What we're about
We are BACKABUSH XPLORERS, much copied but still the original and best hiking and outdoor activity Meetup group!!!
Who are we and how did it all begin?
Backabush Xplorers is London's longest established hiking and outdoor adventure Meetup group. Our group was originally created back in 2002 (actually before we were on Meetup) by a multinational group of friends who loved hiking and wanted to get more out of our weekends and holidays. We wanted to share our heartfelt passion for the great outdoors and enthusiasm with others. For some years Backabush was an informal, unincorporated association managed by the founders for the benefit of its members.
Our group grew rapidly in those early years and in 2008, following legal advice we decided it would be wise and prudent to become a registered company to protect our organisers and our members. Following this review and the formation of the limited company, our members can now pursue their legitimate activities and aims with complete peace of mind.
Why do we do it?
We love the outdoors! The primary motivation is fun (not profit) which means that our trips offer exceptional value for money. We continue as a group with the same ethos of organising events and trips for the benefit of our members. This is what we love and we are passionate about what we do. We will always endeavour to be budget conscious and price our activities only to cover necessary expenses.
What do we do?
Over the years we have hiked and explored the National Parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty in Britain and abroad. It may all have started years ago with a few hiking friends gathering for a weekend in a scruffy camping barn somewhere rural and pretty but it has developed a lot from there.
Backabush has been hiking and enjoying outdoor adventure for well over a decade now and over this time we have organised literally hundreds of hiking trips throughout Great Britain. We have enjoyed visits to the Lake District, Snowdonia, Scotland, the Brecon Beacons, the Pembrokeshire Coast, Cornwall, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Lincolnshire Wolds, the Cambrian mountains, the Wye Valley, the Forest of Dean, the North York Moors, the New Forest, the South Downs, the Malvern Hills, the Shropshire Hills, the South Downs, the Cotswolds, the Chiltern Hills, the Jurassic Coast, the Gower Peninsula, the Pennines, the Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, Ben Nevis, Glen Coe, the Isle of Arran, Glen Shiel, Torridon etc, etc, etc.
National trails and long distance paths in Britain are another favourite of ours and to date we have completed the full length of Hadrian's Wall Path, the West Highland Way, the Cumbria Way, the Herriot Way and Wainwright's Coast to Coast. Although we have yet to complete the full length of many we have also enjoyed hiking sections of the Cotswold Way, Pennine Way, Offa's Dyke Path, Limestone Way, Allerdale Ramble, South West Coast Path, Great Glen Way, Monsal Trail, South Downs Way, Ridgeway, Thames Path and many, many others.
We were also trailblazers when it came to offering exciting outdoor adventures overseas. Back in 2009 we organised our very first foreign trip when we headed down into Africa to climb Mt Toubkal, the highest summit in Morocco. Next we trekked in Nepal, climbing over a 5000+ metre pass linking the Langtang and Helambu valleys. Since these early treks we went on to organise things like via ferrata holidays in the Italian Dolomites, or hiking trips to the French Alps and Jura mountains. We also love 'hut to hut' trekking and have so far completed every step of the Tour du Mt Blanc, summited Monte Perdido in the Ordessa National Park and trekked for days in the French Pyrenees to reach the awe inspiring Cirque de Gavarnie. More recently we even organised trips to Slovakia to seek out winter snowshoeing in the High Tatras and gorge scrambling in the Paradise National Park.
There are many other adventures we could mention. No other Meetup group offers adventure like this!
How do the logistics work?
We know our members are busy people so we do our best to provide a complete package for you. Backabush will research the locations, the hikes, book the accommodation and make a plan for all the meals. If you do not own a car we will help you to find transport or a lift share. You just need to communicate with the organiser who will help to co-ordinate things with you.
With a little co-operation from our members it all works very well and allows us to keep offering new locations and new hikes, year after year. Although we might return to some amazing National Parks quite regularly we always endeavour to find new venues and plan entirely new hikes. If you check out our past events you will see that we offer unrivalled variety in the locations we visit.
