KAMADAC is a German – Venezuelan run travel agency based out of nearby Santa Elena.
Their guides speak Spanish, German and English.
How can you resist?
The prices are really good value. Click through to see for yourself – kamadac.de
trekking Dientes, Patagonia
Ace and Patricia hiked the most southerly established major trail in South America, part of the Circuito Dientes de Navarino.
I read their trip report with interest. I’d once traveled to Punta Arenas intending to do Dientes, but ran out of time to arrange the tricky transportation to the Puerto William, Chile, on Isla Navarino. That’s the jumping off point for Dientes.
Ace and Patricia ended up taking the Zenit’s 15 passenger boat from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Puerto Williams. And later found a flight back on a 3-seater plane.
Extreme weather in this most extreme part of the world makes all manner of transportation a gamble.
Was it worth it for Patricia?
Yes.
… We reached the dip between the peaks and were rewarded with breathtaking views of the spiky Dientes and across Isla Navarino to sets of islands beyond. It was a clear day and we saw the islands of Cape Horn. It was definitely the highlight of the trip. …
Painted stones & cairns mark the trail. Unfortunately many of those were covered by snow.
Everyone has navigation challenges on Dientes, this adventure more than most. Their goal on day 2 was to cross Paso de los Dientes. The guidebook said to “stay high”. … They stayed too high, eventually having to backtrack when the risk of a mini-avalanche got too great.
If you’ve ever dreamed of hiking the teeth of south South America, download Patricia’s Trip Journal. (PDF)
Check our Dientes information page.
Mt Asgard, Baffin Island – the movie
More rugged and remote than the Himalayas.
The Asgard Project – OFFICIAL Climbing Teaser – Posing Productions
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.
… objective to make the first free ascent of the west face of Mt Asgard on Baffin Island. Like that’s not an awesome enough feat in itself the journey there will be pretty special involving training trips to Riglos in Spain, Brento in Italy and Yosemite in California! …
The film crew hiked in to this location in 5 days.
(via The Adventure Channel)
Triple Crown hikes, Waterton 2011
I tried and failed in 2010.
But summer 2011 in Waterton National Park, Canada, I guarantee I’ll be getting on the Glory Board, the list of those who complete 3 best hikes, ideally in one calendar year: Akamina Ridge | Alderson Carthew | Crypt Lake
details – ExperienceWaterton.com – Triple Crown
best hike Peneda-Gerês, Portugal
UPDATE: Rob sends us GPS coordinates for hikes in this Park. For 10 different routes!
_____ original post:
The best hiking region in Portugal is Peneda-Gerês National Park. All agree.
But what’s the best hike there?
That’s a difficult question. Most agree that the southern portion of the small U-shaped Park is the best section.
That’s where I hiked, on a number of different short trails promoted by the Park, yet badly signed. I’m not particularly inclined to recommend them.
Some guiding companies offer a multi-day itinerary called The Shepherds Way, but that’s actually a series of different day hikes. (That tour looks good, actually. People love this region.)
I based myself out of the small town of Campo de Gerês near the biggest and most popular hostel, Vilarinho das Furnas. And I’d recommend you stay there too as it’s easily accessible by bus.
If you have your own vehicle, the nearby campground looked great. And ideally located for the short government signed trails.
Driving in rural Portugal is challenging, though. Click through to this trip report:
… big and full of rolling, wooded moorland and stark granite mountains.
Every so often you come across gorgeous hickeldy pickeldy farming villages with tiny streets next to no cars but lots and lots of mini herds of creamy brown cows all wearing big brass bells! At night the cows stayed in barns but during the day they didn’t have fields but were driven from place to place so over the next two days we were surrounded by bird song and jingling cows! At dusk on the first day though we were in for a surprise turning a corner and coming face to face with the first herd. As the lane was very narrow we retreated to the car where the dogs sniffed and snorted loudly in the back and the cows smeared their noses on the windows….
But the best hike, in my opinion, would be to carry a tent and head on up on to the ridges to wild camp. This is not legal, as I understand it. But if you buy a map in Lisbon, start walking towards those areas with the least road access. Camping’s not likely to be a problem if you set up in the wilderness after dusk. The park is mostly used for seasonal grazing.
(Don’t try that during Autumn, though. The definition of “National Park” is different in Portugal. There it’s an area to fatten up birds and game until hunting season.)
This is not a wilderness park. There are use trails between ancient villages. And livestock trails everywhere.
Many of the villages have nobody left younger than age-60. The young people move away. Tourism can revitalize, though. You can organize farm stays in 700yr old buildings. How rustic is that?
