If you're like me, or rather how I was, you’d never heard of Highlander Adventure before, but after a little bit of reading and seeing an affiliation with an organization as reputable and established as Spartan Race, your interest is piqued.
When first hearing about the Highlander Adventure, my partner and I had very little to work with to make our decision. We knew that this adventure series had its roots in Europe, that there were 3 adventure distance options available, that they were affiliated with Spartan Race (I’d previously associated as part of the cult Spartan family, myself), and that unlike our backpacking trip experiences of having to carry food for the entire trip, that we'd only have to carry a day or twos worth of food at a time as food was distributed at checkpoints. On top of that, the experience touted evening offerings of yoga, music and entertainment at the campsites.
“Why not?” We'd decided early on, and registered several months prior for the 5 day 60 mile adventure, the longest of the 3 options. We’d already been on a few backpacking trips and also had a handful more planned for the summer leading up to the first USA Highlander, so we felt we’d be prepared and if anything, it might feel like a little break, like backpacking lite at the end of a fully scheduled season.
As far as nutrition goes, Donnie was a little skeptical about the food that would be provided for us. There were even some participants that chose to pack in their own meals so there would be no surprises. Our first day of meals were provided at check-ins the day before our journey began, with the rest of our days of food dispersed to us at checkpoints and two evenings of hot prepared meals. Personally, my philosophy about fitness and hiking is that I like to eat because I like to hike, and I like to hike because I like to eat. I'm grateful to say that every step of the way I felt more than adequately fed. Some of us were even returning snacks back that we found we wouldn't need to lighten our packs load. I got to try out Expedition Meals for the first time and found them to be filling and full of flavor. I discovered a new and fitting on- the-go meal for hiking and everyday life out of Fillo's Walking Tamales. I am, and I'm sure many others are, eternally grateful for HopWater's and GT Kombucha's sponsorships as a cold fizzy beverage at each checkpoint was something akin to an island oasis after a day on foot in the sun. On two of the nights, we enjoyed a hot catered dinner; one of which was a flavorful salad, pasta and breadsticks night, fitting for the night before our longest day of mileage, and the other was a most fulfilling taco bar, complete with chips and guac.
In regards to the course, I had honestly expected it to be fairly easy compared to our preceeding summer excursions in the Eastern Sierras, but it definitely put us to work. An event like this is at the mercy of the forest service, so it took a few iterations before they were able to agree on a final course. For the 60(ish) mile adventure, our mileages each day were ~10, 13, 17.6, 16, and 8.4 ( with an option for an additional mountain summit adding 10mi ). When all was said and done, Donnie and I clocked in nearly 76mi, the greatest amount of miles we've ever consecutively hiked, beating out our High Sierra Trail mileage.
When it came to the evening programming, it was well curated with options like yoga offerings, an inspirational talk by mental health advocate Jesse Cody @hikethegoodhike, live acoustic music, a screening of the feature documentary Highline, and an eye-opening presentation by Benny Braden of ResponsibleStewardship.org.
To be clear, Highlander Adventure is not a race. Although they're affiliated with Spartan, they make it perfectly clear that it isn't a race. That isn't to say, though, that some people coming from the Spartan culture wouldn't have a competitive mentality. We very much understood it to be “not a race,” however my partner and I do have competitive tendencies for ourselves; we like to challenge ourselves, keep and maybe even develop a quicker pace and see how quickly we can outdo ourselves. If there's anything I might've changed after the fact, I probably would've intentionally slowed down to get to chat and interact with more people. As it is, we met some amazing outdoor lovers and like-minded spirits; it was nice having the community around in the evenings at each campsite. It’s funny to experience in real time what a small world it is because I met, for real met, Instagram friends and friends of friends, some of which I didn't even know were coming and others I didn't realize I was already connected with until the end of the week. I personally feel like I missed out on getting to know even more amazing people, some of which I only got to know by face, if at all. Everyone has a story, and the kind of people that choose to take on the feat of an extended camping trip on foot, home-for-the-week strapped to their back and all, make up a community of people rich with personalities and stories.
If after reading all this you find yourself even more interested in participating in a Highlander Adventure, I'd love for you to enjoy my DISCOUNT code: CHER-HL10 for 10% off any U.S.A. Highlander in 2023.
Registration is live NOW for Big Bear Lake - May 24-28, 2023!
If you're a hiker looking to transition into backpacking, this is your sign🤠
If you're a backpacker looking to build on your mileage, this is your sign🎒
If you're a backpacker craving more community, this is the place📍
If you're in search of more adventure, the time is Now😉
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