I have a friend who did a trip with his wife last year to Banff. Looked and sounded amazing. I’ve always wanted to hike in Banff, but this is a little pricier than I want. Still, it sounds great – they transport your bags for you, provide meals, you stay in lodges. That’s what I want – a trip where the hiking is the only work I have to do, all the accommodations and meals are done for me so I don’t have to plan every detail.
Anyone do a trip like this? Let’s hear about it. I suppose I wouldn’t be opposed to something like this in the states. I hiked eight days in the Tetons when in college so been there, done that. Maybe Yosemite? The Smoky Mountains? I just know I want something beautiful and in the mountains and to do this while I’m young and fit enough not to kill myself.
We are headed to Banff and the Tetons next month, but we are skiing not hiking. H and I hiked part of the John Muir trail in Yosemite in the fall. It is a beautiful place to hike. You could also hike the Grand Canyon, Bryce or Zion. If it were me I would pick late fall or early spring to try and avoid crowds.
Banff will be far cheaper than many of the places you mention here because of the Canadian $$. Mont Tremblant is another great place in Canada for outdoors.
When you talk about lodges and meals, it’s going to be pricey - but you can venture to some national parks or state parks - like Custer State Park in South Dakota - and find a lodge and restaurants (not cheap).
Most will cost more than Banff though - minus the airfare to Calgary. Banff is relatively inexpensive.
In Yosemite there are the high sierra camps where you walk a loop between however many camps you want. However it’s been scaled back for 2023 (now only dehydrated meals and two of the best camps are closed) and I think you’ve missed the lottery dates so you’d have to look for cancellations.
See Yosemite High Sierra Camps in Yosemite National Park CA | TravelYosemite.com
On our John Muir Trail hike from Yosemite to Mt Whitney in August we met a pack train group and chatted to one of the hikers on top of a pass. He said it was really enjoyable, with great food: you can do anything from 1 to 6 week long trip. Quite expensive because they bring everything with them on mules for a group of 8-10 clients, but something I’d consider if I didn’t feel I could carry a heavy pack (you just carry a day pack and they transport all the gear, set up the tents, cook the food, provide a packed lunch each day, etc.).
This is the company that they used: High Sierra Pack Trips; Horseback Riding; Mule Packing; John Muir Trail Packing; Horse Drives; Outfitters;Packing Schools (they were doing the Horseshoe Meadow to Bishop Pass section).
Of all the backcountry places we’ve visited in the Sierra on a couple of dozen trips, the area that has most impressed me was the Kings Canyon wilderness along the John Muir Trail. Evolution Basin at the northern end is famously beautiful, while a bit further south the area between Mather and Pinchot passes (Upper Basin) was stunning and felt incredibly remote. Much less crowded than Yosemite as well.
When I was in college I hiked some of the trails in New Zealand. The Milford Track there is justifiably famous and offers a guided walk experience, but it’s pretty expensive.
And a cheaper option would be some of the hikes in the UK and Europe. There are services that transport your bags from pub to pub: if I was going to pick one longer hike to do in the UK I’d do the Coast to Coast walk from the Lake District through the Yorkshire Dales to the North York Moors. Here’s a company that will organize it all for you: Coast to Coast Route Planner | Baggage Transfer Service | Sherpa Van
We also know people who’ve done the Tour de Mont Blanc with a fairly similar arrangement.
I’ve done many trips like that with Walkers’ Britain (formerly Sherpa Expeditions). They’ve been in business since 1973 and do guided and self-guided trips all over Europe. They are part of the World Expedition Travel Group, along with Sherpa Van. Their prices can’t be beat for what you get. I can’t recommend them highly enough.
They have all been great. The Meiringen Circuit was one of our favorites, and would have similar terrain to the Canadian Rockies. Download the detailed trip notes.
My book club used a local travel agent and we did a bit of the Appalachian Trail. We had a guide and transportation to a hotel every night as none of us wanted to camp. You might see if you can do something like that.
Would you have the walk notes that you can share? We were in this area several years ago with the kids and would love to go back there. Loved the walks we did back then - granted they were some of the “easy” ones since the kids were young (10 and 5).
Small women only groups.
" Our guided tours are all about unique and epic adventure with small groups of women who will soon become your new BFFs. We take care of the pesky details like permits to backpack the Grand Canyon and snagging the BEST glamping spots around [Zion National Park], so all you have to do is hop on and have a good time."
We hike in the Banff, around Canmore, and in Yoho National Park around Lake O’Hara almost every summer and used to ski at Sunshine and Lake Louise in the winters. It was almost always less expensive than comparable places in the US. [We don’t go there because it is less expensive, though that is a lure, but ShawWife is from that area and has aunts, uncles, cousins and friends there. Also, the hikes can be pretty strenuous from base to peak but both the base and the peaks tend to be lower than in the Colorado Rockies. So, those of us who are affected by altitude sickness can adjust more quickly to Banff than Colorado.
I didn’t know there were huts in Banff. I know people who have hiked hut to hut in the Alps. No idea what that costs.
My brother and his wife do these trips all the time. Last fall they biked in southern France. Last summer they did a pony trip in Walls. And a year or two ago they walked Hadrian’s Wall in Britain. Pictures looked great. And wonderful not to have to traipse around with luggage. Hiking the West Highland Way in Scotland is on my bucket list.
The Camino de Santiago in Spain is an option. There are companies that will carry your luggage from town to town if you don’t want to carry a backpack.
I was sad to read that the High Sierra Camps in Yosemite were going to be serving dehydrated meals! One of the joys of getting to a High Sierra Camp after a long day of hiking was getting a steak or pork chop or other real food at the end of the day. And the prices will be the same. I’m glad I hiked to all five High Sierra Camps back in the day when the food was really good.
We did this for our honeymoon in Patagonia. The beautiful lodge is in the middle of the national park and all the hikes leave from there. Terrific guides and they bring meals and snacks needed for each hike.
We are hoping to visit their other lodge in the Atacama Desert next year.
As budget friendly alternative I’d suggest Acadia National Park. The park itself is right next to (a couple of miles) the very cute town of Bar Harbor. Hikes were easy to access and plenty of cute shops and restaurants to make it pretty easy on the planning.
I’m not that excited by the West Highland Way compared to other long distance walks in the UK. Unlike those other hikes, the West Highland Way doesn’t go over any peaks, it stays in the valleys. Given the modest size of UK mountains and the number of beautiful peaks in the Highlands, that feels like a waste.
Completely agree, it’s not worth spending the money for something that’s not much better than you could carry yourself. I would now probably choose a pack trip that brought proper food instead. But I’m only a fan of Yosemite at off peak times after experiencing way too many crowds. This summer is going to be even more crowded now they’ve dropped the vehicle permit system.
This remains my favorite Yosemite trip, in December 2011 when Tioga Pass was open because there was no snow.
