When I booked my 2025 hut-to-hut hike in the Austrian Alps, I looked at the daily distances, then at the elevation gain, and my honest first reaction was: oh dear God.
Here's the problem. I used to be a park ranger. Staying fit wasn't a goal I had, it was just what the job did to you. Then I became a software engineer, and now the job mostly does the opposite. These days, every time I want to do a big hike, I have to actually train for it. This is new information for my body and it is not thrilled.
And I don't like the gym membership fees. What I love is walking out my front door and finding out what's in my own neighborhood. That feeling of discovery is a big part of why being a ranger suited me, and most of why I want to see more of the world. But I didn't have a car, so Washington's trails, gorgeous as they are, were mostly out of reach on a weekly training schedule. So I trained the only way available to me: I wandered around my neighborhood and guessed. Was it enough distance? Enough hills? Should I be doing stairs? How many? Carrying what?
What I wanted was an app that would just tell me. This week, do this trail. Can't get to a trail? Fine: walk these four miles and do the water tower stairs six times. A plan that ramps you up a little each week, starting on your own sidewalk and ending at the summit you signed up for. (If you're already guessing where the app's name came from: yes, exactly.)
