Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Rick’s flying in from Canada, Szu-Ting’s flying over from Philly and a quartet of Bay Area bloggers are meeting Mr. Trout Underground near Mount Shasta around dinnertime for food, camping and chit-chat. Saturday we hike a bit of the Pacific Crest Trail, then it’s a gourmet dinner courtesy of WineHiker Russ, a campfire and more chit-chat (lubricated by some of Russ’s favorite wines) and …
Ho Down weekend is upon us – Two Heel Drive
Have you heard of such a thing?
Wood being used as a material to construct water “pipes”.
We saw these still used by the rustic Lake O’Hara Lodge high in the Canadian Rockies. It’s wonderful they have not yet been replaced by plastic.
more photos of this hike on Flickr
A week later I saw similar pipes in Parksville, BC on Vancouver Island — but in a museum. They were no longer being used.
Craig Heritage Park
Though I’ve lived most of my life in the shadow of the Canadian Rockies, I had never made the trip to see the season end changing of the Larch to golden yellow — one of the great natural displays in nature.
Until this Fall.
Friends had won a lottery for exclusive use of the Elizabeth Parker Alpine Hut close to Lake O’Hara. This is one of the very best spots in the world to see the changing of the colours. On the very best weekend of the year.
I tagged along as a guest, staying in the campground. And felt as if I won the lottery!
more photos of this hike on Flickr
The Alpine Larch is a fascinating tree which helps hikers determine altitude. It grows only between 1800-2400m (6000-8000ft) in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Montana, British Columbia & Alberta — normally the highest trees on the mountain.
The needles are as soft as fur, lovely to the touch.
details on how to organize a hike to O’Hara – besthike.com
Wapiti (elk) during the rut.
Note: click the thumbnails on the left of this page to see the other winning pictures: National Geographic News Photo Gallery: Best Mountain Photographs of 2006 Announced
(via The Adventure Blog – 2006 Banff Mountain Photography Competition)
We’ve linked to a number of Jeffrey’s impressive photo journals.
Check 9 months of 2006 adventures through South America and S.E. Asia on his travel blog. It links too to his pics from the Galapagos, the Amazon and much more.
Jeffrey at Fitzroy, Argentina
Details on this trek — besthike.com Around Monte Fitz Roy
Is this a spokesmodel for an ice axe manufacturer?
HiMountain Dhaulagiri Expedition 2006 – Now it’s Sylwia Bukowicka Time
No, it’s 28-year-old Polish climber Sylwia Bukowicka.
She’s headed for Dhaulagiri (8167m) this Fall.
She has already summitted two eightthousanders: Cho Oyu and Gasherbrum II.
And Ama Dablam, Alpamayo, and Khan Tengri.
And in August she summitted Korzeniewska Peak (7105m) with a sprained ankle.
What have you done lately?
Patagonia sponsored Steve House and Vince Anderson climbed Nanga Parbat in six days in “pure alpine style. It was a new direct route on the Rupal Face, a wall with the largest relief of any wall in the world (14,000 feet)”.
For this they won the Oscar of Mountain Climbing — the Piolet d’Or (French for The Golden Ice Axe).
Patagonia posted some great photos, video and a detailed shopping list of Steve’s clothing. (All Patagonia, of course.)
Nice use of the internet! I like this company.
UPDATE: For a terrific article about the controversial Steve House, check The Devil Wears Patagonia – Outside magazine
Continental Divide Trail map – GORP
Southbound Or Northbound?
The choice between nobo and sobo may depend on snow conditions in a given year, and some experts feel sobo gives the best chance of completing a linear thru-hike. It’s important to know that there will be snow in Montana in May so sobo hikers should check with area rangers and land managers to see how deep the snowpack is before choosing this option. …
Now is the time to organize for 2007.
Noel Wigdor is a 21-year-old Canadian doing South America right.
On his travel blog he posted a trip report of a rainy, problematic adventure on the Santa Cruz Trek out of Huaraz, Peru:
Trekking the Andes – Santa Cruz
This is by far the most popular serious hike in the region and is indeed, as Noel tells, one of the best hikes in the world.
Noel at the top of the pass — Punta Union 4760m (15,617ft).
If you are packing for a trip to the Andes check out besthike.com Santa Cruz for details. It’s 50km (31+ miles) plus sidetrips, 4 days recommended. Best months are May to September. Altitude is a factor.
Gross Spannort – Wikipedia in German
Contributor Gregor Urni has been busy of late with new daughter Jessica, but managed to get out for a weekend hike and climb.
more photos and a trip report auf Deutche
More climbs and photos on the Swiss Alpine Club website.
besthike.com 