Author: Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.
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hiking Picos de Europa, Spain – day 1

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Kraig Adams video

Trip Report – Picos de Europa Circuit – by site editor Rick McCharles
map picos europa (Custom)

An unforgettable (91.5km) route covering the … most extaordinary limestone landscapes – river gorges, alpine lakes, depressions, dense beech woods, narrow canals, cliff hanging trails and peaks with breathtaking views

MAGIC …

Urriellu - photo by Edu-im
Urriellu – photo by Edu-im

The rain in Spain
falls mainly
… in the NORTH.

Green-Spain

Green Spain, it’s called, home to a wealth of flora and fauna. Including, perhaps, 90 bears.

The weather in Picos de Europa is very atypical for Spain. Happily, September is normally the best month.

Cangas de Onís is the busiest and most easily accessed of the gateway towns. … and can supply all last-minute needs.

Roman Bridge - Cangas de Onís
Roman Bridge – Cangas de Onís

Frequent buses deliver you from Cangas to Covadonga, an impressive tourist attraction.

… In 722 AD, Iberian Christians won the battle over the Moors in Covadonga. This was the first significant Christian victory over the occupying Moors; as such, it is often considered to be the start of the Reconquista, the 770-year effort to expel the Moors from Iberia. …

Dom Pelayo
Dom Pelayo
Covadonga Cathedral
Covadonga Cathedral

During the summer you can bus all the way from Cangas to the trailhead at Ercina Lake. Unfortunately I arrived the day after those buses stopped running for the season. I hitched the last 12km or so from Covadonga. The Spanish couple who picked me up were also hiking a variation of the circuit staying in refugios, alpine huts providing beds and meals.

Lago Ercina - Browserd
Lago Ercina in good weather – Browserd

Here’s how the lakeside looked to me.

cows-in-fog

I’d arrived into the frequent, infamous Picos mist. A thick fog bank that often clouds the valleys and lower elvations of this micro climate.

After wandering around blind for 3hrs … I finally set up my tent right at the trailhead. A rotten start to the adventure.

Later I learned the couple that had driven me to the trailhead walked directly to the refugio using GPS.

Note to self: Get me a GPS.

See the rest of my photos from day 1.

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Kraig Adams video

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The North Face – no sense of humour

In Asia we called illegal The North Face knock-off clothing … The North Farce.

They should go after the Asian companies producing those goods, not a teen in the mid-West.

A Missouri teenager frustrated with his classmates’ sheep-like following of a popular clothing line came up with his own parody apparel and now faces a lawsuit for trademark infringement.

Jimmy Winkelmann, 18, said he’s not intimidated by threats of a lawsuit from The North Face Apparel Company over his 2-year-old company The South Butt, LLC.

Jimmy Winkelmann said he has no intention of complying with the cease and desist request sent last month by lawyers for The North Face Apparel Corp., saying his 2-year-old business — The South Butt LLC — poses no threat to it.

“I was like, ‘How did they even find me?'” …

read the article – ABC News – The North Face vs. The South Butt: Entrepreneurial Teen Undaunted by Lawsuit Threat

south-butt

The South Butt – Apparel for Kids and Adults

(via The Goat)

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Gavin McInnes – Mr. Bean meets Survivorman

This is funny.

Click PLAY or learn how to start a campfire on YouTube.

This is The Naturist, Gavin McInnes, a Canadian-born funnyman here sponsored by Teva.

… the Naturist … is an expert on being in the woods that has no clue what he’s talking about, like Mr. Bean meets Survivorman. …

There are a few more The Naturist videos on the Teva YouTube channel.

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Buckskin Gulch – surviving flash flood

Hank Leukart and friends head for one of the 10 most dangerous hikes in the USA, Buckskin Gulch, Utah.

without-baggage-Buckskin

Yup. Worst case scenario. It rained while they were hiking the world’s longest slot canyon:

… I hear the sound of a single thunder clap.

“Did you hear that?!” Rich asks me, nervously.

“Yes,” I say, uncomfortably. “But it sounded like it was very far away. I haven’t felt any raindrops.”

“I think we should turn back now,” says a worried Suzanne. Next to the water-susceptible Flat Stanley, she is the most risk-adverse hiker in our group.

“I am not turning back now,” Wendy says firmly. But our major concern is that there are only two safe places for us to camp: at the confluence of the Paria River and Buckskin Gulch (11.5 miles away) and atop the apparently impossible-to-find Middle Route escape trail (6 miles away). If we choose to continue, we must reach one of these two exits, because camping on the floor of the canyon is a recipe for certain death in the case of a flash flood. …

Part 1 – flat stanley escapes a flash flood in buckskin gulch

It’s a cliff hanger, literally.

