Adventures · On foot for a week, with everything you need on your back or a horse

Multi-day trek

A trek is a walk that lasts longer than your legs expected, through country that a road does not reach. It is the cheapest way to see the most, and it is the adventure where training and packing weight decide the outcome.

Trekking is travel at three kilometres an hour, which is the speed at which a landscape has time to change you. The places on this site that ask for it are chosen for their trails as much as their views: the W and O circuits in Torres del Paine, the Laugavegur across Iceland’s interior, the Jomolhari route in Bhutan and the Markha valley in Ladakh, the Kalsoy and Slættaratindur walks in the Faroes, the via ferrata across the Tsingy.

What it asks of the body

Six hours of walking a day with a pack, on consecutive days, on ground that goes up and down more than the map suggests. The Stage Simulator turns distance, ascent and terrain into hours and calories, and the answer is usually longer than the guidebook. The legs adapt within days; the feet and the knees are where treks fail, and the Training Simulator’s twelve weeks are aimed at them.

What it asks of the calendar

Trails have seasons that are set by snow, monsoon and daylight, and the windows are short: ten weeks in the Icelandic highlands, four months in Patagonia, two windows either side of the monsoon in Bhutan. Huts and permits sell out months ahead in the good windows. The plan that works books the beds first and the flights second.

What it costs

The walking is free and the country is usually cheap; the refugios, the permits and the crews are the cost. Torres del Paine on refugios sits in the mid band, the Laugavegur on huts in the low band with a tent, Bhutan in the high band by law. The Budget Simulator has the numbers per place.

Essentials

Boots broken in over fifty kilometres before the trip
Poles, which save the knees on every descent
A shell that is actually waterproof and a warm layer that packs small
A sleeping bag rated for the coldest night on the itinerary, not the average
A pack under twelve kilos with water, or you will hate day three

Risks

▲▲WeatherWind and rain at altitude cause hypothermia in summer; the shell and the turn-around decision are the protection.
▲▲Knees and feetBlisters and descents end more treks than fitness does; tape the hot spots early and use the poles.
▲▲AltitudeAbove 3,000 m the Altitude Simulator rules apply; treks that gain height too fast are the ones the clinics see.
▲▲NavigationMarked trails are marked until the fog; a map, a phone with the offline route and a turn-back rule.

Questions people ask

How fit do I need to be?

Able to walk six hours with a pack on consecutive days and recover overnight. That is a training goal for most people, reachable in twelve weeks from an ordinary base.

Guided or independent?

Torres del Paine and the Laugavegur have marked trails and staffed huts. Bhutan and Ladakh’s longer treks run with crews by law or by sense. The guide buys logistics, safety and pace.

How heavy should the pack be?

Under twelve kilos with a litre of water for hut-to-hut, under sixteen when carrying a tent and food. The Pack Simulator adds it up and tells you where the weight went.

Places for this adventure

Summit Chile · November to March Torres del Paine Three granite towers, a glacier the size of a city and wind that has its own grades 8 daysWonder 10/10Effort 7/10

Fire Iceland · July and August Iceland Highlands Rhyolite mountains in yellow, red and green, hot rivers and a trail across lava and ice 5 daysWonder 9/10Effort 7/10

Summit Bhutan · April to May for rhododendrons Bhutan, Jomolhari trek A trek to the foot of a sacred mountain in the last Himalayan kingdom, blue sheep and a fee that keeps it quiet 10 daysWonder 9/10Effort 8/10

Summit India · June to September for the passes and treks Ladakh and Zanskar A high desert of monasteries and passes above 5,000 metres, and a frozen river you walk on in January 10 daysWonder 9/10Effort 7/10

Island Faroe Islands · May to August Faroe Islands Eighteen islands of grass and basalt where the weather changes every twenty minutes 5 daysWonder 8/10Effort 5/10

Otherworld Madagascar · June to October Tsingy de Bemaraha A forest of limestone needles crossed on cables and ladders, with lemurs living on the blades 5 daysWonder 10/10Effort 6/10

The Simulation Brief

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