besthike.com - the blog

Timex is sponsoring a contest where you and I can share our stories about why we love the outdoors.
I like the concept: Return to the Outdoors. It flies in the face of statistics I keep hearing about decreasing numbers in the outdoors.
A couple of celebrities inspire:
Conrad Anker is a world renowned mountaineer, big […]

Every time I get to Lost Wages, I spend at least one day at Red Rock. It’s only a few miles from the strip to 197,000 acres of beautiful desert wilderness.
While most outdoors folk go for the bouldering, you can quickly access great hiking, as well.
Branch Whitney posted his favourite hikes there:
Easy Hikes
Calico […]

Joshua Tree is NOT most famous for hiking. It’s set-up more so that casual day hikers won’t get lost and die of dehydration.
Nor is it most famous for Joshua trees.
JT is most famous for climbing. Photos I took close to Hidden Valley Campground:

larger version - flickr

larger version - flickr
Joshua Tree National […]

In the tropical paradise of Pohnpei stands a pretty good clone of Half Dome. Where? The scuba diving mecca of the Federated States of Micronesia. … Sokehs Rock, or Paipalap, juts out and towers over the northern extreme of Sokehs Island. About five hundred feet from base to summit, the massive basalt formation is […]

Rockies

Spectacular vistas, frequent wildlife encounters, the best wild flowers we’ve ever seen. Hot springs, quaint mountain towns, perhaps the best long distance hikes on the planet.
There are options to scramble ridges and peaks virtually everywhere.
“You can’t lose in the Rockies.”, so says frequent contributor Rob Glaser who has hiked here all his life.
Trails are […]

Where I come from, the guidebook Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, 3rd edition by Alan Kane is essential. Increasingly my hiking friends prefer hard, fun one day adventures over multi-day walk hauling a pack.
I love this book. And curse it, alternately. Needless to say, route finding on scrambles are not without their challenges. (We’re still […]

Have you tried the sport of geocaching?
Here’s a good trip report:

San Diego rocks!
Indians called it “Mountain of the Moonlit Rocks”, while early settlers dubbed it “Cobbleback Peak”, both names appropriately describes the rugged, boulder strewn slopes of Woodson Mountain.
However, this mountain for the past 100 years appeared on maps simply as “Woodson Mountain”, in honor […]

Photographer Phil Armitage has a terrific photo gallery that any hiker will love. His best photos are available for sale.
I was particularly interested in Phil’s pics from a hike to shoot “The Hound’s Tooth” in the “Bugs”, a granite range in the Purcell Mountains of eastern British Columbia, Canada.

larger original

From Phil’s trip report:
… […]

There is talk of closing Angel’s Landing in Zion and Half Dome in Yosemite.
The controversy with the first two (American hikes) is rekindled — not surprisingly — each time a tourist falls to their death. Access is simply too easy for the inexperienced and under-prepared.
But if you (like us) feel you are capable […]

UPDATE from Brad in California:
Unlike every other report I’ve read on the internet, Brad’s actually been there.
It’s a good sidetrip out of Xian, site of the astonishing Terracotta Warriors.
A few more facts: It is not "Mt." Hua Shan. It is just Hua Shan. …
A hostel is available on the […]