Category: alpine

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Chilkoot Trail – Yukon to Alaska

Paul Nickodem posted an entertaining, succinct trip report of his speedy Chilkoot Trail hike on MountainZone.com:

We flew out of Juneau on tiny Skagway air, which is just a Piper Archer four seat aircraft. I was the co-pilot as we flew up the fjords and channels toward Skagway (population 1,500). My pilot was a 21-year-old girl from South Dakota and when she told me her age, I felt like wrenching the controls from her. The landing in Skagway would have made even the most gnarly world traveler cringe.

A major pucker factor as we skimmed a ridge and then stood the plane on its right wing as we banked into the deep corner of the mountains that Skagway is built into. …

Alaska’s Chilkoot Trail

It’s a trip through time. 53kms (33mi). Recommended 5 days, 4 nights. Best months mid-July to mid-Sept.

details on organizing to hike the Chilkoot Trail – besthike.com

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Klondike gold rush of 1898

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trekking the Pyrenees – Andy Howell

A professional trip report, wonderful photos, on the Pyrenearn Haute Route was posted by big-time hiker Andy Howell. He’s just finished his HRP “Pyrenees project”.

The report starts on this page and continues on up the blog.

Andy obviously loves the region.

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Recommended guidebook – Pyrenearn Haute Route: High-Level Trail Through the Pyrenees (Cicerone)

(via Two-Heel Drive)

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start packing for Nepal

Newsvine tipped us to this NYT article.

(Not that we were worried about the Maoist terrorists in the past.)

WITH political stability returning to Nepal, so too are adventure-oriented travel companies, many of which had discontinued their trips to the country over the last few years.

For the first time since 2002, Country Walkers, based in Waterbury, Vt., is returning to the Himalayan nation of Nepal with special tours in the fall, said to be the ideal time for trekking in the region.

Other outfitters, like Mountain Travel Sobek of Emeryville, Calif., and Wilderness Travel of Berkeley, Calif. — which had halted all trips but those to the Khumba or Everest regions in the northeast — are now offering trips to the Annapurna region in central Nepal. Mountain Travel Sobek is also starting treks to the remote Dolpo and Humla regions in the northwest, which they deemed off limits because of the political unrest.

After more than 10 years of bitter conflict, the Nepalese government signed a peace deal with Maoist rebels in November. …

And Maoists have stopped collecting money from tourists along trekking routes.

… GEOGRAPHIC EXPEDITIONS, which continued to operate trips to Nepal during the unrest but only to the Kathmandu region, is planning two new excursions. One, a rigorous 27-day trek through the Kingdom of the Mustang in the spring and fall, starts at $4,695 a person for a group of eight people. Another 31-day trek, Around Manaslu, to be offered in the fall, starts at $4,995 a person for eight people.

There are some added benefits to being among the first tourists to return to Nepal. “For the moment,” said Mr. Steigerwald, “it’s really a treat to be there without crowds.”

As Political Unrest Eases, Travel Picks Up – New York Times

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hiking New Zealand – North island

new_zealand3.jpgphoto – Mt. Taranaki

We’ve just subscribed to Outdoor Video Magazine, a classy looking blog with quality posts some of which include short video clips.

Most people that go to New Zealand spend most of their time on the South Island, especially if they are outdoor enthusiasts. This is a mistake in my humble opinion. The North Island is almost equally cool, and it actually beats the South Island in terms of it’s variety of scenery and terrain, although it lacks the big mountain ranges obviously. It has spectacular volcanic scenery, crazy coloured lakes and rocks, a Mt Fuji look-alike to summit, beautiful coast, and tropical forest.

I wouldn’t normally recommend a Lonely Planet book, I don’t think they do the best travel guides. However, in this case I will make an exception and say the Lonely Planet’s Tramping in New Zealand is an excellent purchase. Its well written, really easy to follow and find tramps (that’s Kiwi for hikes by the way), and has a range of difficulty from easy to pretty hard (e.g. the 10 day North West Circuit on Stewart Island).

