Thanks Kate.
the truth about blogs …
Thanks Kate.
California Hiking author a doper?
Moon California Hiking is the guidebook sitting beside me on the passenger seat.
Author, Tom Stienstra, has just been arrested.
… Stienstra, 55, was arrested March 25 after sheriff’s deputies served a search warrant at his home in Weed and found a “sophisticated cultivation operation” in his barn, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said in an e-mail.
Deputies allegedly found 31 immature marijuana plants, 29 mature marijuana plants and 11 pounds of processed marijuana …
That’s one way to support your hiking habit.
5 great hikes in the USA
Outdoor Camping Survival personal favorites:
1 – Breakneck Ridge Trail, Hudson Highlands State Park in NY
2 – Glacier Gorge, Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park
3 – Mount Whitney, California
4 – Appalachian Trail: The Pinnacle
5 – Conundrum Hot Springs, Colorado
Of these, only Mount Whitney is specifically on our list of the best hikes in North America, so far.
hiking out of Needles, California
trip report by site editor, Rick McCharles
I awoke early and drove out of town about 10min towards Lake Haversu City.
This geology looked, from the highway, very interesting.
It’s easy to hike anywhere you wish here. Simply follow the jeep tracks and dry arroyos.
This was not an official hiking trail, but made for a very pleasant morning, none the less.
Here’s the view looking back towards Needles.
best books on California desert hiking and climbing
I checked into the Needles California office of the Bureau of Land Management. They gave me some excellent advice on “best hikes” in the region.
Two books are recommended and sold there:
Hiking California’s Desert Parks, 2nd edition: A Guide to the Greatest Hiking Adventures in Anza-Borrego, Joshua Tree, Mojave, and Death Valley by Bill and Polly Cunningham
I’ll be using this one over the next couple of months.
Deserts Summits: A Climbing & Hiking Guide to California & Southern Nevada by Andy Zdon
Both are recommended.
Click on either book cover for more information and links to other available books on Amazon
weird, wild Saguaro cactus
I feel lucky to have just finished a driving tour of the exact range of the crazy beautiful Saguaro cactus, definitely one of my favourite flora.
… a large, tree-sized cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in the U.S. state of Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, a small part of Baja California in the San Felipe Desert and an extremely small area of California …
Harming a saguaro in any manner, including cactus plugging, is illegal by state law in Arizona, and when houses or highways are built, special permits must be obtained to move or destroy any saguaro affected. …
female trekking guide – East Africa
George and I had a female guide on the Choquequirao trek in Peru. We made no special request. She simply happened to be the next experienced guide available.
Cool.
Increasingly the world’s top trails are seeing more female guides. They’re in high demand by female hikers who, understandably, feel more comfortable.
I was happy to see this post on the Women Travel blog:
Mary “Mumbi” Kariuki has been guiding on the trails of Mt. Kenya, Kilimanjaro, and other East African mountains for 8 years – and she’s not over the hill yet. In 2001 Mary officially became the first, and only, rated female guide serving these mountains. Before she was a guide, Mary worked her way through the ranks as all African guides should have, as a porter. …
Leave a comment if you’ve more stories of female guides on the world’s great treks.
best hikes in Arizona
lucrativetravels.com posted a surprisingly good list:
Wet Beaver Loop
Picacho Peek
Kendrick Mountain
Paria Canyon
We name Paria Canyon the best hike in the entire S.W. USA.
The other three I’m currently researching. … Especially since I’ve just arrived in Arizona. We drove between Tuscon and Phoenix yesterday past impressive Picacho Peak.
Wet Beaver Loop
The Wet Beaver Loop is not a trail that should be hiked by a novice. The trail is a twenty-two mile loop so you should plan on taking a couple of days to complete it. …
Picacho Peak
The Picacho Peak is a hike that that will provide you with the opportunity to admire the Sonora desert. Although the trail is only a seven mile round trip, you need to be aware that much of it is extremely steep and that there are many switchbacks. …
Kendrick Mountain
If Picacho Peak is more than you feel comfortable handling, you might want to consider the Kendrick Mountain hike. This particular hike is 9.2 miles round trip. When you reach the summit you will find a cabin and have an amazing view of Mount Humphreys, Red Mountain, and Sycamore Canyon. On a clear day you will even be able to see the Grand Canyon’s north Rim. …
read more – lucrativetravels.com
Great Ocean Walk, Australia
Cartoonist Alex Hallatt put up a hike trip report on her professional site Arctic Circle Cartoons.
How do you justify that? … Tag it “work-life balance“.
They photo blogged a 3 day section of the Great Ocean Walk from Johanna Beach to Princetown.
I love these kinds of trip reports. In a very short time you get a good feel for the hike. Click through to scan the photos – Great Great Ocean Walk
Thanks Our Hiking Blog for putting it up as a guest post.
7 Strong Men Rock Formation – Russia
Have you ever heard of this unique natural attraction?
Manpupuner and the 7 Strong Men Rock Formations
Deemed one of the Seven Wonders of Russia, Komi Republic (map) is home to Manpupuner (Man-Pupu-Nyer), a mysterious site in the northern Ural mountains, in the Troitsko-Pechorsky District, made out of seven rock towers bursting out of the flat plateau known as the “7 strong men“.
Manpupuner is a very popular attraction in Russia, but not on an international level and information regarding its origin is scarce. We know however that their height and abnormal shapes make the top of these rock giants inaccessible even to experienced rock-climbers. Manpupuner is very hard to reach, it lies in a very harsh environment, …
Thanks George.
