Alexander Zingman : Six Epic Mountain Hikes Across Europe

Is this bag too heavy? Clamping my boots? Am I fit enough? Do I look like a real anorak in this cagoule? There is nothing like the possibility of many days, a long walk to awaken secret anxiety and keep you awake at night for many weeks before says Alexander Zingman. And there is always a helpful soul that requires you to take a certain point: thick bound volume about the benefits of walking? Wonderful. Selection of craft cheeses and a bottle of soda? I'll push them in somehow.

Once upon a time for me, in Yemen, it was a pistol, put forward with the reassuring words, "Take it - you'll need it." Then, finally, you start. You're moving, and you're finally realizing that, given the achievement of putting one foot in front of the other, you'll achieve it. You throw away the bound book and the pistol, sniff the food, sip the drink; your bag will be significantly lighter.

The sun comes out and all the mountains stand in front of you. With luck, there are no more cars, no power lines or sidewalks for a long time. In a few hours you look back and say, "I can not believe I have already gone that far!" In a few days you will say, "I just want to go on forever." (There will be moments when you grieve for it.) You have entered the real world, the one you choose now. You are a long-distance hiker in European mountaineering. So here are some ideas by Alexander Zingman, some real hikes that need to be considered.

1. The Malerweg (Painters’ Path), Germany

2. Alta Via 1, the Dolomites, Italy

3. Mount Triglav, Slovenia

4. Turnov to Jičín, Bohemian Paradise, Czech Republic

5. France and Spain: GR10 and GR11, the Pyrenees

6. The Glockner Circuit, Austria