Backpacking

Backpacking is the outdoor recreation practice of carrying gear on one's back while hiking for more than a day, often as an extended journey that involves camping outdoors along the way, distinguishing it from a shorter day hike by both its duration and its reliance on self carried equipment. In North America tenting is the common form of overnight shelter, while simple shelters and mountain huts, though rare in North America, are widely found in Europe; in New Zealand the practice is called tramping and hikers make use of tents alongside a nationwide network of huts, in Britain the equivalent activity is called hill walking, though that term can also describe a single day walk, and backpackers in South Africa likewise make use of simple huts along their routes. The hobby is defined as much by its regional traditions of shelter and terminology as by the common core practice of self sufficient overnight travel on foot, and it is a distinct pursuit from the live Hiking and Camping hobbies on this atlas rather than a simple combination of the two.