Do you NEED to hire a trekking guide in Nepal? No! It’s easy to get around on your own. But SHOULD you hire a trekking guide in Nepal? Yes, definitely! I’m an experienced backpacker and have planned dozens of wilderness trips in North America, so at first I was a bit resistant to hiring a …
Backpacking
In early September of 2016, I went to Nepal to go trekking to Annapurna Base Camp with my husband and two friends. Here’s the story (and tons of photos) from my ten-day trek. Our guide Chandra, of Pokhara-based Friendly Trekkers Adventures, put together an itinerary for us that had us heading to the viewpoint at …
Recently I wrote a post called “You Killed A Bear” that ended up getting way more online attention than I had anticipated. My message in that post was that less experienced hikers should read up about bear safety before they head out for a hike or go backcountry camping. Lots of people asked questions about …
A Quick Note: This article was originally published in August 2016. The aim of this post was to shock people in order to raise awareness. I know it’s an uncomfortable post to read and that many hikers and campers might feel a bit confronted since they don’t engage in the kind of behaviour discussed here. …
On multi-day hiking trips, having a comfortable backpack is pretty important. On my first ever backpacking trip (the West Coast Trail!) I used a borrowed backpack that was too big for me. The harness didn’t fit, I got bruises on my shoulders and hips and the sternum strap rubbed my collarbone raw. No good! After …
Over the Easter long weekend I spent three days backpacking a section of the Sunshine Coast Trail with a group of friends. We hiked from Manzanita Bluff to Rievely’s Pond, then finished near Powell River. Never heard of the Sunshine Coast Trail? The whole trail is 180 kilometers long and stretches the whole length of …
As part of my “Ask Taryn” series D. from the Rockies messaged me on my Facebook page to ask about backpacking hygiene. She writes: My partner and I are planning to do the full 180km Sunshine Coast Trail in September and were hoping you had some tips in regards to hygiene…How can we cleanse without …