Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
This is a video of a brown bear in Vitosha mountain. Vitosha is situated next to the capital Sofia, a city with about 2 million inhabitants …
Despite the urbanization, there is still wildlife inhabiting this mountain area. Brown bears are the most impressive mammals that live in Bulgaria. They are protected species and about 800 of them are considered to live here …
read more – Mountain Guide Bulgaria
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rocco sends us a link to this pic.
Leaping from Half Dome is illegal, but in Yosemite the sport of BASE jumping is soaring in popularity anyway. Climbers say it’s faster (and more fun) to parachute into the valley than to hike all the way down the back of the mountain.
… seems Dean Potter forgot his parachute on this free climb.
more photos ….
Daring. Defiant. Free
A new generation of superclimbers is pushing the limits in Yosemite.
I live in bone dry Calgary, Canada. Only rarely do we get mildew.
In humid eastern North America, however, my tent starts stinking the very day I put it away (slightly) wet.
Here I am trying to dry it out over an indoor heater:
Any tips on how to prevent mildew?
If you saw the 60 Minutes piece (VIDEO) on author Greg Mortenson, you’ll be saddened and disappointed too.
… Krakauer, and others, say that Mortenson has embellished some of the details of his story to make them sound more dramatic and impressive. That some of the things he claims happened to him in his books are, at best, stretches of the truth, and at worst, outright fabrications.
There are even some indications that the funds that are raised by CAI are not being spent properly and that the organization lacks transparency in how it operates. …
I’m not at all convinced by Greg’s response to the charge as published by Outside – Greg Mortenson Speaks
Greg Mortenson is finished. What a setback to a great cause.
(via The Adventure Blog)
Some say its the most dangerous hike in the world, El Camino Del Rey (also known as El Caminito Del Rey) is definitely the most thrilling hike I’ve ever done. …
The path was originally constructed in 1905 for workers of a hydro electric dam set up in the cliffs of El Choro. Since then, the path has deteriorated and is now only for the adventurous. …
The Cheap Route:
…. I just discovered that this hike is not going to be around much longer, at least not in its current “adventurous” state. If it sounds appealing, you better hurry up and get to Spain.
El Caminito Del Rey To Be Restored – €9 million over 4 years to fund the restoration
pure and white
gently fall upon me
soaking in
or being brushed away
into ever growing drifts
around my feet
impeding my every movement
~ Rick McCharles
I wrote that in 1973-74, a Language Arts option High School class.
An exercise proposed by Tom Mangan:
Why we hike?
… something off-the-cuff, the first thing that pops into your head, so you don’t have time to over-think it. Give yourself 15 minutes to write it, five minutes to double-check your work, then post.
• health benefits
• relaxation of disconnecting from the world and internet
• beauty of the great outdoors
• hiking is relatively inexpensive
• it’s a fitness hobby I can do into my old age
• travel
I’ve been to 50 nations already. If I live long enough, I just might just get to 50 more.
… Much more eloquent than a bullet list are my hiking photos:
This is a super easy contest to enter. There are no Facebook likes or posts necessary, no videos to make or tweeting to do. Simply click on the Austin-Lehman link here – provide your name, email address and the URL of the blog you came from – and that readers would be me – here at HikeBikeTravel (www.hikebiketravel.com/).
… You are probably too BUSY to bother with this contest.
Never mind.
But if I WIN, I’m leaning towards Peru …
I’ve long disparaged ‘hiking canes‘, … despite evidence to the contrary. Most of the best hikers in the world use them for longer trips.
Yet I’m ready (finally) to try a pair. Here’s why my Adventure Racing team is testing them:
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Backpacker calls them the “best carbon poles we’ve ever tested“, awarding them the Editors’ Choice 2011 award.
Tom Mangan our online hiking guru. Here are 5 ways he researches best hikes:
1. State parks. (Google the one you want.)
2. AllTrails – http://alltrails.com– AllTrails allows you to search by zip code to find trails, post reviews, keep a journal of your hikes and scan for local events. …
3 EveryTrail – http://www.everytrail.com— EveryTrail's technology allows people to document their hikes via GPS, pictures, videos and smartphones. …
4. Local Hikes – http://www.localhikes.com– Local Hikes is an old-school online hiking site (if you can imagine such a thing): It's based on hikes near major metro areas, and includes topographic maps and reviews of each hike. …
5. TrailHeadFinder — http://www.trailheadfinder.com— The site is a bit bare-bones compared to the others …
read more on TravelCountry.com – Five ways to find hiking trails online
Conspicuously absent from that list is Trails.com, a database of 49,000 trails. It’s a walled garden, requiring a paid membership for a full membership. I don’t need it. And neither does Tom.
I’ve subscribed to Travel Country. Tom’s just one of their excellent bloggers.
besthike.com 