I was featured on My Trendy Trails as a guest blogger! Check out that article about hiking and biking trails there!
Here is a brief synopsis (all paragraphs with quotes are from the original article):
I would like to say that there are more hiking and biking trails than I have listed here, but these are the bigger well-known ones.
Hiking Trails By Foot
1. Appalachian Trail
“The trail, also known as the AT, runs from Maine to Georgia and goes along the Appalachian mountains. It got popular through a variety of media, but due to it being on the East coast, many knew about it for a while.”
“Some do the trail in chunks while others do the whole thing in one shot, they are called through-hikers. AT hikers argue with the PCT (below) hikers in which is harder to accomplish, but both agree the CDT (next) is the hardest.”
2. Continental Divide Trail
“This trail, also known as the CDT, runs along the continental divide from Banff, Alberta to the border of Mexico. It is considered the hardest because it rarely goes through a town and one needs to carry water filters. If you go solo, there is a chance you might not see anyone in days. Accomplishing all three is considered the Triple Crown and is very impressive!”
3. Pacific Crest Trail
“The PCT, as its commonly known, runs from Canada to Mexico. The difficulty of this trail is that you can go a few days without seeing someone or a town for supplies. However, you go up once and pretty much stay up on a plateau before coming back down at the end. So though PCT and AT people argue, both have different pros and cons. It wasn’t a well known trail until the book and movie Wild came out. It then became a problem as under-experienced hikers would take the trail and need assistance.”
“Please, if thinking of doing one of these hikes, please prepare heavily ahead of time to avoid any unnecessary dangers and risks.”
By Bicycle
“There is an association called American Cycling Association that has maps and tips for all these trails except the last one.”
1. Transamerican Trail
“This trail goes from the East coast of Virginia to the West coast of Oregon.”
“It took us 3 months exactly to finish about 4k miles or about 7k km.”
2. Great Divide Trail
“This trail goes side by side to the CDT. It is the biking version and is one of the more harder ones. I believe it is the second hardest in comparison to Alaska, but my father (who has done this and Alaska) would be a better judge.”
The following were not featured, or at least, not featured to the full extent to what I submitted. But I want to include them in my own blog because I think they are important for people to be aware of. Many people do these trails and though I have personally not done them, doesn’t mean they should be ignored.
3. Southern Tier
Going from California to Florida, this trail is mainly done in winter/spring due to going through patches of desert and managing the heat.
4. Northern Tier
Going from New England to Washington state, this trail is mainly done in the Summer due to the Northern states’ weather.
5. Pacific Coast
“From Canada to Mexico, this trail goes along the Pacific coast along the infamous Highway 1. It takes beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean, but it is full of people and cars.”
6. East Coast
Going along the Eastern coast, this trail is less known, but still lovely to see all the small towns on the coastline of the United States.
The following was considered too dangerous to be posted on My Trendy Trails, but it is only dangerous if not planned accordingly…as any travel is. When doing any of these outdoor activities or any traveling, please plan ahead!
7. Alaska!
This isn’t really a trail and for this reason, the Association doesn’t have any maps. Since Alaska isn’t as populated as other states, there are very few roads to take. If you want to bike Alaska, the “trail” starts at Prudhoe Bay or Deadhorse (bay and town respectively). You can fly or take the shuttle from Fairbanks like we did.
Alaska was a hard trip mentally. The beginning was very flat and full of mosquitoes. I went 7 days without a shower, which was really unpleasant since we were biking around 40 miles a day at this point. Gradually, we increased it to 50-60 miles average or about 100-120 kilometers, but didn’t see anyone besides truck drivers passing us for days.
We had to cook more instant food and we didn’t have the chance to have fresh vegetables often the first month plus filter water, which caused me to get sick the first few days due to not being used to the river water from Alaska glaciers.
We biked from Deadhorse to Victoria, BC and it took us about 2 months.
It was a beautiful trip, but lots of mountain climbs and lots of cold rainy weather. The best time to start is in June, but we started late in middle of July.
Many people just do Alaska. Many do just North America along the Pacific Ocean. Some go from Alaska all the way to Argentina! I just did from Alaska to Victoria, BC, but my father will keep going until the Southern point of Argentina.
For any of these trips in relation to Alaska, please prepare ahead of time for safety reasons.
I hope one of these has inspired you to head into the countryside and be active! All of them offer a different perspective of North America in terms of geography or personalities of the people who live in those parts of the continent. You also get to meet other amazing individuals who are currently doing the trail. It is definitely a growing experience and I am so happy I was able to do my two bicycle trails. I am definitely eager to do more- perhaps in a different country or continent!
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