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NWtrax
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NWtrax
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PostThu Sep 26, 2019 8:55 am 
Congrats on completing the pilgrimage!

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walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World



Joined: 12 Aug 2018
Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics
Location: Spain
walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World
PostThu Sep 26, 2019 10:45 pm 
Thank you so much! smile.gif

We are a young couple who loves hiking, nature walking and camping. We choose walking over driving and other types of transportation whenever we can. Also we have a Youtube channel where we're showcasing all our hikes.
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walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World



Joined: 12 Aug 2018
Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics
Location: Spain
walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World
PostSun Sep 29, 2019 12:58 am 
Why the Camino is not for us? Is Camino de Santiago worth it? | Our final thoughts, tips and advice Watch the full video here:
In this video we want to share with you our final thoughts, tips and advice on Camino de Santiago del Norte that we started in Biarritz and finished in Ribadeo. What was your experience with the Camino? Was it somehow similar? Let us know in the comments.

We are a young couple who loves hiking, nature walking and camping. We choose walking over driving and other types of transportation whenever we can. Also we have a Youtube channel where we're showcasing all our hikes.
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walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World



Joined: 12 Aug 2018
Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics
Location: Spain
walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World
PostSun Oct 06, 2019 5:14 am 
Introduction to the Tour de Mont Blanc and how we got to Chamonix Join us on one of the most beautiful high elevation trails of the world - Tour de Mont Blanc!This trail is around 150kms in total and it goes around the summit of Mont Blanc. It crosses France, Italy and Switzerland. It's one of the most challenging and highest trails we've done. In this video we are sharing our thoughts before we start the Tour de Mont Blanc hike and also our long trip getting to Chamonix. We started our journey at the Costa Brava coast in Colera, Spain where we spent several days at the campsite. We decided to try for the first time the Bla bla car service where you can find the fellow travellers all around the world. It is not free but very convenient if you travel to a specific location where there is no public transport or you don't want to do the change. And the prices are in the same range as the public transport sometimes even cheaper. So first Bla bla car we took from Colera to Perpignan in France that was around 70 kms. It was fast and punctual. The second car we took from Perpignan to Annecy and it was quite a challenge to find a car because we didn't arrange the exact meeting point and we already didn't have any mobile connection as we had the Spanish Sim card. But in the end we asked a stranger elder man on the street to call the driver and then we were able to find it. It turned out to be a big car and we had several other guys travelling with us. The driver Bernard was quite an interesting guy - a mountain guide who does a lot of outdoor activities like rock and ice climbing, hiking, canyoning etc. We even think to join him on one of his tours. So it was quite a tiring 6 hour trip and 600 kms of the road. We were absolutely exhausted at the end of the day and Bernard could leave us only at Annecy that day and on the next one he promised to take us to Chamonix. So we had an option to stay in the campsite but calling them it turned out to be full and hadn't any space even for a little tent. Later we learnt from Bernard that in Annecy there was a film festival at that time and all the campsites and hostels were full and booked in advance. So he kindly offered us to stay at his friend's garden where he was about to stay also. And we agreed to his offer because we had no other option to take. The owners of this house were the elder couple - very kind and sweet couple who welcomed us very warmly and even treated us with some food in the morning. We had some time in the morning to walk in the town of Annecy and along its beautiful lake. We were in search for the French Sim Card and found it very difficult to find. All were very expensive costing 30 or 40 euros for two weeks and it wasn't a good deal at all. So we decided that we'll maybe find some wifi connection along the way. In general we find it a big problem to find an international European Sim card because in that case we won't have any problems crossing the borders and having mobile and Internet connection all the time. After our little 2 hour walk around the town we were back at the house and were off to Chamonix. We had to visit Decathlon -the biggest sports goods store in Europe- to buy the camping gas, water container, exchange the T-shirt and after spending one night here in the mountains we realized that we need the warm pants, especially Dima who had to sleep just in his underwear. So we did that and headed to Chamonix. We said goodbye to Bernard and were out to explore the village of Chamonix. We walked a bit in the center, visited the mountain office that was unfortunately closed at 18 pm. Already from the road we were amazed by the views of the abrupt mountain cliffs and Peak of Mont Blanc with the clear sky and we even saw the glacier! That was the first glacier in our lives and it was fascinating. The people say that it used to be bigger and now with the climate change apparently it gets smaller in size. We checked out two campsites in the village and one of them didn't exist anymore and the other was too expensive for a tent. But we knew that the prices would be quite expensive so we were prepared to be mostly wild camping. So we did, we got out on the mountain path, found the dirt road that wasn't in use and set up a tent there. The place turned out to be quite flat and great. And only the wind was disturbing us a bit at night with the sound of the trees. Watch the full video here:
What were your impressions when you first came to Chamonix?

