feminist solitary hiking project

Sleep for the first time outside alone.
 

Follow the first time a GPS-track on a not marked DIY-hiking trail.
 

My first times were already some time ago.
 

But on the hike in September 2025, I was part of their first times in such an intensive way, although we hiked alone.
 

It felt like this time I was hiking the trail 3 times at once.
 

I also hiked their experience in my mind.
 

And their first times were linked to my first time experiences I had on these five days:
 
 
 

It was the first time other persons were testing the trail I built up & my trail description
 

The first-time testing how solitary hiking in a group will work out (alone but together)
 
 

The first-time testing, if the connection of the “extra topics” (alone, but together, through walking, through writing, towards body-liberation) with the trail chapters could also bring some kind of reflection and inspiration for other people while hiking
 

It felt like my most intense “first time” hiking experience.

It can’t happen in that way again – it feels so worth it writing a letter about it.

The two participants were from Germany.
 
 

They didn’t know each other before.
 

Both never slept alone in a tent before.
 

We went through the trail in theory, prepared emotionally on hiking alone and took the time to get familiar with the gear they were renting, sharing and testing the essential hiking skills in practice.
 
 

And of course, we spoke about how to do the “alone but together” concept.
 
 

 The rough plan was to hike the first half on the first day together and then split. We were connected through a chat-group and planned to share there always in the evening a picture and description of our tent spot as well as the location of it in a terrain map app. In the morning an update on how the night was and when we are about to continue.
 

Who is the “us” brings me also to saying some words about the second chapter “but together”.
 

The “us” (women*/Flinta*) are for me those, who don’t experience the reality of cis-men hiking. The reality of “just hiking”, without having to deal with for example the fear of gender-based violence, growing up as not being treated from society as a cis-men. Regarding the individual life experience, this can be a reason to not start hiking alone at all.Or although you go hiking alone, still this gendered fear can have an impact on how to choose sleeping spots or cause feelings of anger because dealing with that kind of fear takes extra energy and can take away the joy of hiking for some moments.

Although I might have soon over 200 nights in a tent alone, I still feel sometimes fear. It helped me a lot, when I read from other solitary Flinta* hikers, who hiked thousands of kilometers alone, that they also still struggle with this impact on their hiking passion. It enables us to speak openly about that fear and share what small tricks can help in these situations, who might happen also to the experienced hikers. To not blame ourselves as individuals for feeling that fear sometimes.
 

When I hold the preparation workshop, I got the feedback that it already helped, that I talked openly about my fear experience and how I deal with it. This shared understanding, support and solidarity you can only enable through Flinta* hiking workshops. 
 

This is the one part of “but together”, the other one is the shared joy and connection, you can feel on many levels with other Flinta* hikers, although you hike alone.
 

Still there was no sun and the swamp was covered in fog, what caused a picturesque atmosphere. We left our backpacks near the swamp pond, took off our hiking boots and tested walking on the swamp barefoot. As both had never walked before on swamp ground, I showed them where it is safe to step on and where you have to be more careful
 

I made my first steps on swamp ground in the late summer when living in Rovaniemi 2022. I was immediately fascinated.
 

After moving to Helsinki, I visited in autumn 2023 the first time this swamp area, and after over 20 more visits, I was now witnessing that moment of “first swamp steps fascination” of the two others.
 

So far, I also haven’t shared too many swamp moments with other people. Swamps had become something what I explored alone on my own and became an important environment of silence and solitude for me. As well as of joy and curious exploration.
 

Sharing the moment with the others felt important. But I think I could only enjoy this group swamp experience, because I knew, some moments later, both will be on their own.
 

Both will have the opportunity to enjoy the colors of the peat moss and the intense sensory experience of walking step by step over the peat moss field alone.
 

You also walk a forest path in your own pretty individual way, but somehow the route is given before. Crossing an open swamp area offers a direction but you have to decide every step on your own. Going in some kind of zigzag finding the peat moss parts what carries you or following what attracts your attention.
 

I think you have to do that in your own rhythm.
 

We arrived at about 12:15 at the swamp island.
 
 

At 13:15 the first one left hiking on alone. 
 

At 13:35 the other one.
 
 
 

And I stayed alone on the island.
 