The ‘have to do’ hikes on the North Island in my opinion are: Tongariro Northern Circuit, Mt Taranaki and then something in the East Coast/Hawke’s Bay; either the Lake Waikaremoana Track or if you want something less busy and a bit wilder the Manuoha to Waikareti Track.

Hiking in New Zealand – North Island · Outdoor Video Magazine

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Outdoor Video Magazine

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hiking Madeira Island

Tom Mangan spotted this photo on Flickr.

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The Pilgrim’s Path – Mr. Enjoy’s photostream

The amazing photo is from a hike on Madeira island off Africa, an autonomous region of Portugal. (Likely you’ve heard of Madeira wine.)

Hikers go there to walk the ancient “levadas” (irrigation channels) that provide over 2172km (1350mi) of trails on the tiny island.

Two of the most popular walks are the “Levada do Caldeiro Verde” and the “Levada Caldeirão do Inferno”.

The photo is on one of the mountain paths or “veredas” that criss-cross the peaks.

More information – NatureMeetings.com

We’ve added Madeira Island to our list of the best hikes in the world.

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walking the Andes

1us_tired.JPGIn June 2006, two adventurers Gregg Treinish and Deia Schlosberg started an incredible trek walking most of the length of the Andes.

Yeesh.

That is a serious undertaking. Not surprisingly, they are having problems.

They’ve changed the “north to south” itinerary to walk different sections at the best time of the year — even if that means jumping on a plane.

And they’ve had some fantastic experiences.

They are posting occasionally on the Road Junky website. And their photos are posted on SmugMug.

Good luck Gregg and Deia.

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Deia

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fly to Huaraz, Peru

A shout out to Clara Luz Bravo Diaz of Casa de Clara Guest House in Trujillo, Peru. (Great tourist town, by the way. The north coast of Peru is wonderful.)

They emailed to let us know of a regional airline now flying to Huaraz, Peru, one of the best hiking towns in the world. If you are planning a future trekking holiday to Peru — and who isn’t — stop researching the Inca Trail and start looking at the wonderful walks out of Huaraz:

Alpamayo

Santa Cruz

Huayhuash Circuit

You can now fly into Lima and connect to Huaraz via LC Busre airlines. Air service to Huaraz had been almost nonexistent over the past few years. This really helps.

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photo – solo trekking the Huayhuash Circuit – Jake G – flickr

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Snowman Trek, Bhutan

Rogier Gruys is an expert on the West Coast Trail in Canada, the hike we rated #1 in the world. Rogier’s BluePeak Travel Photography pics of the WCT are still the best we’ve ever seen.

But Rogier likes the Snowman Trek even better.

Very few have ever done that long Himalayan trek (minimum 19 days) due to high cost (US$200 / day) and high risk.

The Snowman trek is the most difficult trek in Bhutan because one has to walk and camp at high altitude for nearly three weeks. As long as one has no problems with the high altitude and the weather is good, it is not a particularly difficult trek. But, if something were to happen along the way, someone would have to carry you down to the nearest house, or try to find a telephone to get a helicopter from Thimphu. Both are often several days’ walk. Initially, many people planned and wanted to go with us on the trek, but in the end they all bailed out and only two of us went.

Snowman trek description, Bhutan

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BluePeak photo – high resolution version – flickr

Rogier recommends the Cicerone guidebook. It’s essential advanced reading for anyone considering trekking in Bhutan.

A Trekker's Guide (Cicerone)

Bhutan: A Trekker’s Guide (Cicerone)

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Tasmania – Cradle, Ossa, Acropolis

Scrambling adjacent mountain peaks is one of the reasons we love the Overland Track in Tasmania.

The three best sidetrip climbs are Cradle Mountain, Mt. Ossa and The Acropolis. We’ve posted our photos of each of those three.

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more Cradle Mountain photos on flickr

Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park – Wikipedia

Ossa is the the highest mountain on the island, but the easiest of the three scrambles we did.
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more Mt. Ossa photos on flickr

Mt. Ossa – Wikipedia

The sidetrip to climb The Acropolis adds a day to the regular Overland itinerary. Staying one extra night at Pine Hut is highly recommended.
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more Acropolis photos on flickr