Follow along as I hike the AT, PCT, Kungsleden, and more.
Kungsleden videos are being released now and my Alaska backpacking videos are coming soon.
“Learning while you go!” Hints and tricks and skills learned as you experience the outdoors. Everything outdoors with a focus on backpacking, hiking, camping, trails, and gear. I like to take a big bite out of backcountry food.
Video Schedule:
Monday Mistakes - Start the week learning from the mistakes I have made!
Wednesday Wins - Learn tricks, hacks, best practices!
Friday Frolics - Trip reports and more.
Sunday Surprises - Different things, but often I take a big bite out of backcountry food.
Please post any questions or comments you have. Feedback is encouraged.
Jon's Dad Hikes: Kungsleden: The Guide to Hiking The King's Trail in Sweden
Great video! You were lucky to get Ron Brown as a shuttle driver. He has to be booked in advance. He's the most popular shuttle driver at Amicalola. 😁💚👊
I meet lots of people with great attitudes towards the challenges all backpackers face. These women must have been tired, but were still having a lot of fun!
What a fantastic video, thank you so much. I live in Sweden (in a town called Örebro) and I have done Kungsleden once with my wife. It was such a mindblowing great experience, we did the north-south hike though and started at Abisko. We plan another hike next year, and then we hopefully can benefit from all the lessons we learned from our first hike. Again, amazing video. Great editing, narration and beautiful photos. Hope you have continued to fika every day, even after you left Sweden. :)
Jag har besökt Örebro flera gånger. Förre gången åt vi lunch i restaurangen på vattentornet. Första gången jag var i Örebro var i augusti 1975. Jag hade just börjat mitt år som utbyteselev i Sverige. Tack för trevliga kommentarer!
Sorry for the delay responding… I’m just returning from the annual Appalachian Trail hike with the same group of people. We went from Unicoi Gap SOBO to Amicalola State Park. Thanks for watching!
Sorry for the delay responding… I’m just returning from our annual Appalachian Trail hike. We went from Unicoi Gap SOBO to Amicalola State Park. Good luck with your knee! Thanks for watching!
Hi! Sorry for the delay responding… I’m just returning from our annual Appalachian Trail hike. We went from Unicoi Gap SOBO to Amicalola State Park. I’m not sure what you mean by 0.0. I’ll be releasing a video later this summer showing how a series of larks head knots can be used to hoist several bear bags at the same time. Thanks for watching!
Sorry for the delay responding… I’m just returning from our annual Appalachian Trail hike. We went from Unicoi Gap SOBO to Amicalola State Park. Scouts seem to remember the knot easily because of the alien 👽 connection. :) Later this summer I’ll be releasing a video showing how to use a series of larks head knots to hoist several bear bags at the same time. Thanks for watching!
You’ve mentioned wet sections on trail and problems with the waterproofing of your boots. There’s also a good section in your book about footwear/boots. I’ve always been a boot guy. I’ve had bad ankles since I was a kid, so the extra support is good for me. I’ve heard RU-vidrs claim that hiking boots don’t provide any substantial support to ankles. That is totally wrong! My new boots are Keens and I have tested them to be waterproof several times on trail…. and they are wide boots 👍🏻 Last year I tried Hoka trail runners. Had to go with the low cut version because the mids are not available in wide. Unbelieveably comfortable and at the end of a backpacking day, I could feel the difference in my feet and back. However, I needed to be super cautious on my footing placements. Even with that I’ve had a few falls. The last thing about footwear I wanted to mention is about waterproof socks. I picked up a pair of SealSkinz and will be testing them out on an upcoming shakedown hike before heading to Sweden. The socks come very highly recommended. They may be worth considering.
Sorry for the delay responding… I’m just returning from our annual Appalachian Trail hike. We went from Unicoi Gap SOBO to Amicalola State Park. I’m afraid I’m a boot guy. I might even choose sturdier boots for my next Kungsleden hike. The rocks slowed me down a lot so I’m thinking sturdier boots might help me keep my speed up. The young kids I hiked with (1/2 my age) seemed to do well with lighter boots. I didn’t notice anyone with trail runners, but I also didn’t notice any terrain where trail runners would be inappropriate. In fact, I believe the Kungsleden trail is friendlier to trail runners than the AT, for example. I have a pair of Altra Lone Peaks that are very comfortable. They are perfect for the right terrain. I used them in Indonesia with no complaints. Due to a previous Achilles Tendon injury, I need to be careful with zero drop shoes. It can still get tender sometimes. I have a pair of Hoka One One Speedgoats. I tried them out during training while I work for REI. They felt great. I use them a lot on day hikes or with light packs. I have every reason to believe they would work for longer hikes too. Maybe focused strength exercise on my ankles and knees would make trail runners a viable option for me too. Thanks for watching!
