Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Tom Mangan linked to a terrific video posted by the National Park Service.
Trails covered: Mist Trail, Panorama Trail, Upper Yosemite Fall Trail.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
See more like this on the Yosemite National Park YouTube channel.
(via Two-Heel Drive – Must-see vid: strenuous Yosemite day hikes)
by Kristin Tennessen and Danny Milks
We discovered why Torres del Paine, Chile is the poster child for Patagonia’s wilderness playground.
See all their wonderful pics on Backpacking Light
I’m debating whether the Paine Circuit should be added to our list of the top 10 hikes in the world.
Scott announced the cool new site – Peakery.com
Featuring over 150,000 peaks from around the globe. Find peaks by browsing lists, maps, and photos.
Use peakery to envision your next peak objective with photos, trip reports, stats, and maps. Then get out there and bag it.
peakery is the place to log your summits. Add trip details, triumphant summit photos, and get summit badges.
Check it out – Peakery.com
Following Dan’s terrific 3 days at Fitz Roy, they immediately headed for the Ice Fields:
… At 16,800 square kilometers, the Ice Field is the second largest in the world and I’m completely awe-struck when we arrive at the high point of the ominously named Paso Del Viento (Pass of the wind). The view in every direction is pure ice, with amazing swirls and patterns …
Crossing a glacier-melt river was their biggest challenge.
read the blow-by-blow … Hiking to The Southern Patagonian Ice Field
Photos by SAULIUS DAMULEVICIUS.
Last Footfall in Nepal is a NY Times article posted a year ago by Ethan-Todras Whitehill:
… by 2012 a road will have been built on this path, destroying this experience and, according to many, placing the last nail in the coffin of what was once the greatest trek on earth. …
I assumed that was an exaggeration. The tourism industry would not be silly enough to degrade Annapurna, … would they?
So I checked with Andrew Ostrowski on what he saw on their recent trek on the Circuit and up to Base Camp:
… As to the road to Jomson, it’s there and all the way to Muktinath with larger trucks, jeeps, bikes, etc. traveling there every 15 minutes or so.
… We hiked to Jomson and then took a bus to Ghasa … it’s scary ride !!!, and continue walking along the road to Tatopani from where we hiked towards Sanctuary/Base Camp.
This road is in use for quite some time, I guess for some few years now, however it’s often damaged by some mud slides and some sections need to be walked across for a couple of hundred meters over the slides to continue on as was a case with us. Just a week or so before our scary bus ride there was an accident when a jeep with 12 people in it went over the edge and rolled down into the river, all died.
The road on the eastern side of Annapurna trek, leading someday to Manang is still under construction and only some easier sections are semi-complete, we were stopped a couple of times and needed to wait until rock blasting on the opposite side of the valley was completed before being allowed to continue on …
This road leads over extreme and steep terrain and my guess is it will take another 10-20 years to complete, if ever, not to mention constant rock/mud slides in this area. All work seems to be done by manual labour, no heavy equipment seen around, just blasting/scaling crews visible. …
Here’s one of Andrew’s photos from the ‘Circuit’ …
The Annapurna Circuit is one of our top 10 hikes in the world. Should it be taken off the list?
I’m hoping to get back to Korea in November to continue my Jeju Olle hike another couple of hundred kilometers.
Jeju is a semi-tropical island, south of this map.
While there, what other hikes should I do?
What are the best hikes in Korea?
So far I’m leaning towards:
• Seoraksan National Park
• Jirisan National Park
Leave a comment if you’ve hiked Korea.
related – my Jeju Olle trip report (Nov. 2010)
If you’ve considered making the trip to Namche, Nepal and up to Base Camp, it’s well worth watching this new 1hr documentary produced and directed by Brian and Hank Leukart.
The boys had a fair bit of trouble with illness.
… “Need a helicopter ride to Lukla? For $250, I’ll take you right now,” he says quietly, in perfect English.
Brian and I are apprehensive. We consult Lonely Planet’s Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya, which tells us: “Be aware of the poor safety record of helicopter travel in Nepal — Everest Base Camp is strewn with the wreckage of lost aircraft.” But, then, we also discover a long sidebar in the same book detailing the numerous crashes of Twin Otter airplanes to Lukla, a flight for which we already have tickets. While we’re trying to decide what to do, we meet another waiting trekker, who also happens to be a helicopter pilot.
