Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
A really diverse and engaging series of outdoor photos by Istvan Hernadi, editor for www.trailpeak.com of the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut area
A couple of samples:
Mt Shishapangma camp, Tibet
Advance base camp at 19,500ft near the ice pinnacles – late in the day storm clouds.
Storms over Juneau icecap
View from Atlin lake BC
see all photos in this set – most interesting – Explore top 500 – flickr
OTTAWA, Nov. 21 — The Canadian government plans to announce today that it will convert 25.5 million acres of northern woodland into a new national park and wildlife protection areas.
The result will be one of North America’s largest conservation areas, about 11.5 times the size of Yellowstone Park, and ease pressure from the mining and energy industries on an area that is important for wildlife, if sparsely populated by humans. …
The lands are within the boreal forest, a band of trees about 1,600 miles wide that sweeps across much of Canada and continues in northern Scotland, Scandinavia and Russia. About 77 percent of Canada’s forest is in the boreal band and its trees, mostly evergreens, are believed to play an important role in offsetting the rise in gases related to global warming created by burning fossil fuels. Large numbers of migratory birds and waterfowl make their summer home with the forest.
Under the plan, 8.5 million acres surrounding the Eastern Arm of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories will become a national park. Another 15.3 million acres between the new park and an existing wildlife refuge will be designated as conservation land under the management of native groups Further to the northwest, near the Mackenzie River valley, 3.7 million acres will turned into a national wildlife area. …
I’ve been up there a couple of times. It’s a vast wilderness with limited hiking potential. You want to be paddling, not walking.
Still, a good move forward. Kudos to the Conservative government. Congratulations Environment Minister John Baird.
source – Lutsel K’e, Northwest Territories, Canada
(via Tennessee Trailhead)
Expect more announcements like this in future. The will of Canadian voters is for for more environmental protection.
Note to self: In future, arrive 15min late for festivals to avoid the predictable, boring introductory speeches.
The opening act at the Banff 2007 Mountain Book Festival was quite entertaining, and refreshingly open-minded for an environmentalist. This is no Al Gore clone.
David de Rothschild
Adventure Ecology
Britain’s David de Rothschild has traversed Antarctica, has set a new record for the fastest crossing of the Greenland icecap, and has reached the North Pole. He is both an adventurer and an environmentalist, and at 29, he is the head of Adventure Ecology, an expedition group he founded to raise awareness about environmental issues and climate change.
Following a 2004 Antarctica expedition, de Rothschild came to the realization that he could create a deeper understanding of the natural world through incorporating education as the main vein running through his adventures. “I spent three months surrounded by one of the world’s most astonishing and fragile ecosystems, and it had a profound effect on my outlook and on those with whom I shared my experience.”
In 2005 he launched Adventure Ecology, and now uses his adventures to captivate, to inspire, and to share information about the environment. Adventure Ecology’s goal is to create a greater connection with the natural world through a series of high-profile expeditions. The associated website features videos and information from live expeditions, as well as blogs and interactive games that act as a gateway for children to learn about global environmental issues. The focus on children is deliberate. “There’s a native Indian proverb that says we don’t inherit the Earth, we borrow it from our children,” says de Rothschild. “Curiosity is a great driver of change. But in protecting our children, we’ve also made it very hard for them to go out and experience nature. That’s something our website can address.”
The first mission in the series, “Top of the World”, began in March 2006. With a four-member team, de Rothschild traversed the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Canada. Mission 2 is called “Adventures in Waste” and will include a series of expeditions in 2007 and 2008 with scientists, artists, and filmmakers to some of the world’s most environmentally troubled areas — from the site of an oil spill in Ecuador to heavily polluted areas in China’s Henan province. The series will culminate with a sailing trip from Hawaii to California, raising awareness of the little-known fact that the largest accumulation of garbage in the world can be found in the Pacific Ocean. “We’ll sail a boat made entirely from recycled bottles to document the massive problem of ocean trash.”
De Rothschild was selected as one of National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers for 2007, and as one of the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. He has written educational books for children, created a naturopathic/ecological education centre in New Zealand, and founded “Sculpt the Future”, a charitable organization working with environmentally disadvantaged communities.
One of the many ecological adventures David’s helped to organize was a global warming flood in the virtual world Second Life.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’ve been following The Journey on the Wild Coast blog since July. That’s the 9 month pack raft trip from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska by human power — Erin McKittrick and Bretwood (Hig) Higman.
I think this is their best post yet:
… After four months in the Inside Passage, we had come to wonder how much it had left to offer us: thinking of drizzly coastlines and thick forest brush, and turning our thoughts prematurely to the open Gulf of Alaska coast… But there are always suprises. The ocean between Petersburg and Juneau was one of the most alive chunks of coast we’ve seen the whole trip.
