besthike.com - the blog

Shout out to my old friend Greg Kolodziejzyk.
He made a fortune in the early days of the internet selling fonts to Adobe. Went on to more successful business ventures.
But these days Greg’s passion is extreme adventure. He wants “To conquer the world by human power.”
He has several sites including these two:
Adventures of Greg
Pedal […]

I attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival in November and gave it a mixed review.
It took until February before they posted the trailer for the current Radical Reels World Tour.
But, it was worth the wait. Very well edited … even if it is partly a commercial for the sponsors.
Click PLAY or watch […]

Cristian Donoso, a Chilean lawyer, has been exploring the remote western coast of Patagonia for over a decade. He won a 2006 ROLEX associate Laureate award.
His latest expedition is a 5 months journey, 1250 miles (2,039 km), using kayaks to reach inaccessible waterways, glaciers, summits, caves, underground rivers, and wildlife preserves.
The climate is […]

Circumnavigate the world by bike and boat?
… better them than me.

Simon Evans and Fearghal O’Nuallain are planning an adventure called Revolution Cycle 2009. Team Geared Up has the details.
But I’m always looking for state of the art technology I might use for updating hiking trip report and blogging from the trail.
Here’s what Revolution […]

I’m researching a hike for the summer of 2007 to one of the highest “cascading” (3 drops) waterfalls in the world, Della on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. They are not often visited because access is difficult. On the normal route you must paddle or boat to the trailhead.
John Zimmerman posted photos from their paddle-in hike. […]

Warren Long saw I was thinking of buying an $800 Alpacka for paddle hiking.
He offered to loan me his $20 raft.

Will a Cheap-O get me across the lake to the trailhead? Sure. In most cases.
I’m not on a 4000mi Pacific coast mega-adventure.
Well played, Warren. I’ll try a cheap raft first before buying […]

For over 2yrs I’ve been researching inflatable and foldable kayaks I might carry for paddle hiking. Getting to good hiking routes by paddling across the lake rather than walking around.
It’s here. But it’s a raft. (Now to find the $800. Or a cheaper used one.)
Erin & Hig convinced me. They’re using Alpacka rafts on […]

I tried. I tried.
On White Mountain I tried to persuade wheelchair hiker climber 4WheelBob to buy a kayak.
KayakBob … I like the sound of that.
Yet Bob’s persisting in his dream of ascending the highest mountain in Africa. Bob was quoted on Marion’s blog:

“I’m not a real publicity hound by nature, so my […]

It’s very rare for me to add any item to my “base” hiking kit. (It’s too heavy already.)
The new essential must be very valuable. Or very light.
The All-in-one Map Tool is both. I carry it with my map and compass.

Bob Moseley from Brooks-Range Mountaineering Equipment Co. asked me to test this award […]

FirstLight® is advertised here as the world’s lightest folding kayak.
Weight is a far more important factor to me than seaworthiness. I want to hike in, paddle out. That kind of trip.
Weighing a mere 17.6 and 19.8 lbs, these amazing touring kayaks are incredibly light, yet fully seaworthy. Fast and lively, they allow excellent paddling […]