We are a young couple who loves hiking, nature walking and camping. We choose walking over driving and other types of transportation whenever we can. Also we have a Youtube channel where we're showcasing all our hikes.
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walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World



Joined: 12 Aug 2018
Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics
Location: Spain
walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World
PostSat Oct 12, 2019 3:05 am 
Tour de Mont Blanc Detailed Packing List | Wilderness Backpack for maximum self-sufficiency In this video we are going to show what's inside our backpacks for Tour de Mont Blanc and Dolomites Hike. As we'll be wild camping most of the time and we'll be out in the wilderness we tried to be as autonomous as possible and as independent as possible. So we brought lots of interesting stuff this time and lots of new one so we are very excited to share this with you. Watch the full video here:
We are interested to know what things do you take with you for any longer hikes that you do and also we'll appreciate any tips that you'll have for us to lighten our backpack.

We are a young couple who loves hiking, nature walking and camping. We choose walking over driving and other types of transportation whenever we can. Also we have a Youtube channel where we're showcasing all our hikes.
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walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World



Joined: 12 Aug 2018
Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics
Location: Spain
walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World
PostSat Oct 19, 2019 6:39 am 
Can't believe how majestic are the glaciers! | Day 1 of TMB from Chamonix-Mont-Blanc to Houches Watch the full video here:
On the first day of our Tour de Mont Blanc we hiked from Chamonix-Mont-Blanc to the village of Houches. We waked up quite early and didn't sleep very well. The sound of the wind in the fir trees was quite intense and we weren't feeling well enough still after the long 2 day trip. We found that the car trips are more exhaustive than anything to us. But the place was nice, very flat and calm even though very close to the village. On the first day of our Tour de Mont Blanc we waked up quite early and didn't sleep very well. The sound of the wind in the fir trees was quite intense and we weren't feeling well enough still after the long 2 day trip. We found that the car trips are more exhaustive than anything to us. But the place was nice, very flat and calm even though very close to the village. So we had our breakfast and started to shoot the what's in our backpack video and an introduction video for our Tour de Mont Blanc. It took us good couple of hours, especially because we had so much food with us and had to put in into order. Our backpacks were more than full but we knew that we are going to eat it all with time. Also we brought a lot of new stuff like solar panels, power bank, water filter to be more independent and be able to pitch a tent everywhere without worring about not having electricity or anything alike. And because we were going to hike for at least a month and a half or two we brought more full size stuff as well like shampoo, creams etc. Because we find it quite challenging to find a travel size things on the way and didn't want to worry about it every time. So we started the hike only at 12am and didn't have big plans for the day. We knew that we need to take our time for the body to adjust to the weight of the backpacks and hiking routine. It always takes at least couple of days. So we were happy to know that there is a trail going alongside the river right to the next village Houches where the official TMB trail starts. It was around 11 kms in total for the day and we thought it was more than enough for the start. We started by walking through the Chamonix village, the center and its outskirts. We noticed that there was quite a lot of construction going on in the village maybe it was the seasonal thing in preparation for the ski season in winter. The trail we took turned out to be the local walk from the village to village with lots of shadow, going through the forest all the time. The path was going flat most of the time and not difficult at all. It was well marked all the way through. The views were amazing. We noticed that we were even more fascinated by the neighbour rocks to Mont Blanc because they looked so incredible spiky. But the body was still feeling a bit sore from carrying the backpack. We even found the bar to do some stretching for the back and pull ups. It is a recent discovery of ours and we truly think that everybody should do it. Especially it is good for the hikers who are using the lower body more that the upper body. It develops strength and endurance in the muscles and keeps your back, shoulders, arms and abs well toned. This is better than the gym if you don't want the big muscles. And you don't have to exhaust yourself doing lots of repetitions, 3 to 5 times are enough for the start and your muscles won't feel achy or sore whatsoever. Even women can do at least hanging out from a bar stretching the back but me (Angelina) have a goal to learn how to do pull ups as well. So we got to the village Houches till 16pm, filled the water container with drinking water from the source and were out to find the place to camp. The campsite marked on the map didn't exist anymore and instead we saw a big construction going on of some building which could be potentially a shopping center. That was quite dissapointing to know. So we had to find the stealth camping spot for that night. We explored a bit the village and were out to the ski trails where the ground is at least more flattened up. And we found one at the side of a ski trail with a more or less flat ground and were able to pitch up a tent at daylight. We even took a shower from our very convenient water container and we fell in love with it. It feels like we have a water tap everywhere we go. It felt so refreshing and nice to rinse the skin with water and at least water off the surface sweat. Then we cooked our dinner - rice with a buckwheat mix and tried the dried tomatoes for the first time. And it tasted well, a bit unusual but when you have no access to fresh veggies it is simply great. Also we started to implement the technique of cooking more meal at night and leaving some for the morning. This way we can save up a lot of time and get on the trail much faster the next day just heating it up a bit, not mentioning the gas economy. So we ate the food, chat for some time and when the darkness came went to sleep to wake up early the next day. What was your first day like on TMB and where did you start?

