Category: blogs

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all day long I dream about Tasmania

Must be the crappy, global freezing winter we are suffering in North America. A year ago I was in Taz. (Wish I was there right now.)

Nadine from Calgary, Canada has a wonderful blog on TravelPod.

She’s trekked in Patagonia, the Andes and is now Down Under.

They had a fantastic time on the South Coast Track, one of the best coastal hikes in the world.

… The next morning we were up before sunrise again, and onto the boats at first light in calm water. We had to paddle an aluminum boat across with our gear, drop the gear off, tie up a second boat to our boat with oars, row back to the side we started on, leave a boat and oars, and row back. The three crossings of the boats were really fun, and good practice for something we would do a few days later 🙂 We then crossed over a dune onto Prion Beach, took off our boots, and walked barefoot for nearly 4km on the hard packed sand at the surf line!!!! It was slightly windy, but just gorgeous walking. …

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larger original

Later on the adventure:

… Crossing this mountain range often stops people for a full day or more, going either way, since it should not be crossed in bad weather. 100km per hour windows and blowing snow are common. Luckily for us, today was turning out to be a scorcher. …

Nearing the top, the rain forest gives way to cloud forest, with all sorts of things just growing on anything. Really beautiful. Then it tops out without any trees, and we could see our entire route forwards and backwards! 40km ahead of us and 40km behind us!

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larger original

See the rest of the trip report and photos.

My own mini-trek there in 2007 did not go nearly as well as Nadine’s. I covered only about half the distance I had hoped after nearly losing a shoe in a mud pit.

South Coast Track – besthike information page

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do you like hiking boardwalks?

I must say I do. Though not “natural”, there’s something classic about walking a rotting wooden sidewalk in the wilderness.

Frank in Oz edits the wonderful Our Hiking Blog.

A recent post included some of my photos from a 2007 Overland Track hike in Tasmania. It’s a series of photos showing the wooden boardwalks.

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see more – The Overland Track – Track images

Frank’s post got me thinking about other boardwalk hikes.

The West Coast Trail, for example:

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original – flickr – Christine Rondeau

On flickr, I found more. Atop Whistler Mountain in Canada:

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original – flickr – sbat

And the famed Milford Track in New Zealand:

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original – flickr – amy&kimball

Leave a comment if you have a favourite boardwalk walk.

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the best trip reports are on Trailspotting

This is elegant simplicity. Exactly the way the internet should work.

Clean. Succinct. But dense with the information you most need: maps, guidebooks, etc.

Check a sample hike for format: San Bruno Mountain Summit Loop, California.

Here’s a sample of the Google Maps integration:

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I am inspired.

Well done, Trailspotting.

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Buffalo River outdoor adventures in Arkansas

dbarnett of the excellent A Little Closer to Heaven blog posted his Top 10 Buffalo River Adventures in Arkansas.

Ahh, Hawksbill Crag, the most photographed place in Arkansas. I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures before and dreamed of going there. It’s only a 3 mile hike…what’s stopping you?

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Click through for photos and details.

Part I
10. Hideout Hollow
9. Indian Creek
8. Buffalo River Float- Ponca to Carver
7. Fitton Cave
6. Hawksbill Crag

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Part II
5. Big Bluff
4. Lost Valley
3. Hemmed-In Hollow
2. Shop Creek Slot Canyon
1. Buffalo River Trail

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happy birthday best hike blog

glutton-baby.jpgIt’s been 2yrs since we added the blog to besthike.com.

The first post was called: Introducing Rick McCharles. (Our site editor hasn’t matured much since. But at least he’s still a glutton for hiking.)

Over 840 posts, some of the most popular are surprising:

  • want to hike South America?
  • Best hikes, treks & tramps in the world
  • Cirque of the Towers, Wyoming
  • amazing photos – Marc Shandro
  • Sierra High Route, California
  • 3300 miles around the Alps
  • is heli-hiking cheating?
  • geotagging photos – cool !
  • Paria – the best canyon walk in the world
  • best hiking guidebooks

    • One day we need to put up an editor’s choice list of best posts. (Pinky promise to do that before we hit 1000 posts.)

