Allie Comeau on the Sierra Blogging Posthad to include a Sierra trip as one of her Top 10 American Adventures.
Good call.
It’s on our list of the best hikes in North America. Similar to the famed John Muir Trail, but without wasting so much time and energy descending each day. On the Sierra High Route you try to stay HIGH.
9. Hiking the Sierra High Route, California: The 195-mile stretch between King’s Canyon and Yosemite National Park is not for the faint of heart. This trail, through the country’s most rugged terrain, is challenging to say the least.
This one is dangerous. The expert is Steve Roper.
The Sierra High Route (also called the Roper Route) is a cross-country hiking route, 195 miles (314 km) long, through the Sierra Nevada. It was scouted by Steve Roper and described by him in his book Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country (1982; 1997). …
Its day three of Trail Magazine’s attempt on Mt Kilimanjaro via the Machame route, and things are starting to get tough. The mountain is getting seriously spectacular but the air is getting thin and exhaustion is kicking in. As midnight on the last day approaches, will it be a glorious dawn on Africas Highest mountain or a whopper of a disappointment? Join Trail Magazines Simon Ingram to find out…
The Norwegian Trekking Association has a nice website: English, German and Norwegian.
Today, DNT is Norway’s largest outdoor life organization, with more than 210,000 members (2006) in 55 some local member organisations across the country, from Kristiansand in the south to the North Cape in the north. …
The local member associations operate cabins, mark routes and ski tracks and arrange trips and courses. Together they maintain a network of about 20,000 km of marked foot trails and about 7000 km of branch-marked ski tracks. DNT activities are based on extensive volunteer work. Each year, volunteers together work more than 175,000 hours. …
Here’s their information on arguably the most popular walk in the country, the Besseggen traverse:
More than 30 thousand hikers traverse Besseggen each year, making it Norway’s most trekked route. With good reason. The splendid view of the wild Jotunheimen and steep trails imbue a feeling of having mastered the mountain. The hike isn’t particularly difficult or exposed, but it’s airy, with lake Gjende 400 metres below on the south side and Bessvatn a few metres below on the north side. When you’ve also gone up the gigantic Bukkelægret scree slope, you’ve had a real hike. …
click photo for more padraic woods photos on flickr
Smiths Medical today announced the opening of a new high altitude medical laboratory. Located at 11,154 ft (3,400m) on Mount Everest’s slope, Smiths Medical High Altitude Laboratory’s initial research will include studying nine healthy British kids and how they react to a low oxygen environment. …
Listed by Backpacker magazine as one of the World’s Best (Unknown) Treks.
It sounds great:
… This 50-mile, nine-day loop has it all: glaciated 11,000-foot mountains, high alpine passes, deep valleys, waterfalls, gemsbok mountain antelopes, alpine roses, and martigon lilies. The well-marked route requires no technical expertise, but expect long, strenuous days (despite the relatively short mileage) and adrenaline-fueled climbing with fixed ropes and ladders. …
new Olperer Hut - original - flickr - Alex Bergsten
Life-list moment: Catch your breath–and savor it all–on the small terrace at the Olperer Hut, perched hundreds of feet above the Schlegeisspeicher reservoir, with a view of the serrated ridge of Grosser Moseler in front and a cold Austrian lager in hand.
Hike the loop clockwise, starting in Mayrhofen–the views get better every day, and this way you’ll start with an easy two-mile hike to Edel Hut, so you can sleep in the mountains the same day you arrive in Austria. From Edel, get your bearings by hiking the three-hour round-trip to 9,754-foot Ahornspitze, a rocky summit high above the Zillertal Valley. You’ll know you’re in the heart of the Alps on day 4, en route from Greizer Hut to Berliner Hut, when in one short section you cross a picturesque–if rickety–footbridge over a glacial stream, scramble through a field of avalanche debris, and climb fixed ropes and a 16-foot ladder bolted to sheer rock. Be sure to stop on Lake Schwarzsee’s north shore and snap a photo of the reflected peaks–visual proof of your epic trek. …
The only guidebook when I hiked up and above the north side of Everest Base Camp was Trekking in Tibet by Gary McCue. (In fact, I lost the guidebook while on that trek.)
Hiking Everest from the Tibet side has been getting increasingly problematic.
We recommend you hike the Nepal side, instead. Here’s the newest guidebook:
Reinhold Metzger’s record of 5 days 7 Hours 45 minutes without being resupplied was shattered by Michael Popov. We’ve updated our JMT information page.
Speed record
The speed record for fastpacking the John Muir Trail without resupply (as of 2007) is held by Michael Popov, who completed the trail in 4 days, 5 hours, and 25 minutes. Popov carried all of his equipment and received no outside assistance.
On August 26, 2007 Sue Johnston arrived at Happy Isles trailhead in Yosemite Valley, having run from Whitney Portal in 3 days, 20 hours. Total distance 218 miles (351 km).
It’s the world’s highest free-standing mountain, one of the seven summits and the highest peak in Africa. While a host of celebrities gear up to set foot on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, TRAIL magazine – the UK’s best-selling hill-walking magazine – has just got home from the mountain.
besthike.com 