Our backpacking guide in Alaska last summer uses and likes the SealSkinz waterproof socks. They are on my list to try. I have 3+ pairs of boots who have lost their waterproofing, but still have a couple hundred miles left on the sole.
I love how someone put it. It's like every boy scout, any time they get a badge, has to line up a rock perfectly to kill your sole of your foot. Btw, you missed the best section in ohiopyle
I think you are mistaken. It is not all the scouts that do this. It is only the scouts that earn the hiking or Backpacking merit badges that get to do this. But, they are really good at it so it seems like it’s all scouts. :-) About 10 years ago I did a long weekend heading south ending in Ohiopyle. Is that the section you’re referring to? I wouldn’t mind doing it again. It was a long time ago.
I am impressed with the Laurel Highlands hiking trail. It is now on my bucket list to hike the entire trail. Maybe not as a through hike, but as several long weekends. This one worked out perfectly, even though it was a little cold.
Excellent food choices! 7:58 🤢 Gross! Poop Tickets! Excalibur Pipe is possibly from the CCC. 10:53 is a lovely view! Very cool shelter! What a woodpile! Im glad you didn't have hummus soup. 🤢 God Bless the shuttle drivers! I love Sheetz. Put socks on your water bottles when it's freezing. It helps. Im not crazy. Lol. I have no clue about the mushroom spacing. It probably has to do with sunlight? What a great trip! 😃💚👊
This was a great trip. The group of people I am in is absolutely outstanding. I don’t think you could create this group of people intentionally. The only way to do it is my accident. I am doing the humus again on an Appalachian Trail section hike in GA coming up soon. This time, though, instead of taking crackers, I am taking pita/tortillas. I really don’t want to share it because of the risk of norovirus being spread between people when food is shared. I always ate hummus with on pita bread when I worked in the Middle East. That should work here too. :-)
Well, I am thinking that is what I’m saying. Kinda. I know the Sawyer filters will fit on Smart water bottles. This is because they have, by chance, used the same thread design. I doubt either company intentionally picked the same thread design as the other. Other water bottles have different threads. Some could have the same thread design. That’s where I’m hesitating. Smart water bottles are known to work with Sawyer filters, but maybe others do too. I believe Sawyer filters, Smart water, bottles, and CNOC bags all use a 28 mm thread. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it would be important. A couple days ago I got new CNOC bags and tested them with my Sawyer filter. They make a tight seal so nothing leaks while I’m squeezing the CNOC bag. I have done the same in the past with Smart water bottles. I have also tried to put my Sawyer filter on old Diet Mountain Dew bottles, etc., and they leak. They don’t form a tight seal.
Thank you! I hope you have a good hike. Next time, I am thinking about hiking later in August like you are. I started August 1, but August 14 might be better for me. I don’t mind cold weather and I hate mosquitoes. :) It will be interesting to hear about your experience.
Thanks! I still have more “wins” remaining to be recorded. If you have any that you think I should share please let me know. I’d be glad to create a video for them.
This is such an awesome trip idea! I was a Girl Scout Leader for over a decade, running ages 5-18. When covid hit, they shut us down. 7:30 is a salamander, and they do come in all colors. What state are y'all in? Looks like a wonderful trip! 😁
We’re in Ohio. Zalesky is about an hour or so south of Columbus. This was a shakedown hike for our annual Appalachian Trail hike. I actually didn’t think we needed to do it, but the scouts wanted to make sure they were prepared. They clearly were. It was a lot of fun. The group I’m in doesn’t need a very big reason to spend a weekend in the woods. :-) I talked to a naturalist at a different park where I went for a day hike yesterday. I showed him the animal pictures. The snake is a ringed neck snake and the amphibian is a skink. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before.
I’ve enjoyed being a scout leader. Covid hurt our troop severely. With all the pressures that scouting is under, Covid was the last straw for our troop. We’ve merged into another local troop.
@JonsDadHikes I've noticed more skinks in PA, too. I have a feeling they're migrating north because of climate change. Down south, they used to be everywhere.
I am pretty lucky with my feet. I have a couple places where I tend to get small blisters , but they’re not serious and they’re very easy to treat. I used to get a big blister on the bottom of my foot every spring when I would start hiking again, but I started hiking year round, so my feet are tough all the time. Thanks for watching!
Such a beautiful country. I'm glad I found this video. I love seeing hiking videos of places I will probably never get to. Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Hello, thank you for sharing! Our friend, the Fernwanderer, hikes the Kungsleden in 2019, even with the same good views. Greetings Birgit and Kai 👍 👍 👍
I can't wait to hike it again! It was wonderful! Thanks for watching. I'm working on the Question and Answer video today. It should be published in a couple weeks.