What are the hikes like?
On every Backabush trip we try to provide a choice of hikes each day. Obviously we will choose from the most beautiful and best loved hikes in any given area. These hikes tend to be of various length, duration and difficulty. The idea is that each person can choose the hike that best suits their fitness, experience and interests.
It is true that Backabush has a reputation within the Meetup community for offering longer and more challenging hikes but we always also offer more moderate options for those seeking a more relaxed day outdoors. Generally speaking we would say that anyone who can hike for 10 miles in hilly terrain should be fine on our trips. If you have any concerns please don't hesitate to contact us to ask questions.
What about safety?
Safety is always our number one priority. Although we can never make the outdoor environment entirely safe there are many steps that can be taken to minimise risk. Our team of outdoor activity leaders have many, many years of leadership experience and have received extensive outdoor training. Between all of our leaders we have years of military experience, ambulance work or mountain guiding.
Our principal leadership team are Mountain Leader trained at Plas-y-Brenin (the National Mountain Sports Centre) in North Wales and Winter Skills trained at Glenmore Lodge in Scotland. We regularly update our first aid qualifications and carry the required emergency aid equipment for wilderness situations. Some of us have taught or assisted on micro-navigation training courses and all have excellent route finding skills regardless of visibility or weather.
Additional our experience extends to high altitude mountaineering in several continents, be it summiting 6000+ metre peaks in the Andes, conquering the highest mountains in Africa or completing month long high altitude treks in the Himalayas.
We take our 'duty of care' of very seriously and are trained to deal with outdoor emergencies. Sometimes we hire in specific skills as necessary in the form of fully qualified instructors for things like rock climbing, caving, coasteering, kayaking, horse riding, ghyll scrambling or technical mountaineering. For some foreign trips we will either provide logistical support for safe self guided mountain trekking or hire International Mountain Leaders as deemed necessary.
Who joins our trips?
Although most people in the group are in their 20s, 30s and 40s age is not an issue to us - a fun loving and adventurous nature is more important. It is not uncommon to have over a dozen different nationalities represented in a single gathering.
Our groups of hikers and outdoor adventurers vary in size but on every trip some people will be regulars and some first timers. Its a great way to make new hiking friends and you need not worry about coming alone as you will always be made to feel welcome.
What we all have in common is a love of all kinds of outdoor activity including hiking, trekking, hill walking, mountaineering, scrambling, camping, canoeing, canyoning, kayaking, rock climbing, scuba diving, caving, coasteering, mountain biking and just about anything else that offers some outdoor adventure.
We are a very active bunch!
We hope YOU will join us sometime soon.
Positive vibes!
The Backabush Crew & Hiking Team
Contact Geoff & Nathan
backabushxplorers@yahoo.com
nathancapay@googlemail.com
Upcoming events (4+)
Backabush is going back to Scotland - this time to TORRIDON!
Nights 4 - Group size 18 - Cost £349
Are you ready for the most spectacular hiking in mainland Britain? The Torridon mountains are legendary for having the most rugged mountains in mainland Scotland. This area of the Highlands is sandstone which has given the region a strikingly different appearance to the mountains further south. These hills are huge, brooding monoliths with tops crested in sparkling quartzite and have become somewhat of a mecca to British hill walkers. This will be a true mountain adventure!
Our plan is to spend 4 nights in the Torridon area at a superb, purpose built hostel located at the foot of the mountains close to the shores of Loch Torridon where we have booked private dorm rooms exclusively for our group. Although the village of Torridon is quite remote, our hostel is equipped with everything we need for our stay.
Classic hiking routes in this region include:
- Beinn Alligin & the Horns of Alligin
- Liathach
- Coire Mhic Fhearchair
- Slioch
This trip involves challenging routes through rugged and demanding mountain terrain and steep ascents so a good level of fitness will be necessary. You must also have a good head for heights as many of the best routes in the Torridon include a degree of exposure.
