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Welcome to Fat Cat Hikes—where hiking stories meet reality, and “moderate difficulty” is a lie.
What This Site Is (And Isn’t)
This is not a hiking guide. You won’t find:
- Trail maps or GPS coordinates
- Gear recommendations
- ”Best time to visit” advice
- Motivational fitness content
- Professional outdoor photography
Instead, you will find:
- What actually happened on the trail
- Honest accounts of being unprepared
- The gap between expectation and reality
- POV videos from a sweaty, breathless perspective
- Stories that might make you feel better about your own hiking disasters
The Fat Cat Scale (1-10)
Every hike gets rated on how much it destroyed me, physically and mentally:
- 1-3: Gentle walk, could do this hungover
- 4-5: Real exercise, but survivable
- 6-7: Questioning life choices mid-hike
- 8-9: Genuinely concerned about getting down alive
- 10: Traumatic. May never hike again. (But probably will)
View Score (0-10)
Because sometimes you hike 8 hours and see nothing but fog:
- 0-2: Complete whiteout or fog soup
- 3-4: Glimpses through clouds, mostly disappointing
- 5-6: Decent views, worth the effort
- 7-8: Beautiful, Instagram-worthy moments
- 9-10: Life-changing views that justify all the suffering
Where to Start
New here? Try these:
- The Besseggen Arc — My two-year journey to see Norway’s most famous ridge
- Romsdalseggen — When “moderate” means 9 hours of suffering
- About — Meet the fat cat behind these stories
Remember
These are experience stories, not advice. Your mileage may vary. Consult actual hiking guides before attempting anything described here. I’m just a fat cat with opinions and a camera.