Fastpacking

Long popular in Europe, various forms of endurance sports are finding their niche on this side of the Atlantic as well. In addition to trail running, there is ultra running, wilderness running, mountain running and orienteering. Yet another offshoot gathering steam is fastpacking — running multiple days on the trail while carrying a pack with food and tent.

The bad news: fastpacking. The good news: cougars view swiftly fleeing humans as food. But seriously, fastpacking is the backcountry equivalent of a 9-day, 18-nation tour of Europe.

The opposite of slackpacking is fastpacking, or powerhiking, which maximizes daily mileage by walking for long hours with only a few short stops.