Two weeks since starting, ArmaSkin Ambassador Mikey (featured in lead picture) has completed the first of three sections of the Croatian Long Distance Trail.

"Section A of the Croatian Long Distance Trail is COMPLETED!!!!"

The CLDT is a relatively new trail and as evidenced by a recent post from Mikey, having a backdrop of friendly locals is proving of great benefit to his travels.

"Podravske Sesvete, Day 10: Mountain Lodge Petrov top to Veliki Bastaji - 23..9km, Sunday 19th May 2024

Today was another hard day to follow the path, really hard in fact. I got to a section where I couldn't even see any form of path. After looking around for a while, I decided it necessary to make yet another big D-tour.

Whilst on my reroute, I got a message out of the blue from Mario, offering to do a BBQ at his hut this evening. Long story short, him and his son, Max, picked me up as I had just walked past Veliki Bastaji and brought me to Planinarska kućica Brusovi where we chilled for the evening with some food and bon fire. Mario then dropped me off in Virovitica where I am staying tonight.  The plan is to get dropped off at Veliki Bastaji tomorrow morning, and carry on from where I left off."

Mikey is using the hike to raise awareness of nystagmus, a condition that he suffers from. Nystagmus has an incidence rate of at least 1 in 1,000 people in the general population and is the most common form of visual impairment among school aged children  You can keep track of Mikey, on his Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/walk_for_wiggly_eyes/

As the following picture shows, the A section of the Trail runs through picturesque lush forests.

Back in January were we sorry to see one of our favourite ultra runners and ArmaSkin Ambassador Brad laid up with a torn meniscus.  But after a remedial op and a few months of rehab under the belt it was great to see Brad once again back on the trail.

Brad, "First trail race since knee surgery I absolutely love this race @breakneck_point I did the 21K this year with over 4K of vert to test my knee  I finished in the back of the pack nearly DFL  and had such an awesome day on the trails. I'm so glad to be back. LFG, I absolutely love this trail running community it was awesome to so many friends at this race! Thanks to @armaskin_protection @anti_blister_sock the best Anti-Blister Socks on the market hands down"

ArmaSkin Ambassador Erick is currently thru-hiking the Continental Divide Trail thru central USA. 

In only a few days he will have completed the traverse of New Mexico and be entering Colorado.  Already he is experiencing the transition from the extremely parched and flat terrain of New Mexico as he approaches the more mountainous Colorado region.

"The landscape changes in New Mexico. Everyday my elevation gets higher and higher. Fun fact, Santa Fe is higher elevation than Denver. Reaching snow soon and the game keeps changing. This is thruhiking baby."

If you want to see for yourself how the Trail is unfolding Erick is posting regular videos on his YouTube channel (Dogfoot Trailing )  and some great pics on his Instagram page.  @dogfoot_trailing .  Please give him easy (no cost) support by Subscribing to his Youtube channel and enjoying his content. 

In case you missed it, we provided additional background to the Continental Divide Trail in a recent blog post.  Read the blog here.

ArmaSkin Ambassador Karl, better known as KC, has been a regular Camino pilgrim. His message at the conclusion of his pilgrimage taps into the heart of why so many people choose to undertake the 800kms or so of the Camino.

"Another Camino comes to a close at the “end of the world” at Cape Finisterre. The challenge now is to take the lessons back home where the real Camino begins—to be a better version of myself, to simplify and appreciate how little one needs to be genuinely happy and free, to remember that inside we’re all far more alike than different, to be grateful that I had this experience with Tama and we still appear to like (and love) each other, to be grateful for the new friends made this Camino and for the ones in past Caminos as well. The experiences have enriched my life and made this chapter far better than I could have ever imagined."​

During KC's Camino he happened upon fellow ArmaSkin fans aka the Posh Pilgrims. 

These folks happily shared their story with us via their Instagram page Posh Pilgrims

As their name suggests they are somewhat of a contrast to ArmaSkin Ambassador Erick of Dogfoot Trailing who introduced us to the wonder of golden water (Urophagia)

If you are encouraged by their website's Welcome message, "Welcome to our journey across the Camino Frances and beyond as Posh Pilgrims to inform you and inspire you on your Camino. This website is dedicated to Pilgrims that like private rooms, luggage transfers and are happy to splurge on good food and wine." you can read more from the Posh Pilgrim website​

This recent blog gave quick summaries of some of the iconic trails that we've seen our ArmaSkin Ambassadors and fans travel. Let's hope it might be a thought starter for more ArmaSkin fans to aspire to thru hiking an iconic trail. Read more here: Iconic Trails.​

As we reported last month, ArmaSkin Ambassador Art (Karts) will soon be heading to Arctic waters on his next two adventures.

Firstly, Art will be on the way to Pitkas Point in Alaska, only 100 miles/160km from the Bering Sea to complete his Yukon 2020 canoe trek of 2020 miles of the Yukon River which he started way back in 2020!  

Art had told us that "Everything is in place and my canoe is slowly emerging from its icy tomb at Pitkas Point near St. Mary's, Alaska."

And above here's some visual evidence. Art is not concerned about his canoe surviving the year unattended. "Laying upside down helps to prevent undue loadingfrom the snow and ice. This is the FOURTH winter that it has wintered. Two Covid Winters and two winter delays from flooding and winds."
 

After he reaches the Bering Sea, he will proceed northeast to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada to join the Northwest Passage Expedition to be part of a Team aiming to complete the first ever ocean row of the entire Northwest Passage.  The team has approximately 1,000miles/1,600km remaining to row in a westerly direction.  

"I'll be using Armaskin socks to protect my feet in a cold and wet environment.," Art said.

AND, if you have big plans for 2024, how about dropping us a line telling us what you are doing (email ian@armaskin.com).

We'd love to be able to share your journey with the ArmaSkin community.