Rosemary Kitchen on Gadling linked to 8 videos from 7 hikes.
Yikes!
I link to this one, the top of name, because a couple of days before I climbed up there, a Russian hiker was killed by lightning. On this exact spot! Now that’s scary.
Others on the list: Spain’s El Caminito del Rey (“The King’s Little Pathway”), Mount Hua in China, Tennessee’s Mount LeConte, Angel’s Landing in Utah, and Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo.
In my humble opinion, these are five of the greatest trekking adventures in the world’s greatest mountain range. I call these “gourmet” treks – off the beaten path walks in the nooks and crannies of the Great Range. You won’t see Mount Everest on any of these trips (or many people for that matter), but you will have the opportunity to wander through obscure mountainous regions, visit remote villages, pitch a tent in picturesque campsites and immerse yourself in some of the world’s last enclaves of pure Buddhist culture. Go with greatness!
This photo of Munch by Jill Goodell generated some discussion on the Yosemite Blog.
A commenter named Tom suggested he’d be within his rights to shoot a loose dog in Yosemite National Park. It’s illegal to be off-leash.
Seems to me Tom’s not actually threatening to shoot Jill’s dog, but rather was using exaggeration to make a point. Off leash dogs can wreak havoc with wildlife.
Click through to that post if you’ve an opinion to add: Yosemite Blog – The Last Straw
Mt Whitney, California
Salkantay Trek, Peru
Timberline Trail, Oregon
Everest Base Camp, Nepal
Appalachian Trail, North Carolina Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Zion Narrows, Utah Haute Route, France/Switzerland John Muir Trail, California
Cinque Terre, Italy
Good choices! I’ve hiked six. The rest are on my personal to-do list.
He got it into his head to try to complete the 211mi JMT in only a week. Nuts.
Just to make it a little more challenging, he started with a pack weight of about 1/3 body weight. And climbed the highest mountain in the continental U.S. at the beginning of the adventure. (Sensible people finish on Mt. Whitney. They don’t start there.)
Many have done similar things. But none that I’ve seen have documented it so beautifully. Here’s Ryan’s 40min movie slide show of his week in the footprints of John Muir.
Hiking is a better activity than most for our Planet. But I’m no treehugger myself.
I grew cynical after hearing an NPR audiocast citing a study where 1,017 of 1,018 products that made environmental claims were found guilty of deceptive advertising.
What really makes me suspicious of strident environmental evangelists (I’m looking at you David Suzuki) is Greenwashing:
… (green whitewash) is the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly …
If I see a product with a green label, I normally avoid it out of fear of being duped.
Also, any product with a green label has an inexplicable mark-up in price.
Some good news?
The NY Times reports that the American” Federal Trade Commission is expected to crack down on “greenwashing” when it updates its environmental marketing guidelines for the first time since 1998.”
I hope this helps.
… letters were recently sent to retailers like Hanes, Jockey and Target as well as REI, Sports Authority and Altrec.com. Even companies like Bamboo Eco Wear, Footprint Bamboo and Green Earth Bamboo were included in the list. …
But I’m thrilled he won the prestigious TED prize for 2010.
At the heart of Oliver’s work is an assault on the obesity epidemic: The CDC states that one in four Americans are considered obese. It is estimated that 43 percent of Americans, or 103 million people, will be obese by 2018. The cost of this epidemic is anticipated to reach $344 billion per year. It currently accounts for almost 10 percent of the yearly US health care costs, and that rate will rise to 21 percent by 2018. WHO’s latest projections indicate that, globally in 2005, approximately 1.6 billion adults were overweight and projects that by 2015, that figure will rise to 2.3 billion.” …
From Hawaii Island Journal, a detailed overview of the many problems – The State of the State Parks:
… Residents complained about drugs and vandalism, stray cats and homeless people, deteriorating facilities and filthy bathrooms, and an unresponsive bureaucracy that had allowed the parks to deteriorate and had failed even to follow up on volunteer offers to help.
“There are places so disgusting that you wouldn’t go there. You’d find a bush,” commented one resident at the Kona meeting.
Another quoted a letter from a visitor: “If I’d wanted a Third World experience, I’d have gone to Mexico. It’s cheaper.” …
Trail Cooking has a terrific overview page on The Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier close to Seattle, Washington:
… I have seen a lot of chattering about hiking plans for this coming summer, more than usual, especially about the Wonderland Trail here in Washington – our gorgeous 93 miles loop around (well more like up and down) Rainier’s flanks.
With the El Nino weather pattern this winter settling in good since Fall 2010 could be a prime year for thinking about thru hiking it. The snow levels are much lower than usual meaning an earlier hiking season and or not walking on as much snow in the higher altitude sections. Much of the destruction that occurred back in fall of 2006 has been fixed as well. …
besthike.com 