Awesome! Thanks again for sharing and for all of the info👍🏻. The trail is so beautiful!! I have a question about trains… Did you book your train from Abisko to Stockholm ahead of time or when you arrived at Abisko? thx
Hi! I have the SJ.se app on my phone. As soon as I reached Abisko I figured out what my plans were and made ticket reservations. I could’ve made the plans further south on Kungsleden, if I had cell service. The train service in Sweden is no longer as reliable as it once was so don’t plan your train trip with a tight connection at your destination. The app lets you enter a credit card as the final step. You don’t have to worry about how to pay, because they have it set up for you. They release the tickets about three months in advance. If you look now, it will say they are all sold out. I wish they would say that they’re unavailable rather than sold out. It caused me lots of concern. :-)
Thank you. BTW … SJ has changed there messaging. It now says “the journey is preliminary. We release tickets once the planning is complete. Check back later” 👍🏻
I probably didn’t word my comment the best, but I also prefer boots for the same reasons as you. Trail runners are great in certain conditions. I have seen a few Kungsleden hikers on RU-vid comment that the rocks tend to tear the sides of the trail runner uppers… but it’s personal preference. I will use boots on Kungsleden for the support and durability. In an earlier comment I said my boots passed the on trail waterproof test. Well, I recently did a 4 hr hike in rain and very wet conditions. They were good for 3 hours but after that my feet were soaked!!🤣🤣 Sealskinz will definitely be going with me to Sweden👍🏻
I noticed you had followed my channel and it brought me over to see your channel!! I love all the hikes!!! Thank you for sharing your journey!! Subbed!!!
I thru hiked the Kings Trail in Sweden. I’ve done other hiking in southern Sweden. I did a little hiking in the UK, but that was all day hikes. We are trying to plan a Camino de Santiago hike. That would happen in the next couple years probably. Thanks for the question!
Absolutely! I found that I can lay my polls horizontally behind the backseat. The backseat tips back just a little bit so there’s a little pocket of protected space for the poles. Thanks for watching and the feedback!
Great video, I try to take a walk in the Countryside every morning usually about 6 - 6.30am 7 days a week. Once a month I try to do a wild camp. Trick is to be ready and sometimes if possible plan for the big ones.
When I was younger, I had several boxes in my garage. I would back my car in and easily move the boxes from the shelf to the back of the car. A kitchen box. A tent box. A Sleeping bag+ box. And a cooler. I went camping several times each month after work on Fridays - if the weather was good. I ended up on a first name basis with the Rangers at a local State Park. :-) Thanks for watching!
I actually had never thought about it. I checked it out, and it can be two different things: Comfortable Runabout Vehicle Compact Recreation Vehicle I am betting the “runabout” name was an early version. I rented one a long time ago and it was a tiny little runabout kinda of car. Now it’s a family sized SUV. It’s my second one. I’m pretty happy with it. It can hold me and 4 scouts including a week’s worth of gear. I drove over to roaring Plains in West Virginia, about six months ago in a Honda HRV. It’s a hybrid flavor of the CRV. I can see that being my next car. The technology will improve enough by then that it will might make sense. Thanks for watching and for the question!
Jon, was wondering if you had any short father/son backpacking trip ideas? I live in Northeast Ohio and wanted to do one with my 13 year old son. I thought about Mohican because we could do some fishing as well. Thanks for the help!
Hi, 13 is a great age. Zaleski is one of my favorites for new backpackers. Water is provided at each campsite. There are outhouses. Firewood is abundant, All of the campsites are within reasonable hiking distance if you need to make changes in your plans. I'll be taking 3 new backpackers there for a "shake down" before the backpack for a week with me on the AT this summer. All of Wayne National Forest is good too. Wildcat Hollow is one of my favorites. I would stay away from Shawnee - The hills are horrible for beginners. You want to have an experience that leads to more experiences! :)
Enjoying your videos on-trail👍🏻. My plans are going well. Flight, hotels & STF membership all taken care of. Having a delay with SJ. They haven’t released the schedules for August yet. I think they are working out the rail maintenance schedules, but not completely sure?? Did you have any issues with booking your trains? Thanks, Cary
Hi, SJ is doing exactly what you expect. I checked every couple days so that I could get tickets on the days and at the times I wanted. They release the tickets about 3 months in advance all year round. August should come out soon. I went during COVID so the number of sleeping berths was very restricted. It should be better now. Keep in mind that SJ is no longer the smoothly oiled machine it was in the olden days. Don't assume your trains will arrive on time. Give yourself some buffer and avoid tight connections.
