Do you love the wilderness?
I LOVE doing a distance trip from point A to point B. Whether it is on horseback or plane or walking, the movement and remoteness call to me.
My husband Nik (aka @paleotreats) and I did a 90 mile trek in Patagonia a few years back that I'll never forget. The "roaring 40" winds of Patagonia (named because they circle the globe without interruption at 40 degrees south latitude) coming through like a freight train, the glaciers looking like the face of God, randomly crackling and splintering off, and the soundlessness of being remote.
The latin root of the word remote is to back away from. For me, that backing away becomes an opening up.
Going remote is your body unraveling, it's like your fist unclenching and finally spreading out, a loosening of the joints, tension melting like jelly. Until you take off your day suit, and step into one of the many natural cathedrals in this world you can't relate.
Where critters skittle and live and breed and die never seeing a human eye, where nature takes its course, like the slow push of a river, and a place where lighting and storms rage and no one sees.
Until you go there, you won't understand me. It's the places where the armor is off that allows the light in and makes our spirit larger than our shell.
Need Inspiration?
Here is my favorite list of the Top 10 Hiking Trails
If you haven't read Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey and you love the wild, it's a must read.
Here is also a bad*ss Alaskan bush pilot woman.
Very cool! 90 mile hike ain't that bad ;) How long did you go?
It's truly great to just get out of the city and just relax in the middle of nowhere. I love it!
I have some nice posts about hiking trips in Switzerland, so feel free to check em out if you are interested!
Thanks @saper, will check them out. It was an AMAZING trip! We went for about 3 weeks total if I remember correctly. The trek was 9 days, with 1 day of rest. Here is the same trek we did:
https://www.back-packer.org/trekking-guide-how-to-hike-the-circuit-in-torres-del-paine-patagonia-chile/
I am going to head on over and check out your Switzerland hikes! Thanks!
Sweet! Thanks for sharing the link. A trip to South America isn't planned yet, but hey - who knows what's to come!
Very interesting to ready @bunnylove :) You are spot on about the importance of "going remote". How long did it take you to complete that 90 mile trek?
Thanks @irreverent-dan !! It ended up being 9 days, with one of those days being a rest day after crossing the Pass. The Pass took us 18 hours and was raining, we were soaked. I was so looking forward to that fire and drink at the bar on the other side! It was AMAZING and I highly recommend it. We did this trek: https://www.back-packer.org/trekking-guide-how-to-hike-the-circuit-in-torres-del-paine-patagonia-chile/
Wow, this is hardcore! The most difficult hike I've ever done was 11 hours or so :) Thanks for the link, I will read it before going to bed :)
Thanks Dan! I was crying on the second day, I gotta be honest here.
Haha, thanks for being honest 😂
That was a great trip, thanks for the reminder @bunnylove! Always love to go adventuring with ya, what's next? :)
Italy! YASSS!! Or Texas! @paleotreats.com