USA Today published this article about comfy hiking trips in Oregon, where trekkers can hike during the day but sleep in a lodge with hot showers at night.
The protection of the huts, the hot showers, and gourmet meals seem like they’d take the adventure out of a backcountry experience. The best part of a backpacking trip is being able to sleep under the stars and in the morning unzip the tent and open your eyes to a gorgeous sunrise.
If people aren’t able or willing to carry a 40 pound backpack, hut to hut hiking seems to be a great alternative. But for now I’ll be sticking to backpacking!
What do you think?
I think the best part of backpacking is that period between 7 and 11 am, while you are out on the trail feeling good, the light is great and the weather is still cool. We do a three week trip on the Pacific Crest Trail every year, and that is full backpack. When we hit a resupply point, that usually also means hot shower, a real bed and a meal where you sit down and someone brings it to you. Those stops are wonderful.
We also hike for three weeks every year in France or Spain. That is a shelter to shelter experience, b&b, hostel, etc. You still get that great morning time hiking, and you don’t have to deal with setting up and breaking camp. Not to mention that the hot shower every night is a real plus. A different experience than the PCT, but still a good hiking experience.
I think there is a time to hut hike and a time to backpack and sleep under the stars. Both are fun, I’m sure. I have never hut hiked, but I can sure see how it would change the trip. It turns it into a series of hikes, rather than a backpacking trip. Food and folks to talk to in the huts, it could be fun, like a cruise ship, but that is not the reason I go out.
I go out to get away from the masses and I’m happiest when it’s just me and a friend or two in the whole area. I would hate to see these huts crop up in wilderness areas. The blight of the High Sierra Camps in Yosemite come to mind. Yuk.
Tony
While I can see some utility in hut-to-hut hiking for some populations (older folks, young kids, etc), it’s just not for me. I’ve thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail and paddled the Mississippi River, and can’t imagine being insulated from the environment on a trek like that.