 

 After being now intensely in this “guiding role”, it felt difficult to let them go alone, although this was exactly the point of the whole thing. The more I let go, the more they can experience “hiking alone” and internalize that they can do it alone. Feel this empowerment.

 14:18 The sun made it through the fog, and the sky was now almost blue. The colors and atmosphere of the swamp changed immediately. I wondered where the others are now, seeing the sun coming through. Maybe already at the lake Meiko.

I could see a small group of the black-throated diver on the lake in front of me. Their far-carrying and haunting call reached for sure the whole lake area. It’s one of my favorite summer noises.
 
 

Maybe the others are also starring now on the lake in this moment? Following how the black-throated divers vanish suddenly under the water-surface and appear some time later in another corner of the lake.
 
 

Some moments later I met one of the others, who was logically coming from the other direction, as I surrounded the lake in the opposite way. I still remember the smile on her face. She told me she was going to search for a swimming spot and then heading towards the sleeping spot area.
 

Only a view minutes later the other hiker wrote in our group chat, that she had already arrived at the small forest lake, will go for a swim there, filter water and then look for a tent spot.
 

I smiled! In the morning, we were walking one behind each other and now everyone was doing already their own program!
 

When I arrived at the forest lake, the other hiker also had this smile on her face! Her whole body-language told exactly the emotions she told me. She told that yesterday she felt especially with the GPS navigation still insecure, but now she loves to use it! She decided to take a short-cut with the help of the map to have time to go swimming at the forest lake and search for the first sleeping spot with enough time before sunset. 
 

As we discussed before the hike, everyone sent a picture of their tent as soon as it was set up, with a short description, how the feeling at this spot is. As well as the coordinates through the terrain map app “karttaselain”. Through that we could all mark and save our own and the sleeping spots of the others in the map of the app. On the one hand it gives a feeling of security knowing where the others are and on the other hand it’s just funny and interesting so see the combination of the three spots on the map.
 

My place was in the north of the lake, and the other were in the south and on the west side. Not too far away from, but  still far away enough that we didn’t notice a single sign of the presence of each other. But the presence of the moon was impossible to dismiss. It was almost full moon.
 

As we went to bed so late last night, I almost fell asleep after eating with my hiking clothes on. I changed and closed my eyes. I could hear an owl close by and the loud, far-carrying haunting trumpeting calls from a group of cranes. I assumed the cranes are gathering now on the swamp, where we were on the day. Probably the others are also hearing them now. These little things make sleeping outside so special.
 

The others had their first nights alone in a tent!
 

Alone, but together!
 

We shared thoughts about the night in our group chat, and one of them also did hear the owl and the moon also had its impact on them.
 

Everything went well; one wrote that falling asleep felt at the start a bit difficult. Maybe “normal” for the first night, and something what just happens while hiking.
 

 I remembered my first night alone in a tent. My first night alone was a bit involuntary and before it, I somehow thought, that I never could do this. But in the end, I hiked my first 1000km alone. It opened a new world for me.
 

I still get goosebumps when I think that I was somehow with them, when they had their first nights alone. That we shared this moment together.
 

And this was only the first night! We will share three more nights and they will hike four days alone.
 

I woke up early on this day and started hiking at 7:45, because I wanted to spend more time at the swamp pond Tränuhals. As there is a bit tricky off-trail part before it, I thought it would be also a good spot to wait for the others. Not because I didn’t believe in them, that they could do it, but I thought it would be perfect to get immediately feedback, how the part felt for them and if I could improve the description in the trail-guide.
 

At 12:45 one of the hikers arrived and told me that the other one is also close by, they met just a minute ago at the beginning of the swamp pond.
 

Again, it was impossible not to get touched by her excitement, joy and how she seems to be in her element.
 

She told me that she never experienced the calls of an owl and the rising of the moon so intensely like last night alone in her tent. 
 

Since my first visit at the swamp pond Tränuhals, I was so fascinated, that I always made a longer break there. The first time I arrived there, I cried, because it felt so unbelievable beautiful and I felt the desire to share that moment with someone. It was in October 2024. Back then I didn’t know that the first persons would be her, now almost one year later.
 

I continued and found another island in the middle of the river. I set up my tent and enjoyed that the river was just 2m in front of my door.
 