If you would like to enjoy a week long holiday in Scotland with more mountain adventures, this trip can be combined with our trip to the Isle of Skye: https://www.meetup.com/backabush/events/287980762/
WHAT IS INCLUDED:
- 4 nights quality, hostel accommodation (we will sleep in comfortable dorms booked exclusively for our group)
- All transport in Scotland and airport transfers from Inverness.
- Guided hikes by trained Mountain Leaders (http://www.mlte.org/content.php?nID=29) (MLTE) and qualified first aiders.
- Full financial protection in line with the Package Travel Regulations
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED:
- Meals - There are self catering facilities at our hostel but few restaurants nearby, we can drive to the next town to eat out on our first night.
- Flights - Currently under £81 return with easyJet.
- Travel Insurance
MEETING DETAILS:
The meeting point will be at Inverness Airport on Saturday 10th June at 14:30pm. We will drop you off at Inverness Airport on Wednesday 14th June at 13:00.
Our airport transfers will be timed to meet the following flights from Inverness:
Recommended Flights:
Outbound - Saturday 10th June
easyJet - EZY847
Departs Gatwick - 12:25
Arrives Inverness - 14:10
Return - Wednesday 14th June
easyJet - EZY848
Departs Inverness - 15:00
Arrives Gatwick - 16.40
It's also possible to catch the train to Inverness, we will do a pick up in the town centre at 14:50 for anyone arriving on the train or staying in Inverness the night before.
If you choose to make alternative travel arrangements, please bear in mind...
- We cannot wait for you if you plan to arrive into inverness later than 14.30 on the 10th.
- We will only arrive back in Inverness at 13.00 on the 14th.
HOW TO BOOK A PLACE ON THIS TRIP
To book onto this trip please email [masked] and send full payment to the Backabush account. Please use TORRIDON as your payment reference...
Account Name: BACKABUSH XPLORERS
Sort Code:[masked]
Account Number:[masked]
Your RSVP alone is NOT enough to secure your place, full payment is needed to make a reservation.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We consider safety to be our number one priority and while we never take unnecessary risks, we do recognise that any outdoor activity involves a danger of personal injury or death. Remember that you should be aware of and accept these risks as you are responsible for your own safety and you should not undertake anything beyond your abilities. It is also your responsibility to be correctly equipped for the weather and activity you have chosen to participate in.
We recommend that everyone participating in outdoor activities obtain appropriate insurance. The BMC offer excellent policies for all outdoor enthusiasts at very competitive rates: https://www.thebmc.co.uk/modules/insurance/Landing.aspx
- Geoff
- Nathan
- Anne M.
- 18 attendees
Backabush is going back to Scotland, to the beautiful ISLE OF SKYE!
Group size - 18. Nights - 4. Cost - £359.
The Isle of Skye holds the most impressive mountain scenery in Britain and offers endless possibilities for outdoor enthusiasts. Our plan is to explore this incredible Isle tackling as many of the classic mountain routes as we can over our 3 full hiking days. This is a trip for those seeking true mountain adventure!
Once on the Isle of Skye we will stay for 4 nights in lovely hostel accommodation (we will sleep in comfortable dorms booked exclusively for our group) in the beautiful settlement of Portree. Our hostel is in a stunning location overlooking the bay with views to the mountains beyond. Portree also has plenty of fantastic pubs and restaurants for us to enjoy after our hikes.
This is Britain at its best and is considered to be the only place in the country where the mountains are 'Alpine' in character. They are rugged, rocky and beautiful!
For those wanting to extend their trip in Scotland to a weeklong adventure then this trip can be combined with our trip to the equally awesome area of Torridon: https://www.meetup.com/backabush/events/287980407/
Classic hiking routes of the Isle of Skye include:
- Bruach Na Frithe (Black Cuillin)
- The Red Cuillin Horseshoe
- Bla Bheinn (Blaven)
- The Old Man of Storr
It is important to note that we intend to do challenging and exposed hikes on this trip. Therefore it is best suited to fit and experienced hikers with a good head for heights.