Flash flood strikes. But we must wait until Hank posts part 2 of the trip report to see how they survived. Here’s one clue:

the "Penthouse"

Read more superb hiking “essays” on Without Baggage. They are more akin to magazine articles than online trip reports.

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new – Canary Island hiking blog

AndreaMy name is Andrea. I was born and raised in Leicestershire in the U.K. In 1994 I drove 15,000 miles around the United States and on returning home, couldn´t seem to settle back into the old routine. So, I uprooted myself from there to come and work ´for the summer´ on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Well, that was twelve years ago now. Since being here, I have realised that there is definately more on offer on this volcanic island than just beaches and nightlife and so, armed with my passion for walking, I have decided to share these thoughts and ideas with you along with alternative outdoor pursuit options. ..

So, what´s this blog about?

It is a blog aimed to show people a different way of exploring the island by getting away from the typical tourist bus tours where you find that you only have a limited time to discover the places that you are shown. Initially, I will cover walking tours showing parts of this impressive island that can´t be viewed from a car or bus window. I then aim to show the numerous alternative outdoor pursuits available here ranging from kayaking, diving, mountain biking, surfing and horse riding, to name a few. …

about the Outdoor Lanzarote blog

Quality of the posts is good. Click on either of the two images to see a sample.

Mancha Blanca – Caldera Blanca
Mancha Blanca – Caldera Blanca
Las Casitas de Femés – Femés
Las Casitas de Femés – Femés

Outdoor Lanzarote ….a walk on the wild side

I’ve subscribed by RSS to this site. The Canary Islands are high on my personal list of future hiking destinations.

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need insurance to hike Europe?

What if this happened to you?

What would it cost?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The days of foreigners being “covered” for health costs in nations with socialized medicine are ending. In Switzerland you would pay the full cost of helicopter rescue if you are not a citizen.

Even in the developing world, hospital costs could crush you:

… Aussie tourist took an unlucky fall off a steep mountain track in India and ended up paralyzed in a hospital in New Delhi. And yes, you guessed it, this guy was traveling without any insurance, even though he was 64 years old and should have known better.

The result of this stumble is that his family back in Oz have maxed out their credit cards to pay the hospital bills and so far can’t afford to get him on a plane and home. …

A Traveling Without Insurance Nightmare For Aussie Man In India

You must buy travel insurance if hiking out-of-country. Most policies allow trekking, but do not cover climbing nor mountaineering. Double check your coverage.

====

On a related issue, posted in Gadling – Should a medical exam be required before a major trek?

Physicians and politicians in Australia are calling for mandatory physicals for any trekkers preparing to hike the Kokoda Track according to Aussie newspaper The Age. The Kokoda is a difficult and remote trail in Papua New Guinea, which has claimed the lives of three hikers this year alone. …

read more – Should a medical exam be required before a major trek?

My gut feeling is that regulation is going too far. The normal “release” form should be enough.

Adults must be responsible to make their own decisions in so far as adventure sport is concerned.

If a company voluntarily requires a medical, no problem. But a government should not impose this requirement.

Dolpo-Trek

For example, A Sierra Club Upper Dolpo Trek in Nepal requires a full medical and approval by the trip leader, but not because the government requires it.

… I’m personally shopping for travel insurance right now. Leave a comment if you have a recommendation.

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lost in the Canadian Rockies

Foolishly Garth and I followed Rocco into the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies for a Fall day hike.

fearless-leader

After driving aimlessly on gravel roads for some time, we finally gave up on our original goal, Cox Hill.

Instead, Rocco proposed we park at an unmarked turn-out. And scramble up to what he recalled to be from memory, Jumpingpound Ridge.

It was a gorgeous day.

ridge

While having lunch at the ridge, 3 older (wiser) hikers walked by informing us that we were on a completely different ridge than I was studying in the guidebook. They instructed us carefully on the best, most scenic way to descend.

… As you have already guessed, we never found it. But the bushwhack downslope was even nicer than our scrambling ascent.

If you ever see these guys scanning the distance with binoculars, stop and help them out. They are lost.

lost-hikers

more photos from this hike

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trekking through snow in Corsica

Can you believe this is Corsica, France?

An island in the Mediterranean.

snow-in-Corsica

It’s from an excellent trip report of a 6 days, 95km trek through Corsica in May.

That’s the Trailblaze blog edited by Johannes Huwe, posted in both German and English.

Though snow has been rare on the island since 1979 (presumably due to climate change) the group had significant problems with snow and melt water in 2009.

Kev Reynolds calls the GR20 high-level route across Corsica one of the toughest 3 treks in Western Europe.