The sky was clear and I wondered where the moon was, as it rose yesterday pretty fast after it got dark. Around midnight the moonlight woke me up. As the river has on both sides steep cliffs and high trees with a lot of leaves, the moon was just hidden the first half of the night behind the cliff. Now that the moon was maybe on its highest point, two single stripes of the moonlight made it through the trees down to the river. I had to climb out of my tent to watch the spectacle for some minutes. On the next morning, I tried to sketch it in my hiking diary, as the two moonlight streams looked so special coming down to the river, but it was impossible to take a picture of it with the camera of my phone.
 

One of the hikers wrote in the morning update that she got also surprised by the moonlight in the night, as the single streams looked on the first glimpse like the light of a torch lamp. Additionally, she had a visit of an otter on her river island in the night. She could listen to it. I also saw an otter twice on this hiking trail.
 

I decided to leave today later in the morning, to just let them do their own thing. They gave feedback that yesterday my presence and little support in the background felt good, somehow it had a double effect. I got the confirmation from them that the trail description works and that they enjoy it and I gave them the confirmation that they are good in time and doing well.
 

There is a bird watching tower next to the lake, and I could see one of the hikers there and decided to say quickly hello. She was about to leave and told me that she had just had her lunch break on the bird-watching tower and enjoyed the sun and watching how the wind moved the reeds in the bay. I  said that I haven’t tested the place yet as a break-spot, but maybe now. She said she can recommend it.
 

She seemed happy and told me that she is now looking forward to just come into a rhythm of walking and having time to be with her thoughts, as she felt like she hadn’t really time for that yet. I said that this is maybe a bit the point, that on the first two days, you have to focus more on nature through orienteering and the off-trail parts bring you away from daily-life thoughts and into the hiking experience, but from now on the trail gets easier and there is more space for just walking and thinking. She said that she had felt this effect and then continued her hike and I took over her bird-watching tower break-spot and started to cook my porridge.
 

Something had changed compared to the day before.
 

Yesterday I waited for them on purpose to get a direct feeling and feedback on how they are managing with my trail-description and the off-trail parts, now this meeting was not on purpose, just a coincidence. I felt much more far away from a “hiking guide role”, more like two independent solitary hiking sisters* meeting on the trail, sharing shortly impressions from the day so far and then both going on doing our own thing.
 

That’s exactly how I hoped that the “alone but together” group hiking concept would feel like
 

I reached the kings bridge and was about to cross it, as I always go down to the riverbank on the opposite side to filter there my water, when someone shouted: “Mia, here”.
 

The two others were under the bridge. I didn’t even know that it was possible to be there. I climbed down. They met there, as it’s the last water filtering spot before the night and as filtering takes some time, logically you can bump there into each other.
 

I was so excited that they found a place, I haven’t noticed although I had been there already five times.
 

I also heard that one of them went to the Café in Siuntio, where I also haven’t been so far. I loved it! Exactly how I imagined! We are hiking the same trail but still seeing and experiencing different things.
 

PS:  When I tested the trail now again in April, I also had on my plan to go to the Cafe in Siuntio as well as making a break unter the bridge and adding it to the trail description. I din‘t go to the Cafe, because after not seeing so many people on the first three hiking days, I wanted to keep that feeling still for a while. But I sat 2 hours under the bridge and observed the water-birds there.
 

I lay down a bit, watched the orange moon and the stars above, but with tiredness rising pretty quickly I went back to my sleeping bag.
 

Before I fell asleep one of the hikers wrote in the group chat, if we would like to all share one song, what we enjoyed listening while hiking on the trail, so we could listen also to the songs of the others while hiking and feel somehow connected.
 

I loved the idea and the following two hiking days I listened to our three songs on repeat whenever the trail made me want to listen to music. Usually, I only do it while walking streets, as soon as I enter a forest path, I only want to listen to the surrounding noises.
 

I still cannot find words for how much it would mean to me, if I get the possibility to read the experience from other solitary hiking sisters* on that trail.
 

In the book “Wanderers. A history of women walking” from Kerri Andrews, is pointed out, how walking, thinking and writing was an essential combination for the women, who are introduced in this book.
 

Although a lot of them walked alone, their writing connected them with other women. Here the book also points out, that through history despite of social restrictions and norms, women have always walked and written about it, but in a lot of publications the history of walking&writing is male (p.9-36), as “the writers of our history have focused on the experience of men – a group of people with the time and leisure to walk, who have been authorized by social conventions to be mobile and alone.” (p. 34).
 