WHAT IS INCLUDED:
- 4 nights quality, hostel accommodation (we will sleep in comfortable dorms booked exclusively for our group)
- All transport in Scotland and Airport transfers from Inverness.
- Guided hikes. Our leaders are Mountain Leader trained and qualified first-aiders.
- Financial protection in accordance with the Package Travel Law 1992
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED:
- Meals - Our accommodation will have self catering facilities and there are many local pubs and restaurant nearby
- Travel to Scotland
- Travel Insurance
MEETING DETAILS:
The meeting point will be at Inverness Airport on Wednesday 14th June at 14:30pm. We will drop you off at Inverness Airport on Sunday 18th June at 13:00.
Our airport transfers will be timed to meet the following flights from Inverness:
Recommended Flights:
Outbound - Wednesday 14th June
easyJet - EZY847
Departs Gatwick - 12:25
Arrives Inverness - 14:10
Return - Sunday 18th June
easyJet - EZY848
Departs Inverness - 15:00
Arrives Gatwick - 16.40
It's also possible to catch the train to Inverness, we will do a pick up in the town centre at 14:50 for anyone arriving on the train or staying in Inverness the night before.
If you choose to make alternative travel arrangements, please bear in mind...
- We cannot wait for you if you plan to arrive into Inverness later than 14.30 on the 14th.
- We will only arrive back in Inverness at 13.00 on the 18th.
HOW TO BOOK A PLACE ON THIS TRIP
To book onto this trip please email [masked] and send full payment to the Backabush account. Please use SKYE as your payment reference...
Account Name: BACKABUSH XPLORERS
Sort Code:[masked]
Account Number:[masked]
Your RSVP alone is NOT enough to secure your place, full payment is needed to make a reservation.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We consider safety to be our number one priority and while we never take unnecessary risks, we do recognise that any outdoor activity involves a danger of personal injury or death. Remember that you should be aware of and accept these risks as you are responsible for your own safety and you should not undertake anything beyond your abilities. It is also your responsibility to be correctly equipped for the weather and activity you have chosen to participate in.
- Nathan
- Geoff
- Anne M.
- 18 attendees
Would you like to learn navigation skills so you can hike in the countryside and not get lost? If so, then come along to this full day training course.
The course is designed for beginners with no navigation experience. By the end of the course you will feel confident walking in the British countryside with a map and compass. The course will take place at Henley-on-Thames and there will be practical exercises and lots of opportunity to ask questions. We will be walking around 8 miles.
The course will cover the following topics:
Different scale maps
Orientating a map
Identifying features on a map
Measuring distances on the map
Contours
Using a compass
Taking a bearing
Pacing (micro-navigation)
What to bring
Compass. The SILVA Expedition 4 compasses are the best (https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/p/silva-expedition-4-compass-E9224115.html?colour=180).
Notebook and pen
Stopwatch – a smart phone will do the job
I will provide maps.
Clothing and food to bring
Please wear hiking boots as we will be walking around 8 miles through the countryside.
Packed lunch and drinks – at least 1ltr of water
Light snacks
Waterproof jacket
Something to sit on - we will spend quite a lot of time sitting down talking about theory so you might want to bring a rug/mat to sit on.
Warm clothes - in case it's a bit chilly!
Cost
£30 – payable when you RSVP
To confirm your place on this course please use internet banking. The account details are:
Account Name: BACKABUSH XPLORERS
Sort Code:[masked]
Account Number:[masked]
Only payment secures your place. Your RSVP is not sufficient for us to hold a place for you.
Maximum – 6 people
Where to meet
I will meet you at Henley-on-Thames train station at 10am. There is a pay and display car park if you are driving.
If you are coming by train from London:
09:08 London Paddington > Twyford 09:37
09:45 Twyford > Henley-on-Thames 09:57
The course will finish around 5:30pm, in time for the 6pm return train.
- Robert N.
- Aysha Z.
