Category: alpine

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VOLCANIC TRAVERSE hike in Alaska

Mark Scanlan recommended the Nabesna area of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest in the USA.

The jumping off point is Anchorage.

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… two rough gravel roads (the McCarthy Road and the Nabesna Road) wind through the park, making much of the interior accessible for backcountry camping and hiking. Chartered aircraft also fly into the park. Wrangell-St. Elias received roughly 57,221 visitors in 2004

Of the Nabesna trail options, the National Park Service website highlights a new adventure they call the Sanford-Dadina Plateau “Volcanic Traverse”.

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DISTANCE: 15 miles one way. 4-8 days depending on route and side trips.

ACCESS: Fly-in by air taxi from Gulkana Airport to upper Sanford River. Pickup from strip along Dadina River.

DIFFICULTY: Difficult. Requires extensive route finding (no trails), crossing glacial moraine, brush, steep rocky hill-sides with loose material, and negotiating swift but relatively small rivers.

HIGHLIGHTS: A wild and remote area with unsurpassed scenery. Volcanic peaks (Mount Drum 12,010’, Mount Sanford 16,237’, and Mount Wrangell 14,163’), alpine tundra, and splendid isolation. Watch for sign of caribou, Dall sheep, moose, bison, and ptarmigan.

linked via National Park Service Wrangell-St. Elias Hiking Routes

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new name for GLACIER National Park, Montana

A tongue-in-cheek article by Bill Schneider, founder of Falcon Guidebooks, sends a message to a Montana congressional delegation — “it is time they supported mandatory global warming pollution reduction policies.”

I love it.

GLOBAL WARMING POLITICAL STATEMENT
Group Wants to Rename Glacier

After 97 years, is it time to give Montana’s Glacier National Park a new name?

Yes, says a national green group.

Why? Because of climate change, scientists say all of the park’s famous glaciers will melt away by 2030.

So, says the National Environmental Trust, we need a new name, perhaps something like Used-to-have Glaciers National Park or Formerly Glacier National Park. …

Group Wants to Rename Glacier | Travel & Outdoors | New West Network

(via Two-Heel Drive)

I am worried. Not sure what really can be done about it though. How do you trigger an ice age?

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source – Politics Blog

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HUGE panorama photos from Peru

My buddy George painstakingly “sewed” together many photos from our travels together in Peru 2005.

These are BIG images. For example, this low resolution pic from Ausangate is 500 pixels wide. But the original panorama is 3157 pixels wide!

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Panoramas are ideal for print publications who can benefit from that kind of resolution.

See the rest of George’s panorama photos. (You need a high speed internet connection.) There are some great Machu Picchu dawn photos.

And check our Ausangate Circuit information page. It’s our favourite hike in Peru.

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LARGE original

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BAREFOOT hiking in New Zealand?

Robert Jungst on a bet vowed to hike over the New Zealand Alps 4-days barefoot.

Robert’s with the Society for Barefoot Living.

Now, … I got in enough trouble with Rick the Nude Hiker for being flippant about “alternative” hikers. (In fact, I’ve promised to try nude hiking this year.) But it seems to me that my feet are the last part of my body I want nude when scrambling over a mountain!

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The Rabbit Pass route is no Sunday stroll. It has a reputation as one of the most challenging alpine passes that can be done in New Zealand without climbing expertise. …

This part of the trip is the most demanding for Robert. Underfoot is painfully sharp scree that slides disconcertingly as we slip and skate down as if surfing angry waves. I see the odd bloodspot on a stone, a sign that Robert is having a tough time now.

Further down the terrain changes from scree to subalpine grasses, including the dreaded Spaniard’s spikes. It takes us several hours to get down, and Robert’s first comment on arrival to the East Matukituki campsite is: “Before someone asks, yes, my feet ARE sore!!”

But despite the anguish of the descent, Robert chooses not to put on the Tevas from his pack. He does the whole trip in bare feet. He concedes, though, that if he was to repeat the Rabbit Pass descent, he would probably choose to wear the Tevas for that bit. “The trip in New Zealand has taught me there are SOME situations where shoes could be my preferred option.”

… So why go barefoot? Robert’s been mostly barefoot for 15 years now and he says he initially rid himself of shoes, not for any desire to be different or reject society’s norms, but simply because his feet smelt. He also lost toenails regularly. It just made more sense for him to ditch the shoes – his feet felt like they’d been freed from a cage, and the foot odour and toenail problems instantly disappeared.

… Robert insists that barefooting is a healthier option – “without a doubt”. Without shoes, he says, there’s no chance for fungus or other infections to grow, and blisters are a distant memory. “It’s good for the circulation, too.”

New Zealand Wild Walks

Thanks to Whit Thurlow of New Zealand Wild Walks for alerting us to this amazing feat (pun intended).

Wilt will organize an 8-day Gillespie / Rabbit Pass trek, the longest guided tramp available in New Zealand at 90km (56mi). Sounds varied and fantastic!

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Gillespie Pass – TrampNZ

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explore Meteora near Mt Olympus, Greece

Ever since I first saw photos of Meteora, I knew I had to get there one day. (Perhaps a trip combining hiking in Greece with the Dolomites in Italy.)
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Tom Dempsey’s tips for visiting the famous hanging monasteries of Meteora:

• For photography, I recommend a day or two exploring all the different different angles and possibilities, then be ready for the perfect shot on the next day or two as you experience the ever-changing light. Visit the outside at sunrise & sunset for best photography – sunset may give the best light since the the cliffs face to the southwest. … if you have time, walking the best way to absorb the impact of this incredible area.