“Well, the helicopter is probably just as safe as the plane you’re planning to take — which is, to say, not very safe,” he tells us. “I’d probably do it if I had the money.” …
read more – Without Baggage – mission everest: a tale of two brothers.
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
In a new installment of The road chose me, our hero joins Sonny, a mountaineer from Lithuania, who’s a terrific photographer.
They … “team up for the hiking circuit around the mighty Mt. Fitz Roy (3405m) and equally impressive Cerro Torre” …
Click through for more photos and a brief trip report on their 3-day adventure – Hiking around Fitz Roy & Cerro Torre
Lucky with the weather, or what?
One of our top 10 hikes in the world, Annapurna in Nepal, has had some negative press in the media:
… It is a shame, then, that by 2012 a road will have been built on this path, destroying this experience and, according to many, placing the last nail in the coffin of what was once the greatest trek on earth. …
hmm …
Are these reports of doom and gloom true?
Andrew Ostrowski sends us some notes from last year:
Oct 2010 when we hiked independently (no guides/porters, 10 kg pack plus water, total ~12 kg/person) the combined Circuit and Sanctuary trek in 21 days, hikers age 58 and 62 years old couple with average hiking experience in Canadian Rockies
electricity or back up system was available in all places, cell phones everywhere and carried by most guides/porters and others in case of emergency, expensive internet is readily available at almost all stops at Annapurna Circuit
padlocks and blankets were always provided
free medical high altitude clinic is daily offered at 3:00 PM in Manang in high season
there was no snow in the first week of Oct 2010 and temperature at Thorung La was around zero when we passed it around 11 AM
trekking independently is very easy, providing you do your homework/planning ahead of time
excellent maps are readily available everywhere, very difficult to get lost on the main trail, trails/lodges were busy
used cost effective UV light for water treatment every day with good results
you can take micro bus(Toyota/Nissan van) from Kathmandu bus station to Besisahar trail head (350 Rupees) and further down on the jeep (500 Rupees) if you wish
you can plan and see the whole trek on Google Earth, GPS tracks are easy to find on the web and plot on Google Earth and hundreds of pictures taken every 100 m are also shown
all gear (poles, back pack, jacket, sleeping bag) except hiking boots was rented in Kathmandu and is readily available from dozens of places, total cost for two person/23 days was 8320 Rupees($110) , all gear survived with no problems
daily cost on the trek for two persons (food + room) was 30 to 35 dollars, with no alcohol drinks, can be more if you order most expensive dishes/drinks
flying back 1/2 hr from Pokhara to Kathmandu is definitely worth ~$60 dollars ticket price vs seven hrs on the bus on busy and poor road
had no high altitude sickness problems, with acclimatization as recommended by guidebook only fatique/slow speed while passing Thorung La, we had to slow down and take 2 diamox pills each to speed up hike at critical ascent
overall great experience with no health or any other problems, lost few lbs
… Although people still circumvent the system, trekkers are now required to hire at least one Nepali staff member (a porter or guide) per group. …
… are not true.
Andrew never heard of any such regulation in 2010. They hiked independently. And they loved the adventure, independently.
If you’ve ever considered hiking the most famed trail in Scotland, click over to books bike beer …
… The trail is ridiculously easy to follow. Plenty of people along ‘the Way’ had guidebooks and maps, but we simply brought the photo-copied article I mentioned above. I should say that the article itself says it is no substitute for a true guidebook. Well, that might be true for some of the other hikes the authors write about, but for the WHW, I’d say save money and weight and leave the guidebook at home. …
They loved this section, as did I.
But my own trip report is titled not recommended – West Highland Way, Scotland …
As Lonely Planet Walking in Scotland says:
… you can’t help but wonder what Muir would think of a path through two power stations, one of them nuclear …
I couldn’t understand why so many German hikers made the pilgrimage here when they could go to one of the truly best hikes in the world – Picos de Europa – instead.
Spain is just as easy to access as Scotland.
besthike.com 