- Dave
- 4 attendees
Tirana International Airport
Backabush is heading back to Albania to hike the Albanian Alps, also known as the Accursed Mountains!
Nights 7 - Cost £689 - Group size 16
The "Accursed Mountains" (part of the Dinaric Alps) are a spectacular mountain range with excellent hiking trails including one of the most beautiful hikes in the Balkans: the Valbona to Theth hike which will be one of the highlights of our trip.
Our journey into the mountains will start with a magnificent boat ride across the stunning fjord-like Koman Lake and into majestic Valbona National Park. Our hikes here will take us through beautiful mountain valleys, alpine meadows, ancient beech forest and remote villages surrounded by the majestic peaks of the Albanian Alps.
The hike over the well-known Valbona Pass (1811m), with amazing views over mighty mountain peaks and both sides of the valley below, will take us to the idyllic village of Theth. Here we will discover ancient traditions, visit the iconic church, blood feud tower, hike to the Grunas waterfall and “Blue Eye” karst spring.
Our accommodation in Valbona and Theth will be in locally owned guesthouses where we will enjoy hearty home-cooked meals.
On our way to and from the mountains we will stay in the charming town of Shkodër which has a lively café and bar scene and where we will have the opportunity to visit the majestic 14th century Rozafa Castle with spectacular views over the city and Lake Shkodra.
Trip Highlights
☆ Boat across the fjord-like Komani Lake to reach the amazing Valbona National Park
☆ Hike the best routes of the Valbona and Thethi National Parks, including the famous Valbona-Teth mountain pass trek
☆ Set a foot across to Montenegro and reach a panorama above 2.000 meters
☆ Stay at family-run small hotels and guesthouses in beautiful mountain villages
Come and join us for some spectacular mountain hiking in the Balkans!
This trip does not involve technical mountaineering but the hikes will be challenging and will include some days with long ascents and descents so you need to have a good level of hiking fitness. A head for heights is also necessary in the mountainous terrain.
WHAT IS INCLUDED:
- 7 nights accommodation (2 nights in twin hotel rooms in Shkoder and 5 nights local guesthouse accommodation in Valbona and Teth in shared rooms of 3-6 persons)
- All breakfasts, 6 lunches and 5 dinners
- An itinerary of organised hikes for our 6 hiking days
- Transfers as foreseen by the itinerary including airport pick-up/drop-off
- 1 leader and 1 local Albanian hiking guide
- Luggage transport: one piece up to 15 kg in soft bags only (duffel or rucksack, hard cases not suitable)
- Financial protection in accordance with the Package Travel Law 1992
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED:
- Any meals not specified
- Flights
- Travel Insurance
RECOMMENDED FLIGHTS:
The meeting point is at Tirana Airport on Saturday 8 July at 12.30pm. We will return to the airport on Saturday 15 July for flights departing after 13.00pm. Our airport transfer will be times to meet the following flights...
Outbound - Saturday 8 July
British Airways BA928
Departs Heathrow - 08:15
Arrives Tirana - 12:20
Return - Saturday 15 July
British Airways BA929
Departs Tirana - 13:15
Arrives Heathrow - 15.20
HOW TO BOOK A PLACE ON THIS TRIP:
To confirm your place on this trip use internet banking. Only payment secures your place, your RSVP is not enough to reserve a space on this trip. Please use Albania23 as your payment reference. The account details are:
Account Name: BACKABUSH XPLORERS
Sort Code:[masked]
Account Number:[masked]
Please email [masked] as soon as you send payment so that we can confirm everything with you. Thanks. :)
IMPORTANT NOTES
VISA: Please check with the Albanian embassy if you need a visa to travel to Albania. Albania is not a part of the Schengen Zone or the European Union, but if you have a valid Schengen visa you can enter Albania visa-free for 90 days. It is your responsibility to obtain all necessary documents, including visa.
- Geoff
- RogerH
- nicky
- 16 attendees
Past events (445)
- Geoff
- A J
- Alpha
- 36 attendees
