in late 2017 a friend called me to suggest a short trip to Nepal. We landed in Kathmandu, stayed a few days, went to Pokhara then to Besisahar and finally to Manang (in a jeep). From Manang we went on a short (2-day) hike to Tilicho Tal, a high altitude lake (~5100m) just below Annapurna I (8091m). Met some awesome folks there (phd students from Nepal and Sweden working on heat insulation and energy effficiency in traditional homes). Many buffalo momos were had. The landscape was simply staggering. Rope bridges, infinite waterfalls, perilous roads carved in the cliff… it’s a very dear memory of mine.

Gotta be my first real wilderness trip, in the Hammastunturi wilderness area here in Finland. I was going through some shit at the time and after losing my job due to covid it was a really low point in my life. I don’t exactly remember how I got the idea, but basically I scraped together whatever second hand gear I could get, packed a weeks worth of food, took train+bus north and just set off. No real plan, I didn’t even have a proper map of the area. In retrospect it was really dumb, but luckily nothing truly bad happened. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t exactly easy with the shitty gear (my backpack literally had a gaping hole in it) and me barely knowing how to start a fire or set up my tent. Not to mention way too many mosquitoes!! But mentally it was great and really helped me to get into better headspace. And it got me into hiking and backpacking and I’ve been hooked ever since.

• The Camino Francés (overall winner, was able to do it with my s/o who will not camp more than one night) - ~12-15 mile days, every night you end up at a hotel/hostel, beer and insane food aplenty, incredible history, only downside was a metric shit ton of retirees as you get closer to the goal. ~500 miles as we took every slightly longer alternate route along the way.
• Appalachian Train - ~18-20 mile days once you get your trail legs - I got off just after I hit the 60% point, about 1200 miles (I caught giardia and during a few days off to recover I had a family emergency and then during that I got a job offer I could not pass up) literally one of the only regrets of my life so far not thru hiking all the way, but I’LL BE BACK.
• Any of the popular trails at Mt. Rainier (Skytrail, comet falls, etc)
• Any of the popular trails at Mt. Washingtion or in the presidential range in it’s entirety tbh
• Hiking down into the Grand Canyon is spectacular but you better be in fantastic shape to actually enjoy it, no time to get trail legs there and crazy elevation change.
• Amanda’s Trail in OR was an unexpted gem! 3 hours to do the whole thing but awesome views and history.
• 29 Palms in Joshua Tree was amazing… being in the middle of the desert, cave painting on the walls, then coming up to that oasis feeling so good!

Favorite individual hike ever? 2013, hiking in a state park in ohio, going out early because I woke up and felt well rested for once in my life, and managed to catch a few hours of early morning sun on top of a rock face I climbed.

As for favorite location, I’ll admit to not having been to many destintion/touristy places and don’t typically go hiking when I’m out of state, so I’m limited to “within a few hours of places I’ve lived” and Hocking Hills in Ohio is a fun place to hike. I always notice something new when I’m there.