#adventure-trekking

#adventure-trekking

Easter Monday in Lefkimmi was alive with families spilling from cafes, a marching band dazzling in the sun, and priests chanting beneath their hats. Men let off shotguns, filling the air with excitement.

San Sebastián, the capital of La Gomera, served as Christopher Columbus's provisioning point in 1492, with historical sites like the Columbus House Museum and Torre del Conde nearby.

The early morning sun is bursting around the dark corners of High Dodd and Sleet Fell, sending a flush of light across the golden bracken and on to the hammered silver of the lake.

The camping category has gone through a genuine design evolution. Products are emerging from studios that understand outdoor life not as a survival exercise but as an experience worth designing for.

Jornet's well-publicized States of Elevation project in 2025 was a feat in human endurance, mountain running, and planning. Starting on September 3, he linked 72 of the 14ers in the contiguous U.S in a human-powered fashion - on foot and bike - with a support crew following him and helping with logistics. He started with the 14,259-foot Longs Peak in Colorado, then went on to California and north to Washington, finishing on the 14,410-foot Mount Rainier.

The best hiking pants earn their place in our packing list the hard way-through scree scrambles, sweaty switchbacks, and the kind of bushwhacking that tests each and every seam. We've worn them on short hikes and multi-day backpacking trips, in hot and cold weather, through light rain and high-alpine winds.

On day five of an eight-day, 500-mile mountain bike race in Africa, Piers Constable found himself sprawled in the dirt for the second time. First he'd crashed on his left side, then on his right, until he was, in his own words, "muddied and bloodied," staring at a bike that was very much broken. He remembered a feed station a couple miles away and realized he had two choices: quit or run. He picked up the bike and ran.

The body is a shifting landscape transformed by surfaces and sensations. Each look captures a different tactile world: the heat of blood, the cool weight of metal, the yielding drift of water. The result is a sculptural study of how the elements carve, shield, and release the self. The materials we embody become the emotions we carry, and the body becomes a materialised exhibition of our emotions, from the pulse of Blood to the discipline of Metal to the surrender of Water.

The idea that hiking trails are a tool for conservation is based on a simple premise: people protect what they know. That requires making conservation areas accessible. There's no point telling people you only protect what you know, if you don't give them the tools to know. The trail is this tool. People who hike, people who camp, these people often become defenders of the environment.

We are all familiar with the idea of a library. You go, check out a book, read said book, and return the book when you are done. Yes, there is a bit more mixed in there, such as attaining a library card, due dates, and late fees, but I'm sure you get the general idea. We all know how libraries work.

A sudden weather change, a mechanical, a missed turn, or a momentary lapse in judgment can all turn a "quick ride" into a surprisingly long day. The good news? While some of those problems are big, the solutions are often small. A last-second weather check. An extra granola bar. A quick link and a zip tie that's been living in the bottom of your bag for the last five years. Little things can often be the difference between a perfect ride and a problem ride.

I had trained for a full year to complete a self-supported bicycle tour from San Diego to Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was meant to be the next-to-last chapter in my coast-to-coast cycling journey - one more long stretch of road before the final piece fell into place. Thirty-four miles into the ride, it was over. A microfiber towel caught in my derailleur. A fluke. One of those things you never plan for and still struggle to explain afterward.

There's something oddly satisfying about watching outdoor gear shed its bulk. We've seen tents collapse into impossibly small pouches and sleeping bags compress into cylinders the size of water bottles. Now, Camprit is applying that same minimalist philosophy to camp stoves with their TiStove, and the results are kind of brilliant. The concept is deceptively simple. Take five titanium pieces (two foldable legs and three cooking panels), make them pack completely flat, and keep the whole setup under 1.5 pounds.

Although these attractions are beautiful, the crowds they drew during my trip put a damper on the experience. I preferred sights like the Lagazuoi Tunnels, Monte Civetta, and Cinque Torri, all of which were less touristy but still had equally showstopping views and hikes.

On the wooded lower slopes of the valley are clusters of tall houses, some plumed with wood smoke. There appears to be a lot of building work going on, some of it to repair the damage caused by the 2023 earthquake. The sound of a concrete mixer comes cutting through the cool mountain air mixed with birdsong and human voices.

AllTrails, a hiking app with trail maps and reviews, dug into insights from their 90 million-plus members and team of trail experts to spotlight lesser-known places where the trail alone is worth planning a trip around. Their guide, Travel-Worthy Trails for 2026, spotlights eight unexpected destinations around the world where the trail is the destination.

I trekked it in December 2023 with plans and a permit to camp at Bright Angel Campground, a scenic cottonwood-shaded hideaway just near the famed Phantom Ranch (the only lodging on the world wonder's floor). Then, two days before my trip, a miracle happened: One last-minute reservation became available for Phantom Ranch. The ranch digs typically book out over a year in advance, but if you're lucky, you can either get in via the lottery or a last-minute opening. This made the grueling but gorgeous hike down and up the steep South Kaibab Trail even more memorable.

In the summer of 2022, I quit my full-time job to spend 10 weeks backpacking through South America with my then-boyfriend (now-husband). Consumed by the travel bug, we packed up all our belongings and moved them from our Miami apartment to a storage unit before hitting the road, visiting 16 cities across eight countries. The whole trip was incredible, but four places hold a special place in my memory.

You may dream of seeing the geysers of Yellowstone or the overwhelming greatness of the Grand Canyon, but chances are you have a handful of little wonders in your own backyard. State parks like Goblin Valley in Utah hold their own against the neighboring Arches National Park (or Canyonlands, for that matter), while Maine's Baxter State Park is arguably just as wild as the well-known Acadia National Park (Baxter doesn't even have running water!). Plus, state parks tend to be less crowded and more affordable-two things that bode well for overnight guests.