Hello all,

 Last year my girlfriend and I hiked the red and green VA routes from Trieste Italy to Nice, France(roughly 3.5 months).  Below is some information and a link to our trail journal which contains pictures and trail information.  If anyone is looking to hike this route and has questions about anything, feel free to email me at bryan_sands@ekit.com.  

Our Journal

http://www.trailjournals.com/lostinthealps/ 

Some basic information

At this time, all I can say is this- if you want to do it, then go for it. This trail(route is probably a better word) is amazing and completely different from any of the long distance trails in the Unites States. But it is hard! At half the distance of the AT, I found it 10 times harder. If you want to hike in the Alps, but don't want the physical and mental punishment of a thru-hike, I would say that the highlights of the VA are Slovenia and E. Austria and the French Alps. I would skip Switzerland. It is beautiful for sure, but way too touristy and expensive and the "bookends" of the Alps have far superior trails, lovely and unrestored villages and incredibly friendly and helpful people. Besides trekking, I'd also suggest planning a few days of Ferrata. You don't need to have the routes planned before you go, simply stop by any climbing store and ask for suggestions and rent gear. I can't stress enough what an amazing cultural experience this was for us. People in every country were all too willing to explain to us every aspect of their lives in the mountains. And one of the things that shocked us was how different these lives could be-not just from country to country, but also from valley to valley. So get out there and go for it. You will not be sorry.

Before you go, keep in mind the following:
1. Knowing basic German and French will not only be extremely helpful, but also allow you to get the most out of your trip.
2. Hiking in the Alps costs 2-3 times more per mile than a thru-hike of the AT
3. The weather can be downright terrible. The "true" hiking season is July and Aug. Before or after and anything goes.
4. You must love climbing steep, relentless trails.
5. Your feet will be on rock for the entire trip. Even deep in the valleys, you will not find nice, loamy trails, but rather rock, rock and more, sharper, rock.
6. Food. If you have any food restrictions, I'm not sure this trail is for you. D cannot have dairy and this was a constant problem. More severe restrictions would be very difficult in every country except Switzerland. If you have restrictions, look into the Poste Resante System(General Delivery). I've heard bad things about it from locals(because you will likely be shipping across borders every time and sometimes no matter what office you send it to, it ends up at the closest big city). But you never know until you try. Easily available foods are bread, cheese, dried meat, and pastas. Only Switzerland and some larger towns in Austria/Germany have big, western-style markets with everything. There was peanut butter in Slovenia and some markets in Austria and France. 90 percent of my diet was bread, cheese and died meat. We cooked pasta at night. D lived on nuts, dark chocolate and peanut butter(all very expensive). Denatured alcohol was readily available everywhere except Italy. It's usually sold in gas stations or in markets as "fondu fuel." Meals at huts are usually filling but cost 15 to 35 dollars per meal.
7. Gear. Bring what you know works and don't plan on finding proper ultrlight thru-hiking packs, shoes or socks. Yes, socks! They all suck. Even though we spent up to 50 dollars on each pair, they shredded in less than 100 miles. Think 3 pairs of smartwools and hope they last. If you do need something, it will almost always be possible to hitch or take busses to larger towns though it might take a full day or 2.  It is no problem finding heavy, climbing boots and gear.

8. Get off the VA when it becomes a road walk or bike trail.  There are so many great trails in the Alps that there is no need to stick with just the VA to get from place to place.  There are many terrible road or bike trail sections that can be detoured with the help of topo maps.

9. As far as maps go, you can buy most of them along the way.  This is an expensive process but the VA maplets from the website are useless.  Trails in much of W Austria and Switzerland are so well marked that maps are uneccessary.  Most of the green route is the Alpine Pass Route and there is a Cicerone Guidebook in English that is more than sufficient to get you across Switzerland.  Kompass maps come with small guidebooks, usually containing elevation profiles and hut info.(in German)  A GR guidebook will get you across all of France.  The biggest challenge is getting in and out of large towns.  

10. In the end, be prepared for steep trail and bad weather and for one hell of an adventure. Good Luck!!!!!!

Bryan
bryan_sands@ekit.com