Hi Thomas :):):). Firstly, we love love love your videos. They're brilliant and sometimes sooo hilarious. Thank you for your very honest reply to this video. Didn't expect this. By no means we want to scare off people or badly criticise the hexatrek. We think its a brilliant idea, and hey, it's a baby trail in its baby shoes, it took us by surprise, gave us a good tumble and spat us out (and we're not disappointed nor looking back in grief)but we are sure that once it matures it will absolutely be a really awesome wonderful cool trek. No one is perfect right away. And we definitely will come back for the other etapes. Yea, the alps have killed us to be fair. And since we followed your videos we saw and heard you pointing out some struggles, and we were waiting for "whyyyy". ''because of personal things?" "Or is there something about the trail?" haha. Now we have, as mortal, normal humans, walked maybe 12.000kms of long distance trails or thruhikes (completed TA 2x, PCT, E1 Germany plus smaller stuff here and there mostly in NZ). And while we learned that comparing trails is not good, we still thought that we had to somehow make it clear as to why WE left the Hex for now. Actually, Just today I said to Rene: if the PCT was the Hexatrek, then the route in the Sierras would be criss-crossing between high route and JMT - it would lead you to insanely pretty places but you'd kill yourself on the way or come out after 2 months, running out of time for the weather window. But the PCT has learned. It somehow manages to guarantee your daily 20-25ks without draining you. If Te Araroa was the Hexatrek, then instead of going only over Waiau Pass, it would take you over 2 more technical passes, into another valley, make you climb another pass, show you all of Nelson Lakes NP, and spit you out 2 weeks after you started walking that section. Instead this section takes an average hiker 6-8 days and still they feel energized. I guess what im trying to say is: these long distance trails to me are like A TASTER of certain areas in a country. I meet people, experience the food, see the landscapes and I 'go from one to the next'. You go in, you see a bit (but not all), and you leave. Young hexatrek wants to show you a weeee bit more than just a taster, I feel ;). (At least in stage 2 and 3( Does that make sense? Haha We are no purists on neither trail, we consider the gpx track as a 'corridor' and anything around it is part of the trail. I think the best experiences don't come with having hiked every step, but they come with getting lifts by strangers, taking a different trail, or taking a GONDOLA. On the Hex we often walked smaller diversions. But there are a few occasions where I now look back and I wished I had had the gr5 track on the app to see where the gr5 goes. Especially around chamonix. Going to Refuge de Bise, the skifields after lac vert, Folly Refuge instead of Samoëns. It was pretty, but also a bit painful. Gr5 hikers called the hexatrek 'for hardcore hikers' and by far...Im not hardcore haha. Rene would love for the app to show all the applicable GR trails. Let people choose. The 'masochistic' ultras will walk anything. But the average hiker will be happy to have them layed out. I dont think that the Hexatrek is purely meant to be for people who seek a thrilling physical challenge, but I personally hope it will become a trail that manages to accommodate the average Joe, or Anna, or Rene, too. Actually there are a lot of people who absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the alps, theyre bathing in the views and cols and can't get enough of climbing up and down and up and down. ;) Anyways, we honestly think the hex will become a great trail. We don't want to offend. We want it to be a lovely and very successful thru hike that can challenge the famous and older ones :) and it will. For now we are eating our way through Bretagne for a bit but I think we will be ready for maybe etape 4 after that. And then eventually, maybe next year, the gorgeous Pyrenees, on the GR10! :P. :):) Merci, Thomas! ♡ we're waiting for the rest of your videos :):)