    Leave a comment if you have recommendations to improve this blog. (Hint — demand “more maps”.)

    PS

    Always a bridesmaid …

    (We were a couple of days later to the party than The Adventure Blog which celebrated a 2yr anniversary January 16th.)

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    scramble Shop Creek slot canyon – Arkansas

    Just subscribed to an excellent blog:

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    A Little Closer to Heaven

    One trip was inspired by this photo:

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    … A slot canyon in Arkansas?

    That’s what I thought too until I came across this beautiful picture taken by Tim Ernst a few months back. I had to know where it was and check it out for myself. So I shot Tim Ernst an email asking…and to my surprise…he answered! I immediately called one of my friends up and told him we have to give this place a visit.

    It was an awesome place indeed. It starts as a typical creek bed in the woods and after following the creek about half a mile, narrow canyon walls just appear almost like a doorway. We headed into it amidst the horrible smell of a rotting carcass of some animal who probably fell in (most likely an armadillo, those things are so stupid). What we found was something that belongs in Utah or Arizona. But it’s not…it’s in the middle of the Ozarks. …

    Read the rest of this post and click through some of the others – A Little Closer To Heaven » Amazing Destinations: Shop Creek Slot Canyon. You will be impressed.

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    best hiking blog published in French

    Vincent edits an excellent, classy hiking blog, publishing in French. It’s called Journal du Trek.

    I used Google Translate to read it, and the result is surprisingly good:

    For those who like walking, trekking, hiking equipment, shipments to all destinations, travel agencies and the news of the outdoor.

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    I’ve subscribed in French and will translate just those posts I want to read.

    Merci, Vincent!

    (The language translation is not much of a problem, but the partial RSS feed is a barrier for this subscriber. I like full feeds.)

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    Summit Stones & Adventure Musings

    Besthike got a wonderful shout out on Summit Stones & Adventure Musings:

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    Of the many (somewhat similar) outdoor websites I visit, this one is unique. Unique in format, poetic prose and philosophical outlook.

    The only site I might compare it with is As the Crow Flies. Check out both.

    Summit Stones & Adventure Musings…By DSD: “BestHike….!”

    I’d like to subscribe to more philosophical blogs like these two.

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    climb Kala Patthar – see Mt Everest

    Matsamuel posted an excellent trip report of his trek to Everest — actually to the summit of Kala Patthar near Everest. Ideal reading for anyone considering that trip.

    Unfortunately he posted it on the confusing cluttered Travelpod website. (Actually, that site is very functional.)

    Best starting point on Travelpod is his table of contents.

    Or jump directly to the highlight of the trek — Everest Trek Day 10, Loboche to Kala Patthar:

    … I have to admit I was a bit worried about climbing Kala Patthar. Yesterday, as we were trekking to Loboche, Noori pointed at a mountain in the distance and simply stated “Kala Patthar”. …. That’s Kala Patthar?! How the heck were we going to climb that? It looks sheer on all sides and the fact that the top is covered in a layer of ice is not easing my mind. We don’t have any equipment to make that sort of technical climb let alone the know-how or the guts.

    kala-patthar.jpg
    photo source

    … the top of Kala Patthar was in view and it was close. It was a real scramble across rocks upon nearing the summit but finally I had made it. I turned around to see Everest under a perfect sky. After 10 days of trekking I had made it to the top of Kala Patthar and was gazing at what is arguably the best ground view of Everest possible. That was my reward. It is just a magnificent mountain to look at. Stark black with hardly much snow with its classic triangular shape. It truly is a natural wonder. I could have stayed up there all day if it was for the fact that I was truly freezing my ass off. …

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    photo source

    …Everest, the king of all mountains, right in front of me. I was hard to believe that I was seeing all this live and with my own eyes.

    Everest Trek Day 10: Loboche to Kala Patthar     – trip report

    His trekking partner Mazen was sticken with severe altitude sickness and did not try for this summit. They descended as quickly as possible.

    Stories like this make me want to trek at lower elevations. The heavily glaciated peaks of New Zealand or Patagonia, for example, which have almost no risk of altitude sickness.

    Kala Patthar – 5545m (18,192ft) – Wikipedia