Talk:Packing for a week of hiking Voyage Tips and guide

Uh, this seems to be in Franglais? Or am I cross-eyed this morning?

perhaps someone can translate? (WT-en) Goodralph 02:33, 12 Jul 2004 (EDT)

It's from the French Wikivoyage, and I didn't know what everything means. -(WT-en) phma 07:09, 12 Jul 2004 (EDT)

Removed from article:

• a priori, pour randonneur; pour les randonneuses, faut prévoir des adaptations ;-)
• Il est possible que la liste contienne certains belgicismes
• La liste est prévue pour une rando d'une semaine sur une partie du GR20/Sud (Conca->Vizzavona)
• Il est probable que la liste ne soit pas complète...

-- (WT-en) Nils 03:39, 16 Jul 2004 (EDT)

I am puzzled about the clothes chosen. No gloves or sweater - but six underwear shirts of different kinds. Seems the choice is for a very specific type of hike. I think we either should have this kinds of lists for different types of destinations or a list covering a much broader set of destinations, which means a lot of commentary about how to pick and choose the right sets. Ideally anything you would go for without a course or a guide should be covered. --LPfi (talk) 07:28, 3 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

Aha, originally Belgian advice for a part of GR20/Sud, Conca->Vizzavona, as stated above (I seem to have been blind). Should still be expanded. --LPfi (talk) 12:13, 19 September 2014 (UTC)Reply

This article is both too specific (why one week?) and too broad (where is the hike? huts or wild camping?) to be practical.

I think this content would be much more effective in Hiking#Prepare and Wilderness backpacking#Carry, with additional context. If people prefer having dedicated packing checklist in addition to prose, I could still fit that into Hiking and/or Wilderness backpacking. Gerode (talk) 22:09, 10 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

• Merge, per Gerode. Ground Zero (talk) 13:49, 12 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Comment: I agree that it's too broad and too narrow, but I am not sure that merging helps. In addition to this article and Hiking, we have gear advice in Wilderness backpacking, Hiking in the Nordic countries and probably in some individual itinerary articles. It seems that this article originally was written for "une rando d'une semaine sur une partie du GR20/Sud (Conca->Vizzavona)", i.e. for a specific Belgian hike.

I am not sure that we should try to cover all the subject in Hiking. I think that article should be primarily targeted at novices and less seasoned hikers, walking well-trodden trails, with advice for wilderness hikes and really demanding trails elsewhere. Of course, some stuff can be offloaded to here, mostly things that should be obvious for those with some experience. Different climates, different hike lengths, different topography etc. should all need a bit different advice. I don't know what categories are most useful and how content would best be divided between them. The problem should be given some good thought.

For list or prose, I think we primarily should focus on prose, although a list can be a good complement (in the same context or separately). If this article stays, the name should probably be amended.

–LPfi (talk) 14:30, 13 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Your thoughts about the Hiking article are sensible. My vision is a Hiking article focused on day-hiking, that directs those looking for deeper content or longer trails to Long distance walking through developed areas, something like Trekking or "Hut hiking" through places with rudimentary lodging and support, and Wilderness backpacking for tents in the woods. Each of those branches has fairly different gear considerations and packing lists. However, my expertise on this topic is very North American wilderness-centric, and I'm hesitant to create new content or make major editorial decisions for the other branches, so I'm trying to work within the structure that's in place. There is also a semantic issue - North Americans and Europeans use the words "hiking", "trekking" and "wild/wilderness" a little differently.

This article is not a list I would recommend for North American backpacking, but it is closer to a Wilderness backpacking list than a day-hike list or a supported hike list. Maybe Wilderness backpacking or Grande Randonnée is a better merge target. Gerode (talk) 17:29, 13 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

As the list originally is for a GR trail, it might suite Grande Randonnée. However, I have added a bit to make it suite cooler climates, and even the original advice for a Belgian one might be problematic for trails in southern or central Spain. Somebody who knows a bit about the GR trails should check.

For North America vs Europe, I think the climates are similar, so differences are mainly on plants and wildlife (which are shared to quite some degree), trail infrastructure and culture. I assume Wilderness backpacking was written from the North American perspective. You could check Hiking in the Nordic countries for differences with this part of Europe. Walking in the United Kingdom is quite different, and so is rambling in other parts of Europe. For elsewhere, we have Trekking in Nepal Hiking and bushwalking in Australia, Tramping in New Zealand and probably some more.

You division seems sensible. I think that the existing structure isn't the result of a coordinated effort, but of different editors describing what they are confident in writing about. We should probably also cover issues with hiking at moderate altitude in mountains, such as the Alps (the Scandinavian mountains are probably best covered in Hiking in the Nordic countries, even if that aspect isn't well covered; some advice belong in Mountaineering and Glaciers, the latter having close to no advice).

–LPfi (talk) 14:23, 14 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Here's what makes sense to me, that I might get to in the next few days:

• I can copy this list into Wilderness backpacking, and update it with the recommendations on that page. Upon closer reading, while I still don't think this should be its own article, the list is mostly solid overall. I just got hung up on a few items near the top.
• Tweak the prose in Hiking to more prominently refer to various regional trekking/backpacking/etc. articles where it mentions longer hikes. I don't see a lot of prose that I would actually move out of that article, it just needs to more clearly state its scope.

Here's a vision I'm chewing on:

• I'm open to renaming Wilderness backpacking to Wilderness backpacking in North America, if you don't think its content is broadly relevant to other regions. I have not yet carried a tent outside of North America, so I don't want to make that call myself.
• Hiking in the Alps is an article I would love to have, that feels like a major gap in our content. I could cobble together a bare outline for it. Other than that, we seem to have something to point to for the other heavily-traveled hiking hotspots. If we also rescoped Wilderness backpacking, that would leave Hiking as our only catch-all topic.

When the dust settles, we can see if any other articles still want this content as a placeholder list, or if it should become a redirect. Gerode (talk) 18:37, 15 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

OK.

• The list has been amended from its GR origins and I agree that it looks quite good. I did't check it properly, though.
• Tweaking Hiking to more prominently refer to various regional trekking/backpacking/etc. articles sounds good.
• I don't think Wilderness backpacking is too North-America centred. Most of its advice fits perfectly with what I'd tell here, in the Nordics across the pond. That's still only two regions, so something important may be missing even for similar climates (e.g. for Yugyd Va National Park), but I assume the article can be amended as needed (and some region-specific advice given elsewhere), rather than us creating a dozen half-decent or stubby articles about different regions. The article now covers also trails with infrastructure, but it does so without compromising the advice for real wilderness, and now serves a wider audience. leaving less gap from Hiking. Actually, as we don't have Alaska or the Northwest Territories, also wilderness backpackers over here use wilderness huts and trails when they happen to fit nicely and aren't crowded or disturbingly wide or worn.
• Yes, Hiking in the Alps should definitively be written. The article would probably serve also some other European mountain ranges, but I think it is good to keep a clear scope and refer to it with needed commentary as appropriate.

–LPfi (talk) 16:24, 17 January 2026 (UTC)Reply