@@atalefromatrail8181 Thank you for your amazing answer, I really appreciate it. And there is no hard feeling, I'm the first one to be critical of the trek, because this is how we'll make it better in the future. It would be delusional to imagine that creating such a massive project would be perfect on day 1, especially when the trace has been done only by one person only (that happened to live in Chamonix, so yeah it shows when you look at the general map seeing how the trail lingers in the Alps compared to every other section, you were correct) and a super tiny team that doesn't have time or resources to help there either. In my opinion, it will take years to have a correct and definitive path, if we ever have one as the terrain will change, and as French legislation is complicated and every commune can change the way how they prefer (and I'm not even talking about the french hikers association owning the intellectual property of the roads we're using and that can change anything if their heart desire). So yeah, instead of offending you are pointing out legitimate points and concerns that are already shared. And it's really cool :) I would like the trail to be more homogeneous, and manage to find ways to not have extremely difficult spikes after flattish and easy sections. But France is shaped in a way that we can only try to minimize this aspect, as the Alps and the Pyrenees are brutal by nature and won't ever feel like the rest. Still, we don't have to go on all the passes and all the peaks neither, nor stay forever in the valley merely looking at the peaks. There's a balance to find, and to me it will take years. And yeah, GR5 is a good example oof that, GR10 too in a way (although heavily focused on trying to reach civilization almost once a day, so a lot of annoying ups and downs in some sections). It's a long process, and I hope we will welcome a lot of people in the association, grow bigger so we can have more means to tackle all those issues. And damnit with your thru-hike experience you are more than legitimate to form a valid opinion. I love your point that a thru-hike should be a taster! That's exactly what I felt too, but couldn't find a way to articulate it and this word is perfect. Hence why I didn't want to do the whole Tour des Ecrins, but merely pass on it for one day. It is unnecessary to have all of it, one day on it is enough and for those who like it always have an excuse to come back and do it. Same as the TMB and the Stevenson in les Cévennes (and luckily we didn't include them entirely in the HT ahah). To me hiking 3000km is already a difficulty, passing the Alps and the Pyrennees is challenging enough, adding more difficulties along the way isn't necessary to keep most people entertained. Not everybody agrees with that, especially in the team. We aim for the HexaTrek to be THE french trail, the one you do when you want to discover France by foot, and so tasting the country is also my philosophy, not keeping it only for the experienced mountaineers or UL hikers. France hiking has so much more to offer than difficulties and harassing ups and downs, it would be too bad to overshadow everything else for those extremes moments. Anyway thanks again, and I'm excited to see you on the rest of the way and hear your remarks !

Osmand has a free open source version based on Open Street Maps. As long as you download ths specific region off the world you have all the trails. GR5, CDT, PCT, HRP, etc. May i suggest you the GR34 (sentier des douaniers) in out beautiful Bretagne.

Thank you :). And we journey on. At the moment unfortunately without internet reception, and yea, just not on the Hexatrek. ;)

Thank you :) yea it's not easy to actually make it public too. It's almost a topic not many seem to talk about maybe because of fear of feeling like a failure..but absolutely, Rene and I are not there to proof that we are superhuman-hikers. It took a while to accept the decision, it's our first time to bail on a long trail due to 'enjoyment'. but we got it now and it was the right thing to do.

Haha the suck-pillow..yeees... We have made 98% peace with leaving the hexatrek, are about to finish our Bretagne section hike and will be heading into maybe a drier climate again. ITS BEEN WET!!!! HAHA

Brittany is pretty good. Lots of crepes, galettes, sardines and rain 😅

Ted's having a real blast. He actually is quite keen on heading to the Iberian peninsula for some hiking. We see if we can fulfill this dream of his ;) hope winter isn't too bad in welly :):)

@@atalefromatrail8181 we had hail last week and it remained on the ground for two days. At least we are getting more daylight.

Yes thats what I thought. We've got 6 months and they should be used wisely :) big hugs. Hope everyone at home is happy and well

@@atalefromatrail8181 See FB for Benji’s little snow adventure at St Arnold.

Absolutely. It took a week or two to settle with the hexatrek-goodbye. But I think we got it now. ;);)

Hi Alan, It's tricky..we have seen young light hikers leave, and a couple in their 70s with over 20kg pack weight mastering the trail (unfortunately you often don't hear about these kinds of people anymore, not sure what happened to them, whether they're still walking, or whether they stopped or changed...) In terms of starting, the 4 of us (Eline and Rapha) agree that a may start is necessary. Unless you're reaaally quick, or also depending on the amount of snow - watching PCT hikers trudge through snow in the desert this season, it can maybe also happen that the alps receive an unusual amount of snow, then you might want to leave later...or even consider starting in Hendaye and doing a NOBO. But yes, 15th of May. We would definitely agree :)! I dont want to make it too complicated. You previously asked about the Apps, if I remember correctly. I would use the hexatrek app PLUS another app where you can download the individual GR trails...in the Vosges the Hexatrek diversions are great. But in the Alps..especially between Lac Leman and chamonix, I think having the option of knowing 'easier' alternates is great to have. So I'd definitely download GR5 for the Alps and GR10 for the Pyrenees. I've heard of a german guy who continued on the GR5 and instead of following the Hexatrek, he took the GR6 and rejoins later again (he said something similar: to keep the joy and fun in the game - so he doesnt do the ECRINS, BELLEDONNE, VERCORS. basically all of stage 3. he believes they are too technical and slow - and I would second that. Unless you're feeding of seeing 800kms of alp like environments, then the hexatrek is your friend. Kévin, the hex founder, is home in the Alps, so if I put my conspiratorial hat on, I'd say he knows many of the extra places and tracks, lives for these hills and wants to give ppl the chance to go and see beyond the GRs - good? Bad? I'm not to judge) It's always tough making decisions on what to follow, because on either trails you will see amazing stuff, or sometimes miss out on a famous landmark. Like skipping, flipping, stopping, its all not easy. But listen to your instinct there. Before Chamonix, Rene and I had the choice twice, whether to follow the hex or the gr5. We felt like the GR5, but always took the hexatrek. And I feel this was a mistake. And I get the impression it was the beginning of the turning point into our journey... Yet. The moment we looked up the hill, in the video, was live, that was this very moment that we knew we had seen enough. And it felt absolutely 100% right to leave the trail there,.because we had ignored our feelings before Chamonix. Hope you still feel ambitious and keen. Maybe Lauren Roericks video or Hiking with Ryan will give you more positive thoughts on the trail. Always good to hear different impressions. :) :) For now we keep promoting the GR34 in chilly and windy Brittany, but we consider a return to the hex maybe in September for a section. I'm just thinking of a good example to show how the hexatrek seemed to us.. On all our long trails, the tracks gave a TASTER to a certain area. For example the Te Araroa: crossed many national forests and parks. You go in, you go out. The PCT: the John Muir trail in the Sierras, a big great taster for the Sierra Nevada. You go in, you go out. If the TA and the PCT behaved like the hexatrek - then you would be criss-crossing through the Sierras, alternating between the high route, and the JMT. Or you would be doing 3 awkward passes back to back in the Nelson Lakes National Park, because they're all stunning, but it would take you twice the time - or so Don't know if that made it clear'ish? Hihi

