Category Archives: Trip reports

Hut-to-Hut in Mallorca, Spain: trip report

A MULTI-DAY TREK IN THE SERRA DE TRAMUNTANA

{Note: this trip report contains many beautiful photographs.  Keep on scrolling as you enjoy them and you’ll come to more
of the text of the article interspersed among them.–Sam}

Serra Traumuntana, Mallorca, Spain

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

I love the idea of long-range hiking routes. Typically arranged to support multi-day itineraries, these kinds of routes let you go out and lose yourself on the trail (Note: not the same as getting lost). My latest look into the world of long-range hiking routes had me checking out Spain’s “GR” or Gran Recorrido routes. There are 13 GR routes in Spain and two of them, GR221 and GR222 are located on the island of Mallorca.

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Five Long Distance Walks in UK: Trip Report

Preview of Long Distance Walks

By Brian Tyler, AFIChemE, Cheshire, England

{Editors note: This 47 page report of five walks is from a family memoir by Brian Tyler, father of my friend Simon Tyler.  Brian – a truly peripatetic professor and chemist – estimates he has walked some 75,000 miles over his more than 80 years on earth, cycled at least 50,000 miles, and run about 4,600 miles. This chatty and informative chapter from his memoir details five walks taken between 1975 and 1999.  It gives a feel for each walk, provides useful information (though some is doubtless out-of-date)  and reveals his sharp eye for historical detail.  His photographs have a family album feel and add greatly to the text.  When I read this report I was enchanted by how it compellingly tells the story of one man’s long walks over time.  Brian kindly agreed to my request to include it on hut2hut.info as a unique example of how walking fits into a life well lived. – Sam Demas, October 2016}

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Yosemite High Sierra Camps Trip Report

Yosemite Camp CabinsYOSEMITE HIGH SIERRA CAMPS — AUGUST 2016

By Rachael Swift

I recently completed a 6 day, 5 night ranger-guided group hut-to-hut hike to four of the Yosemite High Sierra Camps.  I was accompanied by my husband Bill and our 23 year old son Tom. We started at Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and from there hiked to Sunrise, Merced Lake, Vogelsang, and then back to Tuolumne Meadows Lodge. We did not go to the camps at May Lake or Glen Aulin which I am now really looking forward to seeing at some future time.

Reservations are by lottery through the National Parks Service concessionaire website.

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Trip Report: Pilgrimage to Iona

By Hut2Hut Pilgrimage Editor Amanda Wagstaff

Iona-Abbey-View

View of the abbey complex on Iona © Amanda Wagstaff 2016

I arrived in Glasgow and immediately realized that I was overdressed. It was only the first of June, but a spell of cloudless summer weather had overtaken the west of Scotland. As I walked across town with my backpack, I could feel sweat dripping down my face and the beginnings of sunburn on my neck. I was a mess by the time I reached Queen Street Station.

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Trip Report: Kerry Way, Ireland

Trip Report: Kerry Way

May 2016

Overview: The Kerry Way affords beautiful coastal views, passes through upland moors and bucolic agricultural areas, and passes under Ireland’s highest mountain and one if its most spectacular mountains ranges, the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks. The full Kerry Way is 130 miles long, beginning at Killarney and proceeding inland towards Glenbeigh, after which the trail generally follows at a distance the shoreline of the Inervagh Peninsula and circles back to Killarney.  Walkers usually allow 9 or more days for the full walk, though it can be done more quickly by very strong walkers.   Having only four days for this walk, I cut out certain sections and hitch-hiked ahead to get a sense of the range of terrains covered.  This was a research trip so I stopped fairly often to talk with people who work on the trail.  The trail passes many villages and accommodations are plentiful. 

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Burren Way Trip Report

Burren Way Trip Report

By Sam Demas

Overview:

As part of my research for a “Country Study” of long distance walking in Ireland, I walked much of this 132km classic Irish National Long Distance Waymarked Way through the sublime Burren landscape.  While this walk is 73% on little-used roads due to access rights limitations, it passes through a magical cultural and natural landscape abounding in historical, archaeological, botanical, geological, and habitat features.  The Burren is part of the UNESCO recognised Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark.  In addition to walking on the Way, its well worthwhile to depart from the Waymarked Way to take in some of the excellent National Looped Walks and nearby features. This is a brief sketch of the route I took and some wonders encountered.

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Trip Report West Highland Way, Scotland

Trip Report West Highland Way, June 5 – 13, 2016 

By Laurel Bradley and Sam Demas

Overview:

Opened in 1980, the West Highland Way (WHW) is the oldest long distance route in Scotland.

As described on interpretive signs: “The WHW links Milngavie to Fort William – from the outskirts of Scotland’s largest city to the foot of its highest mountain, following the shores of its largest freshwater loch.  It passes from the lowlands, across the Highland Boundary Fault, and on into the Scottish Highlands.  Much of the way follows ancient and historic routes of communication” (e.g. drove roads, military roads, and old coaching roads).

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Trip report South West Coast Path, England

TRIP REPORT: SOUTH WEST COAST PATH: St Ives to Falmouth, UK

By Laurel Bradley and Sam Demas

 Overview: We hiked a 100-mile section of the 630 mile South West Coast Path, from St. Ives to Helston Passage near Falmouth in 9 days (including one rest day). Our route started in the arts-rich village of St Ives, passed through wild headlands once dedicated to tin mining, and around the tip of Cornwall comprising UK’s most westerly and southerly points. Our walk was organized by a local company, which handled the booking of accommodations, luggage transfers and logistics seamlessly.

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Pilgrim Path to the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne

by Amanda Wagstaff, Hut2Hut Pilgrimage Editor

The Pilgrim's Path to Holy Isle © Amanda Wagstaff 2016

The Pilgrim’s Path to Holy Isle © Amanda Wagstaff 2016

My pilgrimage to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne began on a RyanAir flight from Dublin to Edinburgh. I was seated next to a woman and her toddler, Molly. Molly was a very active little girl – standing in mummy’s lap, singing, and doing choreographed dances… Mum was very patient and calm with her daughter’s antics and was prepared with lots of potential distractions to keep the little girl from getting restless. One of these was a bag of small plastic figurines. While I sat reading Robin Davidson’s “Tracks,” Molly pulled toys out to the bag one by one, and told her mum their names.

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