structure where a hiker might find shelter in case of rain storms.
They provide a map of shelters (grey) and inns (yellow), in addition to GPX and POI files. Coordinates might deviate by 100-200m. Shelters marked "UNSICHER" might no longer exist. Last updated in 2010.
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I am afraid that you won't find a similar infrastructure (well-tended cabins spaced out along the well-marked trek, or at least a well-marked path long enough for multi-day hike) anywhere in Russia. Anywhere that is reasonably picturesque, at least. Casual multi-day hiking is simply not popular enough here; it's generally assumed that people going on long ...
5
From Wikitravel:
While trekking is possible in this area the whole year round, the best
times to visit are from the beginning of March to mid May and from the
beginning of September to mid November.
So I guarantee that those are going to be the busiest times, as people go for the best weather, conditions and not-too-freezing temperatures.
So if you'...
5
If you're willing to look a bit further afield, Chiang Dao Nest, a little over an hour north of Chiang Mai, does rather good elephant-free treks. Their site also mentions some treks with elephant rides, but they have plenty of other options as well.
Their guides are all local hill tribe people and all in all their setup is pretty good, they'll pick you up ...
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You do not need a permit for Har Ki Dun trek. There is only an entry fee for Govind Pashu national park (that is where Har ki dun trek is). You would need to pay a little extra if you are carrying a still camera or a video camera.
It is not mandatory to hire a guide, these travel companies make it look like it is mandatory but it is not. These companies ...
5
On foot, an alternative to the Inca Trail is to walk from Aguas Calientes, along the bus route. There is a checkpoint at the bridge where you have to present an entrance ticket before continuing. Walkers take the stairs that connect the switchbacks used by the buses (beware of the vehicles).
Machu Picchu Trek gives an overview of options:
The most ...
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In the end, I took Ergo Direkt (going by averells answer). And I needed a helicopter rescue, although having had several acclimatization days and a guide. Insurance-wise, everything worked fine.
How it worked
I signed the contract (online, no real "signature")
They send me lots of paperwork, including my insurance number.
I wrote down the insurance number ...
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