alpine – Page 129 – besthike.com

December 16, 2007December 22, 2009

#10 best hiking region in the world is the …

Indian Himalaya

India is vibrant, chaotically mad. But you can easily escape to the tranquil high mountains and have them to yourself.

This is Nepal, but without “teahouses” packed together on every popular trail.

Indulge your spirit of adventure and trek the spectacular Indian Himalaya. First-timers and seasoned trekkers alike can experience the region’s rich blend of cultures, religions and dramatic landscapes … LP

As you know, the weather is fickle. The infrastructure undeveloped. You need be confidently independent at altitude or sign on with a reputable guiding company. People die in the Himalaya every year of altitude sickness.

Personally, sadly, I’ve hiked very little in this region. I’m still kicking myself for not trekking to Kangchenjunga when I had the chance in the 1990s. I stood on a ridge in Darjeeling looking at the third highest peak in the world, and decided to head to the beaches of Goa for Christmas, instead. Doh!

The best future destinations for serious hikers, I think, are the Indian Himalaya and Bolivia. (Bhutan, as well, if it ever opens to independent travel.)

More information on our new Indian Himalaya information page.

The best guidebook is Lonely Planet Trekking in the Indian Himalaya. But more inspirational is Trekking and Climbing in the Indian Himalaya (Trekking & Climbing Guides) by Harish Kapadia. (It can be difficult to find a copy.)

Leave a comment if you have your own favourite trek in the Indian Himalayas. We’re looking for advice.

December 15, 2007January 25, 2020

scramble the King’s Throne, Yukon

From some angles the King’s Throne looks like a King’s Throne, hence the name. It’s an easy climb or a tough scramble.

10km (6.2mi) in distance to the summit, about 6hrs return, moderately strenuous.

You have the choice of a 457m (1500ft) climb to rock glacier. Or — if conditions are good — continue to the top, total ascent being 1,250-metre (4,100-foot) above the lake.

The views are spectacular all the way up, so there’s no need to top out. Especially if it’s windy or you get “weather”.

You need to find transport to the Kathleen Lake campground 32km (20mi) south of Haines Junction, Yukon. We stayed there one night after our descent.

You will not feel rushed during the long days of the northern summer. It was light out until perhaps midnight when we were there.

Kluane National Park Hiking Guide

Atop the King’s Throne you’ll be inspired to adventure deeper into this, the largest protected area of the world. But there are very few established trails. You’ll likely be bushwhacking. Or paddling.

Contributor Kelly Mock from Whitehorse suggests (instead) a spring ski tour of the most famous long trail in the park, Cottonwood.

December 13, 2007July 4, 2015

Andrew Skurka loves Colorado

In an Outside Magazine interview, Andrew Skurka was quite definite on the best section of his 6,875mi Great Western Loop:

The best section was through Colorado, from the Indian Peaks Wilderness to the South San Juan Wilderness, about 500 miles. No other state can boast as much consistently world-class trail and scenery …

… there is so much alpine walking that I actually was looking forward to getting back in the timber. Also, the elk were in the peak of their rutting season, the aspens were glowing gold, and the trails were essentially empty.

Outside Blog: Archives

When asked if we mortal hikers could repeat his feat …

A more accessible approach might be to hike it over two years, figuring about 150 or 180 days a year, at 20 miles per day, which is a completely doable pace for someone who is reasonably fit, who carries lightweight gear, and who can resist frequent temptations to spend lots of time in civilization.

December 12, 2007

hiking guru Ray Jardine carrying a HEAVY pack

The man who popularized Lightweight Hiking is carrying a heavy pack.

After two days in Mendoza, we were driven 1.5 hours to a wintertime ski resort in the nearby mountains called the Cordon del Plata. There we shouldered our outrageously heavy backpacks and hiked for 1 hour up a quite steep trail to a lovely alpine meadow called Las Vegas (The Springs), and there made our first camp.

Jenny

We were now at an elevation of 10,300 feet and, as we live at 1,500 feet, and Mendoza is at 2,700 feet, that was quite a sudden jump in altitude. …

read the trip report – NFT

I won’t feel so bad next time I do the same thing.

Ray and Jenny Jardine are hiking in Argentina right now. I’ve been eyeing that region, the towns of Mendoza and Bariloche, myself for some time now. Jumping off points for Aconcagua and Nahuel Huapi.

December 11, 2007

Super Sherpas – Nepal treks

It’s inevitable that the people of the Himalaya take increasing leadership over adventure tourism there. This is a great story.

The Super Sherpas, Apa Sherpa and Lhakpa Sherpa, have a cool website offering the gamut of great Nepali treks.

Why are these guys so super?

Apa Sherpa is the only man in history to reach the top of the world 17 times. As the world record holder of the most summits of Everest, Apa is widely recognized to be one of the greatest living mountaineers.

