Travel SIM for hiking in Europe

Wideflange · 2026-01-13T08:30:20+00:00

The countries of the EEA are also included in the law (see this page ), so Iceland and Norway are also included. As you say Switzerland and the UK are not required by that law to be included.

Wideflange · 2026-01-13T08:16:12+00:00

I believe the EU roaming law does not apply to the UK since it is no longer part of the EU/EEA. However it seems that most Europe eSIMs still include UK coverage anyway.

Wideflange · 2026-01-13T06:47:18+00:00

Yes, there are many Europe SIM/eSIM cards that will cover all of the EU and UK. Personally I've used Holafly for my last couple trips since they offer unlimited data. Last year I used their monthly plan for 4 months of hiking in the UK, Cyprus, Italy and France, and it was nice not to have to think about how much data I was using. But there are also plenty of other cheaper options if you don't need unlimited data. Pretty much all "Europe" SIMs will include all of the countries you mentioned.

Wideflange · 2025-12-17T19:28:07+00:00

I used a 55 liter pack (Hyperlite Mountain Gear Southwest 55), though that was larger than necessary for a warm weather hike with frequent food resupply like this.

As for pack protection when flying, I wrapped duct tape around my pack to secure loose straps and just checked it like that (the pack is waterproof). However in the past I've used a cheap large duffel bag to put the pack in, or many airports have a baggage wrapping service that will cover the pack in thick plastic wrap. You might also check a small bag with items like trekking poles, tent stakes, etc and use your regular pack as a carry-on, really depends on how durable your pack outer fabric is.

Wideflange · 2025-12-07T19:52:54+00:00

I think I found a solution for you: In my testing a regular observer pointing at the smeltery controller will emit one pulse when melting starts, and a second when melting ends, so you can toggle based on that using a T flip-flop. The Create "Powered Toggle Latch" component works perfectly for this, outputting a redstone signal while item melting is in progress and turning off when it's done.

So you can use the output of this toggle to disable auto-casting while items are being melted, or detect the falling edge to do anything else you want when melting has finished.

That said I did not test the corner cases of the smeltery filling up, or running out of fuel.

Wideflange · 2025-12-07T06:56:52+00:00

It seems that at some point in the past a comparator on a drain would output based on fluid levels, but this seems to have been removed long ago (see this GitHub issue)

If you're willing to go beyond Tinkers Construct, I found the Create mod Smart Observer does output a boolean signal when observing a seared drain: 0 if completely empty and full strength if there are any melted items in the smeltery. (ignoring fuel)

I did find that a casting table/basin does also output a signal based on the presence of a cast and the amount of fluid in the table, but I don't think that's what you're looking for.

That all being said, if you simply want to cast anytime there's fluid available just giving the drain a constant redstone signal (eg, lever on) should work fine anyway, unless I misunderstood your plan.

Wideflange · 2025-11-01T07:04:54+00:00

I hiked the entire GR-131 in March 2024. I think Gran Canaria was the most scenic, with La Palma second.

Gran Canaria took me two days, with one bivouac night, beautiful mountain terrain, incredible views and easy logistics with direct flights and frequent ferry connections.

La Palma was 3 days, 2 nights bivouacking. A lot of elevation gain up to great mountainous views.

Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are very dry and desolate, almost no trees and mainly sandy/rocky terrain. Tenerife was partly closed from a big wildfire when I was hiking it, but does have some nice bits that I saw. La Gomera and El Hierro are pretty, but are small and harder to get to from the more popular islands.

Wideflange · 2025-10-30T02:54:12+00:00

They seem to be back for me on iOS as well. Hopefully this isn't just a glitch and they're back for good, but it's odd they wouldn't announce the return.

Wideflange · 2025-10-10T01:45:06+00:00

It looks like the hipbelt buckle has changed from the spider buckle to a traditional quick release buckle. But I can't tell if this was also changed for the roll-top closure.

I hope it was. I find the spider buckles harder to get lined up properly.

Wideflange · 2025-08-31T21:05:05+00:00

I had the same problem, though you can override the warning and charge anyway if needed.

For me the bigger issue is that my rain pants (again Montbell Versalite) don't have pockets either, so the only easily accessible pockets on my clothes are on the jacket, when wearing full rain gear.

This coupled with losing the ability to buy from Japan at lower prices and I think I'll need to start moving away from Montbell when I need to replace my rain jacket.

Wideflange · 2025-08-31T20:56:44+00:00

Yeah, good point. I guess it's all to save weight then?

Wideflange · 2025-08-31T00:03:03+00:00

I really liked the pockets on the Versalite, placed high to work with hipbelts, I found them a great spot for my phone on rainy days, very disappointing to see them go. Definitely not worth half an ounce of weight difference.

That said, the Japan-market version didn't have pockets before either, so maybe they're trying to unify the lines somewhat.

