besthike.com - the blog

Ron Strickland has a site dedicated to long distance trails and the National Trails System in the USA.
He’s authored a number of books including:
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRAIL GUIDE
SHANK’S MARE: A COMPENDIUM OF REMARKABLE WALKS
I’ve been writing about hiking since around 1999. Ron’s done more. And for somewhat longer than that.

Ron Strickland began to create the […]

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 […]

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 […]

I’ve been section hiking it for the past three years. Can I get there once again?
And I’ve got friends planning to honeymoon hike this coming summer.
If you are considering it yourself, check out this great new resource. It’s a virtual JMT hike via photo pages.

screenshot sample
Click through to the start page. And follow […]

Sponsored by Kelty, Daren Wendell starts today on a really, really, really LONG walk.
Mix 11 languages, 18,000 miles, 7 years, 3 continents, 17 times zones, 14 countries, 36 million steps, one man, a backpack and a dream and you get The Earth Expedition. A mans dream to walk the worlds continents on nothing […]

Just learned that contributor Dave Hayley (who organized our Tombstone, Yukon hike last summer) is proposing to honeymoon on the JMT.
The ideal wedding present:

Jeff Alt convinced his wife (Beth), a woman raised with the belief that vacations include hot showers, beaches, and warm beds, to chuck her domesticated amenities and “Take a Hike” to help […]

Sierra Nevada

The longest, highest, most diverse mountain range in the continental United States is not the Rockies. It’s the Sierra Nevada range in California.
Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite — everyone loves these mountains.
In the summer of 2007 we met a hiker there who enjoyed 41 days in a row of perfect weather. Where […]

A 63-year-old American hikes “end-to-end” — from Land’s End to John o’Groats — and reflects on Britain now and in his youth.
A “typical” thru hike:
928 miles, in 56 days
Average of 16.6 miles per day
March 20 to May 16, 2007
Alone, carrying 23 lb backpack and bellypack
Stayed at B&Bs, inns, and youth hostels
[…]

In an Outside Magazine interview, Andrew Skurka was quite definite on the best section of his 6,875mi Great Western Loop:

The best section was through Colorado, from the Indian Peaks Wilderness to the South San Juan Wilderness, about 500 miles. No other state can boast as much consistently world-class trail and scenery as Colorado—in the […]

Sam Haraldson thru hiked the lesser known Pacific Northwest Trail. (trip report)

On June 21st, 2007 I begin walking at Glacier National Park with intent to move westward roughly 1200 miles reaching my goal of the Pacific Ocean in late August or early September.
On August 20th, 2007 I reached that goal with a lightness in my […]