…

When Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa set out to set an Everest speed ascent record, little did anyone know he would not only break the late Babu Chirri Sherpaâ€™s Everest speed ascent record of 16 hrs 56, but shatter it altogether with a time of 10 hrs 56 min and 46 sec â€“ 6 hours faster than Babuâ€™s seemingly unbeatable record. …

Super Sherpas – About Us

See the Super Sherpa Treks.

They were included in the Outside Magazine 100 top stories of 2007.

(via The Adventure Blog)

November 27, 2007

hiking in Slovenia

Tom Mangan on Two-Heel Drive peaked (pun intended) my interest in Slovenia.

source – National Geographic Adventure

From the rest of the slide show, the Slovenian Via Alpina looks something like the Dolomites. (Brilliant.)

Little known, superb hiking destinations rank high on our radar.

Slovenia is probably one of the best-kept secrets of Europe. Beautiful environment, ranging from Alps to hills, flatlands or seaside make it an excellent country to explore on foot, more so as you will easily find many well-maintained and marked hiking paths. Our pages contain photo galleries from over 100 excursions in Slovenian hills and mountains, some of them also have brief English descriptions.

Hiking in Slovenia

(via Two-Heel Drive)

November 16, 2007

hike and hot springs – Banff, Canada

When up in Banff, Alberta for the Mountain Festival, I was trail running around town each day. I had no vehicle.

Sulphur Mountain from the Upper Hot Springs is normally regarded to be the best hike within walking distance of Banff. The view is spectacular from the top. But much of the 2hr walk up is tree locked.

larger photo – flickr – D’Arcy Norman

My advice is to instead take the Gondolla to the top of Sulphur mountain and â€” starting from this viewpoint â€” to do some ridge walking. You will likely go off-trail or even scramble at some points.

Many, many years ago I recall a friend Pat McRoberts accidentally dropping his camera off the mountain while up here. (Hang on to yours.)

It’s a wonderful thing to be delivered to the top of a mountain for $25. You’ll need another $7.40 at the bottom of the Gondola for …

Banff Hot Springs

When we were kids we loved hiking up Sulphur Mountain because the ride down on the Gondola was FREE. That’s not the case in 2007 â€” though they still do not check your ticket on the way down.

I’m just saying …

November 15, 2007

trekking 4 women – Asia and Africa

Ann Young is the woman behind a New Zealand based company providing quality guided adventure trekking trips.

Uniquely, these treks are designed for women in the 40+ age group.

Tours are available both “less strenuous” and “more challenging”.

Challenging is right. Upcoming: Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary, Annapurna Circuit, Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru.

Are you a woman who has a sense of adventure for the outdoors or wants to explore wild and wonderful places?

Are you fascinated by other cultures of the world?

Have you dreamed of trekking to far off places and seeing the highest mountain in the world or being on Safari on the African plains?

All Trekking 4 Women trips are non technical. You do not have to be a mountaineer or experienced climber, trekker, or traveller to enjoy an experience to last a lifetime with
Trekking 4 Women. If you are an absolute beginner or seasoned traveller, all you need is a sense of adventure to share with other like minded women who come from many destinations and cultures of the world. …

trekking 4 women – Home

“Fishtail” or Machhapuchhre, Nepal

(via Women Travel the World)

November 14, 2007

Ed Viesturs – No Shortcuts to the Top

After seeing Ed speak at the Banff Mountain Festival, I immediately got his book.

He’s one of the few normal people in high altitude mountaineering. (The only other that jumps to mind is Chris Bonnington.)

I, probably wrongly, assume serious climbers are egocentric risk takers. And most often masochists.

Ed Viesturs is none of these. He’s known as a “nice guy”.

There are very few new insights into what happened in the disaster on Everest 1996. Ed was with the IMAX film Everest team.

I highly recommend it though it’s written for the general public, not the outdoors elite.

No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks

I did not enjoy my one and only true mountaineering adventure, guided to the top of 6000m (20,000ft) Huayna Potosi in Bolivia. Being connected by rope was tedious. Having no input into the speed of the climb, annoying.

Much better are trekking peaks. I scrambled independently 5822m (19,101ft) Misti in Peru. And trekked close to 6000m on the Rongphu glacier off Everest.

Kilimanjaro 5896m (19,344ft) appeals in the same way.

On the rare perfect day you can walk up Aconcagua 6962m (22,841ft), the highest peak outside Asia.

Serious mountaineering above that I’ll have to do vicariously.

November 10, 2007

More Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies

Where I come from, the guidebook Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, 3rd edition by Alan Kane is essential. Increasingly my hiking friends prefer hard, fun one day adventures over multi-day walk hauling a pack.

I love this book. And curse it, alternately. Needless to say, route finding on scrambles are not without their challenges. (We’re still arguing about the actual summit of Storm Mountain.)

I’m happy to announce the sequel, by a new author: Andrew Nagura.

Looks great. New routes for those of us who like to climb high, but don’t want to gear up for climbing.