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I am from the UK but I would consider any where in the world safe areas would be best you know the places that wont get me kidnapped as no one will pay any money to get me back heh!
Hostels? trains? busses? routes? areas? ideas? places to see? things to do?
I am really just looking for iddeas and to see if anyone else has been back packing - do you have any stories to share? Fun times, scary times, great times and bad times?
RJ
Don't think of the Rockies as one huge craggy rock. There are many, many places where backpacking can be fun and done on fairly level ground, albeit at high altitudes. Some of favorite places along the Rockies include the northeast corner of Utah, Western Wyoming, Western Montana and the Idaho Panhandle. For the Appalachian Trail, I've only seen the part of it that exists in Northern Georgia, which is where the trail begins (nevermind those who will tell you it actually starts in Alabama.)
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy web site is chock full of good info.
do you have any stories to share?
I was hiking in Yosemite with my wife when we spotted a deer. Wanting to get a good photograph of it we slowly approached the deer. Suddenly he started snorting, lowered his head and began shaking his rack back and forth.
At first I thought he was upset about us getting to close. All of the sudden I seen a bobcat jump over a branch and stare down the deer. So I slowly turned and took a picture of the bobcat. My wife then began to move closer to the bobcat to get another picture, when another bobcat jumped right in front of her. When seeing the second cat I began to yell and run towards my wife and the bobcat to scare it away. At that point the deer ran away and the bobcats backed off about 100 feet. Then after a few seconds they turned around and ran back into the woods. That was quite an adrenaline rush.
Needless to say I second Yosemite.
Another great place I went hiking was the Bruce Trail. It is a 500 mile long trail along the Niagra Escarpment. [en.wikipedia.org...]
Have a go at cycle touring, its far more self contained, you take your gear with you and see heaps. Its not that cheap however as you eat like crazy.
Eagle Cap Wilderness [images.google.com], in northeastern Oregon, provides some exceptional scenery and still has some solitude.
Quite vertical though.
Of course, my favorite memories of Yosemite go back to the 60's (dating my self here).
I stumbled upon Wallowa Lake on a motorcycle trip in the 80's. took my boys there every summer for nearly 20 years. Closest thing to Yosemite I've found. But, it is possible to put 20 miles under foot and see only 3 or 4 other parties in a day, or to have an alpine lake all to one's self.
Of course, there are places in the North Cascades [images.google.com] that offer some of the same beauty (but far less elevation).
Check out Eagle Cap sometime. Early September is usually a good time of year, if the winter storms do not come too early. Warm days, but cold nights, and it falls between the end of tourist season and the beginning of hunting season.
the Bruce Trail
That is about 1 mile from where I am sitting right now.
I would also recommend the Adirondacks in upstate New York. Absolutely stunning scenery and a hikers paradise.
I have backpacked around SE Asia and its awesome, very cheap but with all the comforts of home. I set up my online empire from Bali where it is much cheaper to live....
