r/hiking

Hi everyone,

To all of you who might be interested, last summer I went mountaineering in the french alps and it was absolutely incredible.

I started from Pralognan-la-Vanoise, a small village in the middle of Savoie known for its many 3000m+ peaks. I then went to the Col de la Vanoise shelter. I spent the night there before leaving at 4 am with my guide to go explore GLACIERS.

Everything about it was beautiful, the sunrise on La Grande Casse, being above this immense ice structure (largest one in Europe). Then finding myself inside and below it, in between the sapphire blue ice walls of what is called a Bédière (sort of canyon incide the glacier)

However the reality of them was prety off-putting as they are the cause of global warming. Bédières started appearing a few years ago with melted water running down the glacier and digging into it.

The Bédières give out on Moulins, huge wells cause by still water digging strait down into the glacier. Both are in the picture.

It was an absolutely unforgettable experience (with my pictures as proof)

If you ever wish to do this, remember, glaciers are dangerous and unpredictable and the last thing you want is finding yourself at the bottom of a crevasse. You have to get a guideas they know the place, personally I know that on Pralognan-la-Vanoise's Tourism Website you can book an expedition (at least that's where I booked). Here is the link if you ever need it https://www.pralognan.com/ .

Personnally, I could not recommend this enough to you. Just keep in mind these trips are done at the end of August (There's no water in the Bédières in August).

Stay safe everyone, Godspeed.

Quick little hike with some friends this weekend in Gatlinburg. Hoping to hit some other trails in the area before the summer's over!

Just got back from spending 10 days camping and hiking through northern Iceland and I’m still processing how much the landscape shifted from one day to the next

The geothermal fields, the snow-covered highlands with nothing but open road ahead, and then that cliff edge looking straight down to the fjord, all within the same trip, all completely different in a way that’s hard to explain until you’re standing in it. Northern Iceland in particular has this raw, almost indifferent quality to it that I wasn’t fully prepared for. The smaller hikes away from the main tourist routes were consistently the best parts

*still working on my photography stills*

Pictures from the second leg of the GTM/GR 52. All pictures are from locations between Isola 2000 and Menton.

One of the best weekends spent in the mountains.

A small hike I took mainly to try and observe the wildlife. It was a very nice hike but didn‘t see that much in terms of wildlife. Two foxes and a chamois.

Morning walk in the Planken Wambuis Nature Reserve, Ede, Gelderland, NL. It was a beautiful day and even spotted two Roe Deer. Ended up walking 13,6km

Today I pushed myself way past my comfort zone and completed a 12-mile loop. Before this, the furthest I’d ever hiked was 6 miles, so doubling that felt like a terrible idea around mile 9. Everything hurt, I questioned every decision that led me there, and I seriously considered turning around.

But I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

Now I’m exhausted, sore, and weirdly proud of myself. It’s amazing what your body can do once your mind stops trying to negotiate a quit.

First time in Switzerland. I still can't believe I got this shot. I'd rather be lucky than good!

Here’s the view from my hike today (5/20/26). The Tumalo Mountain Trail is a moderate difficulty out-and-back hike, 4 miles round trip with about 1400 feet of elevation gain. So worth it! I love doing these types of hikes in the spring because the mountains look incredible when they’re still draped in snow.

Highline trail/garden wall offshoot, August 2022. We did about 18 miles this day :)

Half Dome turned out to be an incredible adventure. We stayed at a dispersed campsite not far from the park entrance, and by 6 AM we were already driving into the park.

Our group had around 20 people, and almost immediately everyone spread out depending on their pace. The start was brutal — it felt like the elevation gain started instantly and never stopped. I hated those stairs almost immediately.

My wife and I decided to hike at our own pace. We agreed not to rush and to stop whenever our heart rates got too high (which happened constantly during the first couple of hours).

Once we got past the endless stairs and reached the flatter sections, the hike became way more enjoyable. The scenery was unreal. Seeing all that massive wilderness around you made you want to laugh and just say “wow” at the same time. There’s this crazy energy out there that’s hard to describe.

Around hour four, we stopped seeing the rest of our group and picked up the pace, averaging around a 15 min/km pace. After a few hours of pushing harder, a couple from our group caught up to us and were shocked — everyone thought we had fallen behind because we had said we weren’t planning to rush. Turns out the group had stopped for waterfall photos while we accidentally stayed ahead the entire time. They radioed back that we had been “found,” and after that we slowed back down.

Sub Dome was another serious challenge. Definitely not easy.

By the time we reached Half Dome, the cables were already up. We brought climbing gear with us. My wife stayed clipped in on the cables, while I only used gloves. Honestly, we didn’t have any major issues.

Total time was about 12 hours from start to finish.

Hike rating: 10/10.
Difficulty for me: around 8/10.
I still had a little left in the tank at the end.

You can only refill water near the start. We carried about 3 liters per person plus electrolytes. We also packed a couple bananas and carb/nut bars, which ended up being more than enough.

The Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah, USA

I took them out to the wall street segment and then turned back. A lot of crowds into the mid morning, be sure to do this one in the early morning!

Couple different views of Summit Lake up Mono Pass. (With some smoke from a prescribed fire in the sky of the second photo.) Roughly 9mi RT with ~2000' gain. This hike is easily in my top 5. Wow! It was stunning! And so much snow left up there. ~12k'