For me writing is also an important part of hiking and walking. In the trail guide I shared a lot of quotes from other women describing their relationship to the connection of writing & walking. By sharing those and some concrete ideas for a hiking diary practice while hiking this trail I hoped to give some inspiration for the other hikers to find out if they also can find joy in this connection.
 

Before them writing and hiking myself and reading about the experience from other women gave me a feeling of connection. With myself and the women* I red in books about. Now I can say I have the connection with those two hikers through hiking, writing and reading. It was not even planned before that all this would come together in these shared letters. It wouldn’t have happened if they wouldn’t had found joy in writing hiking diary on the trail and if they wouldn’t have written so much per hand on the reflection template I gave them as a base for our reflection round.
 

I also love the different perspectives and experiences they brought with them regarding writing. One already had a regular journaling practice, for the other one this wasn’t a part of her life, but she decided to write diary on that trail. On this day the one who was already journaling, wrote a poem and also when she had a sudden unexpected nature experience, she stopped to write it down immediately, she gave me the feedback, that this felt really good and she wouldn’t have done it if I wouldn’t have suggested it in the trail-guide.
 

Now writing this, I have been with them recently in contact over our group chat, and the one for whom journaling wasn’t a part of her life, is now at the same time writing this letter! Per hand! When I was writing day 3, she was writing day 2, so somehow it felt like we are hiking the trail “alone but together” again “through writing”.
 

And apropos again. The other one immediately wrote that reading our messages makes her also looking forward to start the letter as soon as she has the space for it. And that she would like to hike the trail one day again in the midsummer time. That’s on my list for 2027!
 

No wonder I think, that this “solitary hiking project” is developing so slow. Or maybe the “outcome” looks from the outside pretty less. I can’t say that I have guided already 10 times a group of 8 people on a week hike, how other hiking guides would probably have easily done in this time.
 

But this is also not what I want. I want to offer exactly this slow, individual, deep and ongoing, sustainable, and long-lasting process.
 

And writing can be one connecting element of it. Hiking this trail is like a five day storyline, but depending on the hiker and the seasons it will be always a different story, though the core remains.
 

The others wrote that they had a calm night and enjoyed their spots. One sent a picture from her spot with the sea and the book “history of women walking”. The book was my company, when I hiked the trail the first time in 2024.
 

While hiking in October 2024 the last kilometers, I listened how the author talked about it, how she feels connected with all the women who hiked over and over the same trails, that she is now also hiking. I had to cry.
 

I imagined how it would be if this project really comes true and I will hike there for the last kilometers alone and then meet with other solitary hiking sisters* at the gas station, the end of the hike.
 

Now this was really happening!
 

 This morning I decided to go on quickly as I expected one of the others soon and I wanted to give them the space alone to filter water at this sandy beach in the rain.
 

I just wanted to walk through the rain, listen to music, dance – enjoy the feeling that the concept idea worked out.
 

Not only did they give feedback, that this alone-but-together concept helped them to make the step into hiking alone, also I enjoyed the concept completely.
 

I don’t really like to hike in groups, but with them it didn’t feel like this at all. I did my own thing, my own rhythm and I also enjoyed meeting them in between.
 

Although I made a long distance hike and hiked quite a lot, I never really met with other hikers on my hikes. It seemed like I chose always not so popular hiking trails and of course on my DIY-trails there are not really other hikers.
 

But somehow hiking alone on long distance trails means also a culture of a trail community, as you meet with other hikers, share maybe a night spot or even walk for some hours together, share hints and information and meet maybe again later.
 

I never had that. Until now!
 

My little own solitary hiking sisters* trail community! Until now we are only three, but I think this community could grow slowly.
 

I arrived at 12:47 at the gas station. Took off my wet clothes, bought a coffee and a bun and wrote the last impression, waiting for the others.
 

They arrived at 14:59.
 

Together.
 

Completely wet, but smiling in a way, I will never forget.
 

One had made a small break under a bus station maybe 2 kilometers before the end, so they met and the other one asked if they would walk together the last part, what they did.
 

And what happened then, still gives me goosebumps.
 

They didn’t sit down at my table, but both of them took their own table with some distance and they wrote their last hiking diary memories.
 

Only after that we came together at one table.