… a good 4 to 5 day hike. We had great weather with no rain, which meant hot afternoons. In the mornings, we were up around 5am to be on the trail by 6am. This was to avoid the heat and catch the sun rise. Although hiking in the heat was hard work, the waterfall swimming pools at the end of every day (except the last) were a magnificent reward. Amazing water and then catch some rays in the sun. …
Precipice Trail is a 1,000 vertical foot “non-technical” climb up the exposed east face of Champlain Mountain in Acadia National Park, Maine.
The route is characterized by narrow granite ledges and iron rungs and ladders. The trail is closed most of the year due to poor conditions making the climb very dangerous. During summer months access to the mountain is restricted due to nesting endangered peregrine falcons. …
Just finished reading one of the weirdest and wildest outdoors books.
Not sure whether his prose pieces are the insane ramblings of an arrogant egomaniac. Or genius insight.
KISS OR KILL
Sit back and join the ride with this collection of edge-of-your-seat climbing stories by Mark Twight aka Dr. Doom. “Somewhere out there somebody understands these words and knows they matter. They were written in blood, learned by heart.” –Mark Twight
– BANFF award-winner
Extreme climber. Extreme writer. Extreme personality. No matter what he’s doing, Mark Twight takes a definite, and often controversial, stand. Anyone who knows climbing knows Twight’s name, and anyone who knows Twight’s name will want to read this book. Each story is told in Twight’s taut, in-your-face style. Brand-new epilogues bring each piece full circle , providing updated information and fresh, hindsight perspectives.
Born on November 2, 1961 in Yosemite National Park, California, Mark Twight rose to prominence in the world Alpine mountaineering community in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a well-documented series of difficult, dangerous alpine climbs in various ranges around the world.
He made the first ascent of “The Reality Bath” on the White Pyramid with Randy Rackliff, which is unrepeated and described by Canadian Rockies guidebook author, Albi Sole as “so dangerous as to be of little value except to those suicidally inclined.”
… Twight was nominated for the Piolet d’Or twice during his career, in 1993 for “Beyond Good and Evil” and 1995 for “Deprivation”.
Reality Bath is somewhere centre on this wall
Publishers Weekly:
From Chamonix to the Himalayas to Peak Communism in the Pamirs, extreme climbing has been Twight’s response to “stupidity and mediocrity” and at times it is even “a tool to forestall suicide.”
Following Extreme Alpinism, this volume collects more than 12 years of Twight’s extreme outdoor journalism for such magazines as Climbing, Outside and Men’s Journal.
Punk rock lyrics pepper these essays, providing context and form for his rage, cynicism and obsessive, masculine drive.
Avalanches, rotten ice, the deaths of fellow climbers, the rescue of others, dwindling food supplies, lost tents at 18,000 feet Twight survives mortal dangers and tragedies, writing, “No matter what I did, the suffering I experienced did not satisfy me. I had to have more.”
Twight’s in-your-face style is both his strength and his weakness fans of Henry Rollins or Charles Bukowski may find a sport nut analogue in Twight. Deeply personal, arrogant, grandiose, thrilling and unapologetic, this record of his 15-year career will gratify and repel extreme athletes, their admirers and their detractors.
Andrew Pleavin
Mark Twight is the founder of Gym Jones, where he trains athletes, military personnel, and others for whom fitness goes beyond appearance. At Gym Jones Twight and fellow trainers and coaches work with everyone from NFL players to MMA fighters, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitors (a half-dozen Pedro Sauer black belts work and train there), bike racers, rock and mountain climbers, and a variety of ultra-endurance athletes. …
In 2005 Twight trained the cast and stunt crew for the movie 300. … The training was difficult, Twight pulled no punches, refusing to differentiate between actors, stuntmen, or athletes. After being told the details of a day’s workout Andrew Pleavin said, “It feels like you just killed my dog.”
One training regimen that his crew underwent in the movie came to be known as the 300 Workout, spawning many variations by other fitness personalities and trainers.
Kelly lives in Canmore. Ray and Mark from nearby Calgary often join him for hikes.
Sue, Steve and myself rendezvoused at the trailhead. May 24th, this was the first really good weekend for hiking out of Canmore.
