besthike.com - the blog

April Fools ??
Demetri Coupounas, the president and co-founder of GoLite, is heading out on the Appalachian Trail attempting to break the World Alpine Style Backpacking Distance record — 620mi.
… He won’t exactly be “Going Light” however, as his total pack weight will be 127 pounds according to this post over at the Outside Blog where […]

There are manuals on “how to build trails”.
I wish the guys who built Canyon Trail on Kauai, Hawaii had read one.
Have you seen this “danger” on the hiking trail in the past?

The spikes are used to hold the step logs in place. Works great … until the rains come.

Here the kids were simulating […]

Tornado, Rockwell Pass, Sequoia National Park, California, July 7, 2004.
Elevation at Rockwell Pass: ~11,600 feet. Base of tornado at ground level probably at least at 12,000 feet.

Scott Newton, 2004

Scott Newton, 2004

details and more photos
We had hail and lightning on the John Muir trail in 2007 at very high elevations. But certainly nothing like […]

From National Park Traveler:
Grand Teton National Park … beginning this Saturday, March 15, all backpackers camping below 10,000 feet in the park’s backcountry will be required to use approved, portable bear-proof canisters for food storage—except at certain designated backcountry campsites where food storage facilities are provided.
Although food canisters are not required for areas above […]

Bad news for me.
I’ve been waiting on Bhutan to open up for independent trekking. Planning on being one of the first to get a hiking permit.
It was Rogier Gruys of BluePeak.net who first got me interested in hiking Bhutan.

original - BluePeak on flickr - more photos
Now Kira Salak penned a wonderful […]

Inspiring.
Warren Macdonald became trapped beneath a one tonne slab of rock while climbing Queensland’s Hinchcliffe Hinchinbrook Island. Two days later he was rescued only to have both legs were amputated. Ten months later he climbed Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain using a modified wheelchair and the seat of his pants. In 1999 he reached the summit […]

I thought the world’s smartest bears were in the Sierra Nevada, California.
But check out these bear auto-wreckers:
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Get Outdoors blog)

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For the first time ever, I made it to Texas for hiking.
Adventure Blogger Kraig Becker, had recommended in 2006 the new Government Canyon State Natural Area which, very close to San Antonio, has 40+ miles of hiking trails, ideal too for mountain biking and trail running.
Unbeknownst to Kraig and my good self, the […]

The Adventure Blogger went to Kilimanjaro, inspired by the 2002 IMAX film by David Breashears.

Kilimanjaro - To the Roof of Africa (Large Format)
I finally saw the film myself.
Fantastic.
When can I go?
There’s a terrific, funny review of the film on Amazon posted by Archimedes Tritium:
… The narrator (mountain guide Jacob Kyungai) intones that climbers of […]

(… trying to tie-in a Valentine’s Day theme. Pitiful.)
The “dangers of hiking” are almost always exaggerated in my opinion. Not so the dangers of coastal hiking.
I have a friend who was once caught in a surge channel, lucky to survive.
Uncooped has a good post on the hazards of California coastal hiking including this […]