Thanks, Ali, glad you like this story. I actually backpacked the Skyline Trail in Canada’s Jasper National Park last August, it’s beautiful. And now having hiked a few pieces of the Great Divide Trail, I would really like to return to Canada and hike all of it. I hope to be able to accept your invitation in the near future!

I’ve done a few of the ones listed here but I’m not a hiker like you. Some of your photos made my stomach drop with the exposure (cliff edges with a thin path? Eeeep no).

Come back to Canada and do our Great Divide Trail and then give us info!! Hahaha. Fyi, if you’re back this way, crypt lake trail (day hike) is really lovely, as is Jasper Skyline, of course. Also in remote Georgia I really liked the landscapes and historical mix of the Mestia to Ushgali hike.

Hi Jess,

Yes, I’ve hiked the Enchantments, it’s a beautiful area and September is a great time. Enjoy it.

Thanks, Mike. You are not the first person to recommend I explore the Carpathians. I think it’s time I started doing some research on them.

Thank you for the hiking ideas, I live in Europe and I advise you to get acquainted with the Carpathians. These are not the highest points in Europe. But they can offer you gorgeous views and ethnic flavor and local cuisine, which allows you to save on food on a hike.

Also thank you for the ideas for traveling to Italy and Iceland!

I’m sure it is, Linda, but I have not hiked Haleakala. I did hike Mauna Kea on the Big Island in November and that was beautiful.

Thanks for the great suggestion, Scott. I’ve read about the Kungsleden Trail. I’d like to get there sometime. Keep in touch.

John, you are one of the few people who give me ideas for my list of trips to do. Thanks, as always, and happy new year.

An inspiring list of spectacular places to at least contemplate as we race towards the New Year of 2021. By the way Happy New Year to you, your family, friends and readers of your excellent blog.

I have had to good fortune to trundle along several of the paths you brought to us. And, as you know, as few others. Thus far the trek up the Baltaro Glacier into the Concordia and then on to K2 Basecamp is the most spectacular place I have had the good fortune to not only see but experience. It is not just being in presence, and often touching distance, of so many iconic mountains like the Trango Towers, The Cathederal, Masherbrum, the Gasherbrums, Broad Peak and of course K2 plus innumerable other drop dead gorgeous mountains. The place has a life and spirit like no other that I have visited. I concluded that the Karakoram Mountains are like a teenager that is constantly growing and changing as it grows toward maturity. I have had the good fortune to explore many of the magnificent mountain ranges of the world but none are as vibrant and dynamic. The almost constant roar of landslides, avalanches, cirques collapsing, ice dams on glacial lakes suddenly collapsing and a lake disappearing before your eyes while the resulting river is tearing downstream pushing and dragging boulders the size of pickup trucks while sounding like a runaway train.

I encourage you and your readers to include the K2 Basecamp trek to your lists. But be careful because you may find yourself returning because there are myriad other equally stunning places in the Karakoram like the trek over Snow Lake which takes you past the famous Ogre which, like K2, is one of the most difficult mountains in the world to climb. Doug Scott’s book of his and Chris Bonnington’s mis-adventures on the Ogre is legendary.

Again, Happy New Year!

Thanks, Evan. I also have more volcanoes on my bucket list.

Thanks, Agness. I hope you get to see them, too.

Thanks, Lisa, I’m glad you found The Big Outside, and I hope you subscribe to my email list so you don’t miss any new posts. You might also be interested in my Ask Me trip-planning service: https://thebigoutsideblog.com/ask-me/.

Keep in touch and good luck with your trip planning. So much to do, so little time!

Thanks Rod.