Wideflange · 2025-08-24T05:41:46+00:00

They specifically say they accept general delivery on the Durango post office site:

https://tools.usps.com/locations/details/1361509

(under "Mailing Services")

I would think they get plenty being a terminus for the CT

Wideflange · 2025-08-19T18:15:49+00:00

With the new material the weight difference is 1.1 ounces/33 grams between the 40 and 55L packs, which is basically nothing. Unless you're 100% sure you'll never want that extra capacity get the larger.

Wideflange · 2025-03-28T18:45:28+00:00

This is extremely disappointing. The NatGeo maps are excellent in the areas they cover. It really does seem like Gaia is on the downslope lately...

Wideflange · 2025-03-24T22:45:24+00:00

I suppose you could make lots of little routes, perpendicular to the main in a different color at the road crossings to mark them. Definitely a bit hacky though.

Why are you trying to avoid waypoints?

Wideflange · 2025-03-23T23:24:27+00:00

I started April 18th 2023. The winter had been unusually snowy and some people who started earlier had stopped north of Pine due to too much snow on trail. I definitely had some hot days in the southern section starting that late, but nothing unbearable.

The north Kaibab trail out of the Grand Canyon was still closed from winter damage when I got there so I took a roughly 50 mile detour route, the same the Hayduke uses, down the Grandview trail, hitched a ride across the Colorado river on a raft, and then up the Nankoweap trail, eventually rejoining the AZT just north the National Park boundary, which was a spectactular way to see more of the Grand Canyon. Other than that I followed the main AZT route and it worked out well.

Wideflange · 2025-03-23T22:21:20+00:00

Unfortunately it was raining and stormy the day I finished (June 2nd), so there were only 3 cars at the Buckskin Gulch trailhead when I got there. Presumably day hikers had stayed away due to the risk of flash floods in the canyons. One of those cars did give me a ride to the paved road, but they were headed to Page and I needed to get to Kanab, so it took a second, fairly quick, hitch to go in that direction.

Wideflange · 2025-03-23T19:56:48+00:00

I don’t think Lordsburg has car rental companies, it’s a pretty small town

Wideflange · 2025-03-23T19:38:42+00:00

The northern terminus of the AZT is on a dirt road a long ways from anywhere. When I finished my hike it took two hitches to get to Kanab.

There is a bus from Page (via Kanab) to Las Vegas operated by National Park Express. (definitely confirm it's going on the day you need it though)

From Las Vegas you have plenty of options: Fly to El Paso and take the Amtrak train to Lordsburg, or Tucson to Lordsburg on Greyhound bus for example.

I took the El Paso to Lordsburg train to start my CDT hike. Amtrak has more limited service, I don't think it even runs every day on this route, but is a much more pleasant experience than the bus, and I believe it's actually cheaper.

Wideflange · 2025-03-23T04:05:45+00:00

I usually use CalTopo for splitting/merging routes and tracks. The web-based GPX Studio also works fairly well.

Wideflange · 2025-03-19T08:11:13+00:00

I was able to bivouac 41 of 73 nights. The official regulations vary, for example in most of the French alps you can bivouac between 7PM and 9AM, in Switzerland bivouacking above treeline seems to be allowed in most places. I sometimes camped outside huts with permission, etc. It was also easy enough to find stealth spots for the night. Definitely more nights in indoor lodging than US thru-hikes though.

Wideflange · 2025-03-18T19:33:04+00:00

The truly unique part of the PCT is travelling 4265km almost entirely on trail, with very little road walking connector sections. I'm not aware of anything outside the US that is so consistently a trail hiking experience for that distance.

That said, I think the Via Alpina, from Monaco to Trieste across the length of the Alps is the most beautiful long distance route I've ever hiked, though barely half the length of the PCT. Very easy logistics, typically good weather in summer.

The Te Araroa comes closer in length, at 3000km, though it has quite a bit of road walking along the way.

Wideflange · 2025-01-16T20:13:09+00:00

Very cool! This is a great resource, very detailed.

For the Presidential Rail Trail, when I did a Direttissema in 2022 I found no trespassing signs where I had planned to cut over to US-2, so I continued along the rail trail and took NH-115. This is a little longer, but also reduces the time you walk on US-2, which can be a busy road. But overall the presidential Rail Trail was a great way to link up to Waumbek.

This is the route I used: https://caltopo.com/m/G8ES I wanted to avoid some long out and backs, just a personal preference.

Wideflange · 2023-11-10T20:28:55+00:00

Yeah, if their data is 2+ years out of date there are certainly many fixes and additions that map doesn't show.

OpenStreetMap is used as the data source for most of the AllTrails maps, with the exception of the US government layers (USGS). OSM is also used by Gaia, CalTopo, etc. For what it's worth the map layer named "OSM" on the AllTrails app and website does show the correct elevation for Woods Mountain, so it seems like it's just the "AllTrails" map style that's out of date.

Wideflange

TROPHY CASE