Humpback whales sang for us the rest of that night, and a good part of the next one. During the day, white columns of whale breath were visible everywhere we looked, cruising Stephens Passage. We could hear the spouting, honking, and squeals of the closest whales, watching their rounded backs and the occasional graceful flash of a tail.
Humpback whale tailJust when we were wondering if we might get close enough for a picture, a humpback surfaced twenty feet from my packraft. Half of me was terrified it would flip me, while the other half marveled at the knobby texture of the whale’s skin, imagining that great big eye underwater, peering at my small yellow boat…
read more … – Journey on the Wild Coast: Trip Blog » Calm Oceans, Stormy Woods
Surfing a wave created by a calving glacier on the Copper River in Cordova, Alaska.
I don’t need this explained.
video on THE GOAT – Backcountry.com
We’re still searching — not too successfully — for “best hikes” in Alaska.
This one sounds great. Some consider it the best long hike in the Fairbanks area.
And Alfred Cook has posted an amazingly detailed mile-by-mile website dedicated to the Pinnell Mountain Trail.
A better overview is posted on AmericanTrails.org:
… (begin) at Eagle Summit, 107 miles east of Fairbanks, Alaska, and follow the ridgelines above timber line and enjoy the vastness of Alaska. …
The trail is considered moderate to difficult with some short sections with gradients of up to 25 percent. Elevations rise to 4,872 feet. Climbing to the top of each ridge can be a challenge but the vast views of the Alaska Range, the White Mountains, the Crazy Mountains and the Yukon River valley are well worth the effort. …
It’s about 27mi (32km) long, 2-4 days.
larger original – flickr
more photos from this hike Pinnell Mountain Trail Set – flickr – Sasha Ray-Ray
Owen (the fool with wit) is a big time Canadian hiker.
His favourite Canuck hike is little known Donjek Glacier in Kluane National Park.
On a 2005 adventure during high season, Owen was told there were only 10 people in Kluane’s 22000 square kilometers!
… No signage. No one around but bears, wolves and mountains.
… creek crossings in frigid conditions. Pure good times.
Fantastic Donjek photos and video clips are posted on his unique website: eyecsed.com
eyecsed.com
After my own Tombstone hike in the Yukon this past summer, the Donjek Route appeals. It’s next on my list.
The Donjek is almost a loop if you access the trail off the Alaska Highway at Duke River and finish 11km (7mi.) south of where you started at Copper Joe Creek.
I’ll check these details with Owen:
The 96-kilometre (60-mi.) advanced wilderness trek requires map and compass abilities and good trail-finding skills. It takes you across rolling open meadows, up and down steep ridges and through deep gullies before arriving at the sprawling glacier mass.
Distance:100 km (approx.)
Time:8 -10 days
Maximum Elevation: (7100′) …Note: A route is not a trail. Routes are not marked with signs or maintained in any manner. The route described here is only a suggestion that may help guide you on your trip. It describes only one of many options for hiking to the Donjek Glacier. …
Overview:
One of the most popular hikes for wilderness enthusiasts is the Donjek Route. Rising over the vast alpine of the Burwash Uplands and then descending to the toe of the Donjek Glacier, this hike typifies “pristine mountain wilderness“.
… The route follows creek and river drainage for the most part with some sections along an old road, horse and wildlife trails, and some sections, without any obvious trail at all. Route finding abilities and solid wilderness experience is essential …
If you need more inspiration, Patrick Verheyen also posted photos of his 2003 hike in the region: A walk in Kluane National Park – PBase
Ruth with her pack – larger original
UPDATE: Owen recommends Kluane National Park Hiking Guide by Vivien Lougheed. Check the COMMENTS on this post for more of Owen’s advice.
On Owen’s recommendation, we’ve added Donjek Glacier to our list of best hikes in North America.
I already posted a trip report with my photos. And a trip video. A spaceman. And related posts.
Then trip leader Dave Hayley mails me a DVD with ALL the photos from our 7 hikers. (Here Dave was either eating Wasabi peas or shooting himself in the face with bear spray. Not sure.)
YEESH.
What could I do?
But browse our hundreds of pics, … and post another 86 HIGHLIGHT photos to flickr, including some personal favourites, some panoramas and even a few celebration shots in Dawson after the hike.
Some examples …
chopper into the mountains
tent vista
coffee time
drying the socks
Rick scrambling the ridge
farewell … ’til next time
When are we pioneering the Tombstone Circuit, Dave?
View over 86 photos from this trip on flickr. (Click SLIDESHOW.)
original trip report with my own photos.
Tombstone Park – Yukon government
Having visited the Nazca Lines in Peru, George Novak believes he’s spotted another extraterrestrial image.
In the Tombstone mountains, do you see the spaceman waving in alien spacecraft?
hike trip report – Tombstone Range, Yukon
Previously I posted a trip report and photos from our awesome 5-day adventure out of Dawson, Yukon to Tombstone Mountain in August.
Here are the video highlights.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (5min)
besthike.com 