Page 16 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2018

Bringing Hut-to-hut Travel to Sonoma County Tramping. Trekking. Hillwalking. Bushwalking
By Emmett Hopkins
The world over, we use many different words to describe long distance
walking. It’s an age-old tradition that roots all the way back to our ancient ancestors, who trekked across the land as a way of life, a simple exercise in survival.
Although modern technology has tended to push people away from long- distance walking, cultures on every continent have managed to preserve traditions of hospitality toward walkers. In some cases, these cultural traditions have created the foundation for a newer industry of recreational walking tourism.
Nowadays, adventurous travelers will plan entire vacations around a New Zealand hut route, an Italian walking tour, or a multi-day hike through the English Lakes district. Imagine if you could take one of these exciting trips right in your own backyard. It’s a concept that has gained traction in Sonoma County in recent years, and in fact you can now join multi-day walking trips within
our beautiful open spaces. Momentum on creating a local trekking network continues to build with recent developments and efforts by local agencies.
Santa Rosa based non-profit LandPaths has spent several years developing its TrekSonoma program, which gives locals and visitors the opportunity to spend three days walking or paddling across our local landscape, experiencing the landscape as a connected whole. Just last month, LandPaths hosted a week- long series of events that brought hut systems advocate Sam Demas to Sonoma County to explore and evaluate our local trekking program.
Demas, a research fellow with the National Parks Service, is one of the world’s experts on hut-to-hut travel. Huts are basic four-walled shelters that support long-distance walking trips by giving walkers places to sleep and shelter from the weather, lightening their loads by eliminating the need to carry a tent. Demas joined LandPaths staff and local partners on three “mini treks”
to give him a sense of the local terrain and trekking routes. He capped his visit with a dinner presentation and discussion with a group of partner organizations interested in working with LandPaths to create a new hut system.
According to Demas, “Virtually every culture has a tradition of hospitality for taking care of people who are out by foot—human powered travelers—because that’s what people have done for millenia.” The United States, on the other hand, does not have such a strong culture of hospitality towards walkers. “I found myself wondering,” he explained to a group of walkers, “why don’t we have [so many] huts in the United States? Why isn’t it such a big thing here? What roles might huts play in American culture? What role might huts play
in supporting and also mitigating the potential damage and environmental impacts from adventure tourism?”
In his slide show, Demas shared photos and experiences from across the world. New Zealand is especially known for its world-class hut system, which gives trampers access to 950 cabins or shelters and allows them to walk for days without carrying a tent on their backs. Countries including Italy, England, Ireland, Australia, Chile, France, and Switzerland also boast a strong trekking culture and hut infrastructure. In North America, a handful of hut systems
dot the landscape, focused mainly in Colorado, the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest.
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But sadly, the strong American culture of private land ownership often bedevils efforts to create long-distance trails.
TRAVEL cont’d on page 17