A wrap of the biggest stories and best writing about the outdoors from New Zealand and around the world.

46-year-old single mom Nikki Bettis and her 15 children have hiked much of the Appalachian Trail over the last five months. Nikki and her children say the experience has changed them for the better physically, but also in terms of their relationships with each other.

Nikki has hoped to hike the AT since she read a magazine article about it when she was 12. She’d long wanted to do the trip with her kids but had to wait until they were all old enough. The ages of the kids on the trip range from 4 to 22.

Nikki said they’ve been fortunate to have had only two truly bad days. One of those was their coldest night, on a mountain in Georgia, where the temperature was -16C. Those who’d been sleeping in hammocks huddled in tents; Nikki said she fit seven people into her three-person tent.

And yet, “There’s so many good days,” she said. “This has shown me a different life. You can live minimally. You can live with nothing, and still be completely happy with life.” Read the full story from the Berkshire Eagle.

Almost a decade in the making, Clutha Gold Cycle and Walking Trail gets 63km extension

The Clutha Gold Cycle and Walking Trail has nearly doubled in length with the addition of about 63 kilometres of track crossing farmland, a viaduct and old railway tunnels.

Clutha Gold Trail Charitable Trust Chair Murray Paterson could not wait to see the difference it would make to the small communities along the way.

“It’s going to bring a lot of people. A lot of people have already come. This boardwalk … there’s probably been thousands over it already and we’re not open. We couldn’t keep them back.”

The extension makes it a true multi-day ride, stretching over more than 130 kilometres from Lake Roxburgh to Lake Waihola. Paterson hoped to see 30,000 people a year on the trail and said the extension would not have been possible without landowners coming on board. Read the full story from RNZ.

Amazing video of avalanche seen from Aoraki/Mt Cook Village

The video from Stuff shows an avalanche on Mt Sefton, as seen from Aoraki/Mt Cook Village on Friday morning. “It was just spectacular watching it, just being there,” said Barrie Burnett, who was doing some building work in the village when it happened. A friend of his took the video.

The event was classified as a size 5 avalanche, the largest classification of an avalanche, with the potential to devastate the landscape and cause catastrophic destruction to anything in its path.

The NZ Avalanche Advisory says there are “dangerous avalanche conditions” in the Aoraki/Mt Cook area above 2000m. “Things are pretty touchy in the mountains now. People need to be aware and be careful,” Alpine Guides manager Arthur McBride said.

Paparoa Great Walk has room to grow: Camping, hut extensions mooted for 2025

Ten years ago the Paparoa Track was just a feasibility study. Now it is one of the most in-demand multi-day walks in the country.

The three-day walk became the 10th and newest Great Walk in 2019. With the Pike29 Memorial extension set to open this summer, there could be room to add camping and hut extensions.

“The Paparoa Track is still in its infancy and the first two years were affected by Covid, severe weather and closures from roadworks,” says Mark Davis, Western South Island director for DOC. 

However, that hasn’t stopped the Paparoa from being a huge success. “In terms of hut bed nights, the track has been one of the higher-performing Great Walks comparable with the Kepler and Routeburn.

Davis says it will take time to review how trail use changes with day and overnight visitors. “Because of that, we’re unlikely to make any big decisions on hut extensions or provision of camping sites until after June 2025.” Read more at the NZ Herald.

If you can do these four exercises, you’re ready for any hike

According to Backpacker Magazine, there are four exercises you can perform to help reduce injury risk, increase your on-trail confidence, and make your trip less of a sufferfest. Adding these to your training will help you have trail-proof full-body strength in no time.

The exercises include bodyweight squats, which build strength and endurance for the large muscle groups in your legs. Single-leg bridges to test the strength and endurance of your hamstrings, glutes, and core. Planks to build core strength, essential on longer trips with heavier packs. And finally, single-leg calf raises to build the strength and endurance of your calf muscles. Read the full article for more training tips.