We are a young couple who loves hiking, nature walking and camping. We choose walking over driving and other types of transportation whenever we can. Also we have a Youtube channel where we're showcasing all our hikes.
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walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World



Joined: 12 Aug 2018
Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics
Location: Spain
walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World
PostSat Oct 26, 2019 12:29 pm 
Hanging bridges are scary! - Day 2.1 of TMB from Houches to Col de Tricot Watch the full video here:
On the second day of our Tour de Mont Blanc we hiked from the village of Houches to Col de Tricot. We started the day at 6.30 am in the wild camping spot that we found yesterday at the ski trail. The surroundings were quiet and river sounds were very lullabying. We ate the food left from yesterday's night just heating it up, wrapped everything up and were good to go. We had to descend down to the village to collect some drinking water from the source because we knew that the uphill awaits us right from the start. We saw that there was a cable car taking the people around half of the way up but we obviously didn't need to take and skip any scenic parts. The plan for the day was to do around 15 kms and get to the next village Contaminas Montjoie. In order to do so we had to go over the big mountain and ascend to 2100 m from initial elevation of 1000m. The start of the day was cloudy and the mountains were completely covered up.We started to go uphill and went through several small house holdings and sheep pastures and then went out to the ski resorts. There are several of them and we had to go through all of them. The trail was quite steep al the way through. Not too extreme but steep. The views of the Mont Blanc were absolutely breathtaking. Especially when the sky was clearing up it was very magical. Every time we turned back we saw incredibly high and beautiful mountains. It was hard to believe our eyes. Then we met the tramway of Mont Blanc that turned out to be an old rack and pinion train that goes through the scenic trail with the great views of Mont Blanc and has an elevation profile from 500 to 2300m which is incredibly high for this type of train in our opinion. We continued to go uphill and we met a lot of other hikers on the way as well. It was just hard to tell if they were hiking the Tour de Mont Blanc or just doing a day hike. Then we reached one of the first highest points Hotel de Bellevue and then the trail started to go downhill. And we saw on the map that there was a waterfall going from a glacier and probably a hanging bridge going over it. Angelina is scared to hell of the hanging bridges for whatever reason, she's not afraid of the height but these bridges are one of the biggest fears for her. Because she doesn't feel the stable ground under the feet and it is very scary. This particular bridge turned out to be quite a solid one, not very long and it wasnt bouncing too much, so we went through it quite easily. And we even managed to do some photo shots from it. Then we saw that there is one last uphill of the day of 2 kms to the Col de Tricot of 2100m. We were in quite a good mood of doing it fast but we underestimated the uphill as we had to do around 400m up and it was quite steep. Already a bit tired and hungry we started the ascension to the mountain. The backpacks felt extremely heavy now and anchoring us down. We remembered now that 2 kms can be a lot in such coditions and mountainous relief. There was quite a bit of snow left and we were deepening down quite a lot. We were almost at the peak when the dark low clouds started to come down at us and we heard the thunder. It was very scary as it was very close to us. So we tried to go faster. But it was hard with the tireness that we had already. We hoped that it will go away soon and it wont rain heavily. So we got over the mountain quickly but soon realized that the clouds are staying abd it getting worse with the fierce wind and rain with thunder. We started coming down hoping that we manage to come down in time but it was too late... Have you ever passed through the hanging bridge? Are you afraid of them?

We are a young couple who loves hiking, nature walking and camping. We choose walking over driving and other types of transportation whenever we can. Also we have a Youtube channel where we're showcasing all our hikes.
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Michael Lewis
Taking a nap



Joined: 27 Apr 2009
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Location: Lynnwood, WA (for now)
Michael Lewis
Taking a nap
PostSat Oct 26, 2019 5:00 pm 
I think I crossed this one when I did the JMT on the Pacific Crest Trail 9 years ago. I don't remember being afraid. There's probably a lot of year round work on this trail so maybe more trustworthy here?

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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



Joined: 13 Feb 2007
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostSat Oct 26, 2019 5:48 pm 
I'm enjoying your posts, and taking notes for future trips in Europe. But if you want scary bridges, go to Nepal ...
1986 Dhudh Kosi river bridge
1986 Dhudh Kosi river bridge

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Pyrites
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PostSat Oct 26, 2019 10:03 pm 
I liked the old trolley just W of the Enchanted Valley Chalet. Best.