Reservoirs and waterfalls are the highlights for many hikers.
See interesting photos tagged Peneda-Gerês
Leave a comment if you know of an established best hike in the Park.
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Tips:
I found that very few locals speak any English. Best learn the basics in Portuguese or you’ll be troubled finding out when the next bus comes past.
It’s no hardship getting to Peneda-Gerês. Convenient and inexpensive trains run from Lisbon to Porto. And from Porto to Braga where you catch the bus to the Park. You’ll want to tour both cities, sampling as much Port along the way as possible.
Winos will not be able to resist a wine tour in the Douro Valley.
phone from Mt Everest
Last year when I trekked the Khumbu I was super impressed to be able to get internet close to base camp. I was able to post photos of myself, near naked. The connection at guest houses was slow and expensive, however.
Now you can post rude Everest pics right from your smart phone:
Nepali mobile network operator Ncell has installed the first 3G base station at the summit of Mount Everest, giving visitors, climbers and people living in the Khumbu Valley the ability to make calls and wirelessly connect to the Internet. …
… “The coverage of the network will reach up to the peak of the Everest,” Ncell Nepal chief Pasi Koistinen said to reporters in Kathmandu on Thursday. …
Even from your parachute.
world’s highest climbing wall
It’s frustrating to be a Dutch mountain climber.
So they built this …
That’s Klimcentrum Bjoeks in Groningen, the north of Netherlands.
Learn more about it on a 2009 UK Climbing article.
(via The Adventure Blog)
… Stone Works wall in Carrollton in Texas claims that they’re actually the world’s highest.
huayhuash.com – Peru trekking
The Cordillera Blanca (White Mountains) in Peru are one of the best trekking destinations in the world. The jumping off point is the town of Huaraz.
There are some interesting Google Earth routes shown on this site, including this one of the nearby Huayhuash range.
The best months of the year for hiking this region are May through August. Check our Central Andes information page for best hikes there.
Huayhuash.com is part of PEAKS PERU SAC, the mayor Tour Operator in The Peruvian Andes, specialized in organizing Trekking, mountaineering tours and all kind of adventure travels …
Thanks Geoff.
Yosemite Grand Traverse
A terrific trip report by one terrific hiker, author Peter Potterfield.
This time Peter is checking out a new itinerary invented by Ian Elman, founder of Southern Yosemite Mountain guides, which won National Geographic Adventure magazine’s trip-of-the-year honours in 2008:
… a sixty mile backcountry journey that takes the hiker through the Ansel Adams Wilderness, over Post Peak Pass and into Yosemite National Park, and along the unique drainage of the Merced River before reaching, eventually, the dramatic high country of Tuolumne Meadows. A side trip to the summit of Half Dome via the cable route is a standard feature of the journey. …
I’ve always considered this region (#4 ranked in the world) hiking heaven.
Click through to Great Outdoors for the full trip report with annotated photos
Asulkan Valley Trail, Canada
Rating – Expert
Distance – Approximately 13 kilometers one-way
Elevation Gain – 975 meters!
Duration – 10 hours round trip
When to Go – Mid-July to Mid-September. Any earlier, there’s avalanche risks.
How to get there – 4 hours from Calgary, 7 hours from Vancouver.
Another great hiking trip report from Scenic Travel Canada. This time Barry Taylor tells of his tough day hike near the Rogers Pass, in the Rockies.
It sounds spectacular.
One excerpt:
… Hoary marmots are basking in the sun on top of large boulders as they monitor my progress. Huge waterfalls are roaring straight down from the steep slopes of Abbott ridge on the other side of Asulkan Brook. The sound echoes and amplifies in the massive rock falls. I cross a removable wooden bridge over Asulkan Brook and the trail soon takes me past the junction for the Glacier Crest Trail.
As I break out of the forest again, the Asulkan Glacier comes into view far in the distance. The farther I hike, the more spectacular the views become. Roaring, rushing, milky water is everywhere. The sun is dancing on water and shadows shorten as the sun begins to fill the valley. I am feeling excited now and committed to completing the hike. …
click through to read the rest and see VIDEO – Hiking the Asulkan Valley Trail in Glacier National Park (Rogers Pass, BC)
Barry loved it. But bugs were still a problem there on Aug. 18th on a hot, hot day.
That’s the Canadian Glacier National Park, not that other one in Montana.
🙂
Who claimed the name first? … The Canadians established theirs in 1886. The Americans in 1910.
besthike.com 