I will have 6 weeks off starting in mid-november and was thinging about doing some hiking. I was hoping to take this time off in the summer and hike on the PCT or AT but alas I could only get the time off in November.
With this in mind, can anyone recommend some good hiking trails for the November-december time frame. All optios are open and I’m willing to travel overseas.
jalanjalan
Don’t know if these are practical or not but what about Turkey - the Lycian Way and/or the St Paul Trail. They’ve been in the back of my mind but I’ve never looked seriously into them. Maybe they wouldn’t fit the bill but they are both around 500km, Turkey sounds like an interesting country with lots of history and a quick flick at the web seemed to suggest that Sept to November was an acceptable window - not sure if that would stretch into December. Anyway, just a thought - make of it what you will.
Neil
Go for the West Highland Way it only takes about 12 days. Its in Scotland is supposed to be an awesome trail. I leave in June to thru hike it. I’ve already been at work planning it so check out my journal under super scout or my blog, scotland26.blogspot.com, it has a entry called “Links” in the month of august. Or if you want to email me I can give you all of the stuff I’ve collected thus far.
Good luck!
Super Scout
google “Hike Across England”. Lots of options there! You can hike Inn-to-Inn and have your gear bused ahead daily.
rambler
I thought about the Highland trail but I figured the weather would be dreary in November.
jalanjalan
If you have 6 weeks and want some of the best trekking in the world, try Nepal. November is the ideal time to trek there. Either the Annapurna Circuit or the Everest region would be ideal.
SteveP
Absolutely, go to Nepal. That would be the perfect time to do the Annapurna Circuit. It will take you 18-21 days to complete the whole circuit. You will meet travelers from all over the world as you move along the trail. You can stay in little mountain villages, in simple accomadation. Food is available and although simple is soooo good. The exchange rate makes this a very inexpensive place to travel to. You can hike the circuit without a guide, but it isn’t very expensive to hire a guide. And you would be supporting the guides in that area. If you want to hook up with other hikers that is easy to do once you get out on the trek. The first few days are spent hiking through the sub-tropical areas where rice paddies and banana trees dominate the landscape. From there, the well-maintained trekking trail allow for a gradual climb through many villages and hamlets and stunning views of the Himalayan range on most days. You’ll pass through beautiful countryside, soaring mountains, cross some incredible bridges as you travel back and forth over the river. The high point is Thoron La, at about 18,000 feet. You can fly to Kathmandu, Nepal, or you might want to go through Bangkok, Thailand, and then on to Nepal.
Bagel
Thanks for the great advice. I’m leaning heavily towards Nepal. I had discounted it thinking it would be snow bound in November.
jalanjalan
Nepal sounds terrific and I would love to do that but I also have to chime in about Turkey. I spent 2 weeks there in March and it was wonderful and the people very friendly. Also they use the Turkish lira so much better than the euro for Americans. I was in the area of the Lycian Way in fact I did one short day hike that was on part of it. The ruins were amazing. We just started out and came to a big amphitheater and lots of tombs. The views were great of huge snow covered mountains and the Med Sea. The villages were quaint and the food was so good. Of course when I was there the trees were in bloom and the countryside was covered with wild flowers. I don’t know what it would look like in Nov. but the air fare should be cheap then. Have fun where ever you go.
Sleeveless AT '05
Sleeveless
Nepal actually has more snow in October than November because the monsoons are in the summer. November is ideal. You will love it there. I did. I did the Everest trek in November 1999.
Piper