Keep Calm and Carry On? Heck No. Stay Excited and Get Outside!
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walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World



Joined: 12 Aug 2018
Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics
Location: Spain
walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World
PostSun Oct 27, 2019 1:00 pm 
Oh wow, this place looks incredible! Thanks for sharing!

We are a young couple who loves hiking, nature walking and camping. We choose walking over driving and other types of transportation whenever we can. Also we have a Youtube channel where we're showcasing all our hikes.
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walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World



Joined: 12 Aug 2018
Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics
Location: Spain
walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World
PostSun Oct 27, 2019 1:01 pm 
Thank you, great to know that it's useful to you. Yes, every serious hiker should visit Nepal and we will do it at some point. But this bridge is absolutely insane

We are a young couple who loves hiking, nature walking and camping. We choose walking over driving and other types of transportation whenever we can. Also we have a Youtube channel where we're showcasing all our hikes.
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walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World



Joined: 12 Aug 2018
Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics
Location: Spain
walkingnatureworld
Walking Nature World
PostSat Nov 02, 2019 5:30 am 
We got into the worst thunderstorm of our lives! | Day 2.2 of TMB from Col de Tricot to Chalets de Miages Watch the full video here:
We were almost at the peak when the dark low clouds started to come down at us and we heard the thunder. It was very scary as it was very close to us. So we tried to go faster. But it was hard with the tireness that we had already. We hoped that it will go away soon and it wont rain heavily. So we got over the mountain quickly but soon realized that the clouds are staying abd it getting worse with the fierce wind and rain with thunder. We started coming down hoping that we manage to come down in time but it was too late. The wind started to blow extremely strong and it was not only pouring rain but ice coming down at us. We got all wet in seconds. So we just had to stop at the side of the rocky steep trail right in the wet grass and wait for it to calm. We took out our raincoats, covered our heads and backpacks and got almost in panic praying for it to stop or at least to calm down. We haven't been in such harsh conditions before and so didn't know how to behave. The thunder and lightning were just right over our heads and the wind was trying to blow us away with the ice that was crushing onto our heads. That was the scariest weather conditions we've been to in our lives. Later we realized that if we pitched up a tent up on the mountain it would have been better to wait for the storm to go away. But we just didn't have a good reaction in the moment. Also some piece of waterproof sheet would be helpful to have to be able to set it up quickly over our heads everywhere. This way we would feel less stressful about bad weather conditions. But that's something to consider for the future. When the wind calmed down a bit and it wasn't ice raining we started to descend down. The ground was extremely slippery and our legs were very sore already from the long uphill, they were shivering so we really tried hard not to lose the balance. We did the downhill in around 30 min and headed straight to the refuge house as we were very cold and wet and at least needed to dry up our clothes. When we saw the prices 25 euros a person for the night we were s bit shocked as we expected that the name refugee means for everybody and it should be cheap or even donative. Because everybody has the right to have a shelter from the storm. So we already knew that we are not going to stay there. But we asked for some tea and place to dry our clothes and fortunately they had a roofed glass terrace with a fireplace. So we spent there a good couple of hours and the rain was persistently staying all that time. We could dry our pants and most of the clothes but not the shoes unfortunately, they were still completely wet. And we were so hungry at that time that our heads were spinning. At one moment the rain almost stopped and we had to get out of this warm place. We knew that we are not gonna be doing it till the planned village so we had to search for the place to camp here in the outskirts. So we collected some water from the source and found our place at the river bank as it seemed quite flat and the trees were protecting us from others sight. Luckily we still had some daylight left to properly pitch up a tent and set up everything for the night. So we cooked our delicious cereals with mushrooms and tomatoes, ate as much as we could and went to sleep. Have you ever been in such extreme weather conditions? How did you behave?

We are a young couple who loves hiking, nature walking and camping. We choose walking over driving and other types of transportation whenever we can. Also we have a Youtube channel where we're showcasing all our hikes.
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Roly Poly
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Roly Poly
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PostSat Nov 02, 2019 8:45 pm 
I’ve hiked the TMB twice a recognize your location. Yes, the high Sierras can produce some intense lightening storms and I’ve been caught in those a few times. I am sure people on this forum have shared the same experience as you. It’s not fun.

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BigBrunyon
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Location: the fitness gyms!!
BigBrunyon
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PostSat Nov 02, 2019 11:52 pm 
Had a big one come up in me real quick while competin' at 13k one time and basically you're just gunnin' for the line. The tree line that is. Guys start cuttin' switchbacks when the big bolts begin to occur in the vicinity. You better know you're own way back to camp at that point cause no one is watching out for anyone but themselves when the bolts get to be an immediate threat! Panic ensues at that point and all bets are off

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