• I suggest staying anywhere in Kastraki, which is a small town with fascinating architecture, cobbled streets, and closer walking distance to the rock towers & monasteries than the larger town of Kalambaka.

• A few hours drive from Meteora you can hike Mount Olympus, which is culturally very important to Greece. Ascending Mount Olympus is challenging and scenic, with a clean, comfortable overnight dormitory-style hut that serves meals.

Meteora, Greece – amazing photos

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Monastery of Rousanou – flickr – Evgeni Dinev

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7-yr-old climbs 214 Lake District peaks

kerryregansm2.jpgCongratulations Kerry.

The feat has taken her four years, walking a total of 710 miles and climbing 230,000ft.

Kerry followed in the footsteps of her big sister Ellen, who became the youngest person to climb them all last year when she was nine. The title then went to two boys who were a few months younger.

Now Kerry’s parents David and Clare are proud she has grabbed it back for the family by scaling the last fell — 3,210ft Scafell Pike.

Chuffed Kerry, of Caldbeck, Cumbria, said: “I’m really pleased to have beaten my sister.

“My favourite was Rannerdale because we had a game of hide and seek with the crags up there.

“I take jelly teddies and chocolate bars to help when I get tired.”

A Welsh View: 7 Year Old Girl Climbs 214 Hills

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lost on a glacier in Pakistan

Ben Tubby and partner Kerry had problems on a trek to Snow Lake guided by Vertical Explorers Expeditions.

Ben’s detailed photo trip report is recommended reading for anyone — like me — considering an adventure in Pakistan.

Bad roads, cold rooms, disgusting toilets, illness, crevasses, rain, sunburn, freezing river crossings, communication problems with guides, …

Sounds like fun!

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Northern Pakistan is beautiful. Amazing mountain scenery, honest, friendly people and lots and lots of ice. We spent 18 days wandering up the biggest slab of ice outside of the polar regions and then got lost in a white-out on the top, surrounded by crevasses.

Tubby: Lost on a glacier in Pakistan

(trip report)

Snow Lake Hispar La Experience – Vertical Explorers (a longer tour than Ben’s)

(via Nothing adds up)

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Biafo Glacier

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Ogre’s Thumb

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bushwhacking Olympic Peninsula, Washington

On the Freezer Bag Cooking blog I learned of an amazing hiker named Mike.

Mike does trips I don’t even want to dream of. The thought of fording the Queets River in the Olympics multiple times in a day, to find an elusive waterfall is something I don’t think I will ever be capable of!

Mikes spent 31 days in 2004 crisscrossing rugged, remote wilderness, often solo, often off trail.

He’s put up an excellent new website called Mike’s Rain Forest Treks.

The first of a series of planned photo trip reports is already posted. Detailed and inspiring.

My big-picture plan for the next month will take me on a disjointed spiral around the west side of Olympic National Park’s million-acre wilderness. My route is varied enough to explore all the major ecosystems of the world’s most ecologically and geologically diverse slice of land.

Starting out in typical northwest spruce and fir forests, I will see the park’s high alpine playgrounds, its extensive coastline beaches, its uncannily immense glaciers, and it’s most prized treasure… the finest remnants of old-growth temperate rainforests left in the world.

The route has been split into three manageable “legs,” ending with a 16-day mega-trek through the most remote and untouched off-trail wilderness in the entire park. These first two legs (each a week-long trip) will be a fantastic “warm-up,” a way to strengthen my legs and awaken my soul before testing my limits.

2004 Olympic Solo Trip

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daunting remote trails in Fiordland, New Zealand

Fiordland (like S.W. Tasmania and Patagonia) on the S.E. corner of the South Island is astonishingly unvisited. For good reason.

200px-new_zealand_map.gif… Fiordland National Park, which has an area of 12,120 square kilometres, making it the largest national park in New Zealand and one of the larger parks in the world. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the Southern Alps and its ocean-flooded, steep western valleys. Situated within Fiordland are Browne Falls and Sutherland Falls, which rank among the tallest waterfalls in the world.

The name “Fiordland” comes from the now-common variant of the Norwegian word “fjord”. Fiordland features a number of fiords often misnamed sounds, of which Milford Sound is the most famous, though Doubtful Sound is even larger and has more and longer branches.

Fiordland has few human inhabitants and is the least-populated area of New Zealand … and many areas almost inaccessible except by boat or air. Te Anau township, the only larger settlement close by, has under 2,000 permanent habitants, though it boasts around 3,000 tourist beds.

Fiordland – Wikipedia

This region is ideal for those who are looking for a real trekking challenge. (The sandflies alone were enough to drive me off.)

An article called Hidden Valleys of Fiordland, a bushwhack to George Sound, may be enough to scare you off, as well:

It all began on the shores of Lake Te Anau at a pessimistic looking information sign. The town of Te Anau is shown to sit in a rain shadow, with an average rainfall exceeding that of the legendary Milford Sound. We then knew the full extent of what to expect, as one trip member, John, put it “This is possibly the wettest trip we could attempt, except maybe a traverse of the lake bed!”

Hidden Valleys of Fiordland

Fiordland is drenched. Even the well established hikes (Hollyford, Kepler, Routeburn, Milford, etc.) are challenging in the rain.

Choose a more remote track — Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound would be our first choices — and you are up for a memorable trip.

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Te Anau area hikes – Dept. of Conservation

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Doubtful Sound – original – flickr

See our entire list of the best hikes in New Zealand.