Steep and longer than I expected, the only major difficulty comes at the very top.
Kelly, our fearless leader, decided to post hole us up this snow chute.
On top we got a good view of Canmore in the Bow River valley. It started to snow.
Spray Lakes Road.
We opted to descend on the precarious looking ridge.
It’s not nearly as exposed as it looks.
Some snow. We were happy to have brought gators.
Our over ambitious original plan was to run up adjacent Ha Ling Peak from the same parking lot. … Instead we headed for the pub. FREE glass with a pint of beer. 🙂
… You are almost guaranteed mountain sheep on the Spray Lakes Road. … There are restrooms at the Goats Creek Trail head parking area.
Red Tape- There are no permit requirements to enter, climb and/or park in Banff National Park or Kananaskis Provincial Park. This is active grizzly country however. Take bear spray. …
Once you’ve decided on the destination, here’s our advice for best hike for independent trekkers:
1) Annapurna – Annapurna Circuit 21 days
2) Everest – Three Passes 20 days
3) Langtang – … various options 5-15 days
If you insist on going with a guide, consider the trip fastest gaining popularity, the Manaslu Circuit, near Annapurna. Guides are mandatory on Manaslu.
If you are short on time, go to Langtang. It’s close to Kathmandu. Easy and inexpensive to organize.
I did 16 days in both Annapurna and Everest by pushing some long hiking days. That’s minimum, I’d say. I wish I’d had more days on both trips.
You really don’t need a guide in any of these 3 highly developed destinations, but you may want to hire a guide and/or porter(s) to enhance your holiday. My advice is to do that as you go in the villages of Nepal. Almost any Guest House can arrange those for you with just a few hours notice. This way all your money goes directly to the local people. (You might want to hire a porter just for a day or two, for example.)
Recall that you can carry a very light pack in Nepal. Sleeping bag, clothing and personal essentials are all you need. And a stack of Nepali Rupees, of course, to pay for your bed and meals each day.
I saw independent hikers at Everest Base Camp who had never before done an overnight hike. (Tolerance for smelly, freezing pit toilets is the main “talent” required. Not high altitude trekking experience.)
It’s awesome. The best day hike into Blyde River Canyon.
Starting at the excellent Blyde Canyon Forever Resort there are at least three short routes (1–4 hours) that can also be linked together as a 5 hour walk. Each trail is marked by a different symbol. You won’t get lost.
Of many different possible day hike variations, I did the one recommended to me at Forever Resorts registration.
Leopard Trail descending from the Worlds End viewpoint. Switching to Loerie Trail, a fun, rough scramble back up the creek.
(Easier, but longer, is a return via Guinea-foul trail.)
At Worlds End you get a great vista of famed Three Rondavels, thought to look like the houses or huts of the indigenous peoples.
Three Rondavals
It’s all beautiful heading down into one of the biggest canyons on Earth.
The day I was there was quiet. The only others gawking at the natural scenery were these guys.
My route did not take me all the way down to the river, though you can get down there, if you wish.
It’s free to enter Forever Resorts. (I wished I’d stayed there. The Taj Mahal of campsites.) But costs $5 to hike if you are not a guest. You must check in and out of the hikes. At registration will give you a hand drawn map and details on each trail.
The goal: to circumnavigate one of the most wonderful and wicked mountain ranges in the world – the Huayhuash, by bicycle.
This was all a spur of the moment idea; part of the vicious cycle of making every adventure more thrilling than the last.
January was the off-season, or rainy season, for the Andes so the wilderness would be completely desolate. The three friends hoped to be the second group to complete this trek on bikes. However, they underestimated the relentless weather they would encounter as they traveled for a week above treeline. …
Kyle likes African Walking Company and Ultimate Kilimanjaro. They charge $2,000 to $3,500 per climber. Mid-range.
Here are the Ultimate Kilimanjaro trips for autumn 2014.
African Walking Company does not seem to have an easy-to-browse calendar. I emailed them. UPDATE: They got back to me by email, a 7-day trip starting Aug 26th costs $1850. … Those dates are not likely to work for me.
besthike.com 