Hi Anna, thank you for your very detailed reply and sharing your knowledge with me, which will improve my Hexatrek experience next year. Seeing the trail through your and Rene's eyes has been invaluable, educational and of course entertaining. Thank you. Thanks for your input in confirming my start date. Regarding another app do you have a particular recommendation? Yes I still feel ambitious and keen. Also determined to take training very seriously, thank you. I follow other hikers but I will miss the videos from you both. It is very true what you mentioned regarding comparison with other thru hikes. I did 1200klms of the TA in the North Island last year but the Hexatrek will be constantly much harder. Up to now while in the Alps have you had any problems with resupply or have you been staying in refuges? Thanks again for all the help from both of you.

@alankelly349 Helloo :) app wise - there's so many.. I have used OSMAND+ or Rene uses backcountry navigator. Osmand is very simple, I believe, so it works well for me. But yea, I wasn't so smart and didn't download the applicable GR gpx files...;) Resupply. Never really an issue. Many little supermarkets in france close around 12-12:30. And reopen around 3pm-4pm. That gives you sort of a timeline for when to hit town. Check google, in general thats reliable. In France they kick off summer season around the 7-8th of July (alps and here in Bretagne). For us the only closed store was the one in the ski resort town. refuges generally open around 15th-25th of july in the alps. On long stretches we sometimes substituted a lunch or a dinner at a refuge. Less to carry, tastes nicer, too. ;) hehe. They range from omelettes with a green salad (8€-15€) to fancier and more expensive meals. Drinks - anything your heart desires. From Coca-Cola, fruit juice, tea, coffee, beer and wine...these things I found generally expensive. Everything has to be flown in, carried in, driven in and it seems like the drinks are somehow the most expensive stuff to order. Refuges offer demi-pension, includes brekkie, dinner and bed. We paid anything between 50-70€. But you can eat your own food there and just take a bed (linen, duvet, pillow) which maybe was around 17-27€ In case you follow 'cartapouille' one of the co-founders of the trail, you might like to read his comment on this video. ;)

Thanks Anna for all the information. With the cold areas you have camped what is the comfort temperature of Rene's sleeping bag? Is he happy with that temperature? Thanks for your help. How are you enjoying the new walk?

@alankelly349 Helloo, you're very very welcome. The temperature rating of our sleeping bags is COMFORT -6. they're from ZPACKS. overall we are very happy. They both have done maybe 9000ks?! And they're fine. The only thing is that we sometimes wished they had hoods when it was really cold like in the sierras. (you can buy a hood from zpacks) we just use beanie or buff to protect the heads from too much heat loss. We use silk liners to protect them. We had a few cold nights in the Vosges in the beginning and in the Alps camping high, but yea, they work just fine. :) definitely get a bag with -2 to -6. Rapha and Eline sometimes were pretty chilled in their not-so-warm bags. Bretagne is very humble, it's smothering us with easy walking, lots of food, some swims, sleep-ins, changeable atlantic ocean-weather and friendly people. :).

They are coming. We just can't find internet at the end of the Earth to upload them. But they will be on their way. :):)

Thanks Rick :):)