Kingston Springs (TN Tribune)– Tennessee-based Hobnail Trekking Co., one of the few American adventure-travel companies offering treks into the Nepali Himalayan mountains, has recently announced an expansion into both the Peru and Scotland. The company, located just west of Nashville, has created partnerships with established Peruvian and Scottish tour operators that had previously worked with Recreational Equipment Inc, commonly known as REI Co-op.
“This is a major step forward for our company,” says Hobnail owner Holly Johnson. “In our five years of existence, we have focused exclusively on the Himalayas, but when the opportunity arose for us to expand, we jumped at the chance.”
Read a 2017 story in The Tennessean about Hobnail’s creation here.
Johnson explains that Washington-based REI opted out of its long-held adventure travel services during the COVID pandemic. Several of its tour operator partners across the globe quickly formed a marketing collective to replace the lost business.
“Hobnail Trekking was one of the first companies contacted by the World Adventure Travel Collective,” Johnson explains. “This has given us the rare opportunity to pick up where REI left off and to work with highly vetted and proven tour operators. It’s exciting not only for us, but for anyone who loves adventure travel and wants to tick their bucket-list boxes.”
Beginning in late October 2021, Hobnail began offering a comprehensive, 17-day “Peruvian Odyssey” adventure that incorporates several of Peru’s most famous destinations, including the Inca Trail with Maccu Picchu, Salkantay Mountain, Rainbow Mountain, and Lake Titicaca.
In Scotland, Hobnail has designed a 10-day combination of the Orkney and Shetland islands, some of the most breath-taking and historical areas of northern Scotland, including Skara Brae, Fethaland, and even Loch Ness.
“Both of these treks have been designed to be 100-percent unique to Hobnail Trekking Co.,” Johnson says. “They aren’t available anywhere else.”
The company will continue to operate its more challenging treks into the Nepali Himalayas, including the Everest Base Camp trek, the Annapurna Circuit, and several other variations on these. Hobnail will also offer the traditional Inca Trail and Salkantay treks in Peru as shorter adventures.
“We created our little company as a way to make the logistics of a bucket-list adventure easy, the preparation straightforward, and the cost within reason of almost anyone,” says Johnson, who runs the company with her husband, Mark. “Anyone who is reasonably fit can do them. We really believe that this world is meant to be experienced firsthand, not just viewed on TV or the internet, and we want to help make that happen because epic adventures should be available for anyone with the passion and courage to try.”
For details on these adventures, visit www.hobnailtrekkingco.com. Contact the company at 855-462-6245.
