Category: blogs

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UK Outdoors Blogger Scene

Having attended the first Outdoor Bloggers Ho Down in California in 2006, I was interested to hear about the first, I think, in Europe.

Over the last few months the UK Outdoors Blogger scene has expanded considerably, increasing numbers from barely a handful to double digits. At the Outdoors Show later this month a group of these UK outdoors bloggers are meeting up, and, with tongue in cheek, they’ve called the get together the “UK Outdoors Bloggers Con 07“.

The UK Outdoors Blogger Scene Explodes – OUTDOORSmagic OTH features

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trekking the Pyrenees – Andy Howell

A professional trip report, wonderful photos, on the Pyrenearn Haute Route was posted by big-time hiker Andy Howell. He’s just finished his HRP “Pyrenees project”.

The report starts on this page and continues on up the blog.

Andy obviously loves the region.

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Recommended guidebook – Pyrenearn Haute Route: High-Level Trail Through the Pyrenees (Cicerone)

(via Two-Heel Drive)

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Bluepeak.net – new blog

rogier.jpgFor years we’ve admired the work of Rogier Gruys, travel photographer from Vancouver, Canada.

His site — Bluepeak.net — has long been one of our favourites.

Now Rogier’s added a blog. We’ve subscribed to it from our RSS reader. And added a link under BLOGS in the right-hand navigation.

The URL — bluepeak.net/blog/.

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hiking New Zealand – North island

new_zealand3.jpgphoto – Mt. Taranaki

We’ve just subscribed to Outdoor Video Magazine, a classy looking blog with quality posts some of which include short video clips.

Most people that go to New Zealand spend most of their time on the South Island, especially if they are outdoor enthusiasts. This is a mistake in my humble opinion. The North Island is almost equally cool, and it actually beats the South Island in terms of it’s variety of scenery and terrain, although it lacks the big mountain ranges obviously. It has spectacular volcanic scenery, crazy coloured lakes and rocks, a Mt Fuji look-alike to summit, beautiful coast, and tropical forest.

I wouldn’t normally recommend a Lonely Planet book, I don’t think they do the best travel guides. However, in this case I will make an exception and say the Lonely Planet’s Tramping in New Zealand is an excellent purchase. Its well written, really easy to follow and find tramps (that’s Kiwi for hikes by the way), and has a range of difficulty from easy to pretty hard (e.g. the 10 day North West Circuit on Stewart Island).

The ‘have to do’ hikes on the North Island in my opinion are: Tongariro Northern Circuit, Mt Taranaki and then something in the East Coast/Hawke’s Bay; either the Lake Waikaremoana Track or if you want something less busy and a bit wilder the Manuoha to Waikareti Track.

Hiking in New Zealand – North Island · Outdoor Video Magazine

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Outdoor Video Magazine

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Grey Owl Trail, Saskatchewan

DSD of the wonderful Summit Stones & Adventure Musings blog recommended we add the Grey Owl Trail to our list of the best hikes in the world.

And we have.

You might think this a surprising addition. It’s a relatively easy 40km (25mi) walk along Kingsmere lake in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan. (This is the rugged, rocky “Canadian Shield” — not the flat prairies.)

More information on Trailpeak.com – Grey Owl Trail

One of the criteria for inclusion on besthike is historical significance. The destination — pilgrimage you might even say — is Grey Owl’s cabin.

His is one of the greatest stories of wilderness lore. A British white man born Archibald Belaney (1888) who took on a First Nations identity. Grey Owl wrote books eventually becoming a spokesperson for conservation and the traditional lifestyle of indigenous peoples.

Our contributors from Saskatoon have hiked the Grey Owl Trail many times. Their favourite itinerary is to hike one way, paddle a canoe the other. Half of your hiking group walks, half paddles. (Packs are transported by canoe.)

The Mystery of Archie Belaney

Grey Owl: The Mystery of Archie Belaney

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where’s the best hike?

besthike.jpgThe main purpose of this website is to:

list the best, most memorable hikes, long & short, in the world. Hikes that can change your life.

Most are challenging, multi-day adventures. But we also include the very best day hikes: the Tongariro Crossing (New Zealand) & Zion Narrows (USA), for example. We do not (yet) include off-trail scrambles or climbs.

This site helps you get started organizing the trek of a lifetime. The best guidebooks are listed to help you plan. (Be sure to get the most recent edition.)

Currently we are researching the best hikes on Earth adding an information page overview for each.

This is a work in progress. Can you help? Do you know of a fantastic hike that is not yet listed on this site? Did you notice any errors? If so, please e-mail us through contact links on every page.

This page is in the blog section. Here we post what’s new in the hiking world. Updates to our database of the world’s best hikes. And issues facing hikers.

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not having a camera is a GOOD thing

Another great post from the surprising, thoughtful As The Crow Flies blog:

Ten years ago my camera was stolen and until this winter, I didn’t replace it. A camera is nice to have for blogging but for traveling and on the trail I find it too heavy and I think it encourages a person to objectify their experiences. Without a camera, when great sunsets are happening, you don’t think, “this will make a good picture,” you just sit back and enjoy it thoroughly.

On a trek in a jungle in Sumatra, a mother orangutan came down a tree with her baby wrapped around her, the guide gave me a banana as I was the only one without a camera in my hands, I handed the orangutan the banana, looked into her eyes and touched her hand. Over and over, I see people missing experiences by trying to capture them.

Five years ago, when I sold my house, I needed to get rid of all of my stuff. I looked through all the pictures I had, took out the ones of my son, sent them to him, and threw away the rest. Life is about now and you can never be in the now if you have to cart the past around with you.

My travels and hikes are not diminished by not having pictures; I think they are enhanced because not having a camera frees me up for experiencing the moment instead of trying to preserve it. In addition, my life is enhanced by not having to store bunches of pictures of the past.

As The Crow Flies» Blog Archive » Pictures.

(She actually does have a camera now.)

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“Seeking lightweight food”

Tom Mangan’s Two-Heel Drive blog is the hub of the hiking blogisphere. I count on Tom to alert me what’s new and cool on the net.

I read Two-Heel Drive more often (88% of the time) than any other in my RSS reader. And I’m not the only one. Search for “hiking blog” on Google, Two-Heel Drive comes up .

When Tom said he was tempted to “to link to everything” posted by “Trailcraft Russ”, I got intrigued.

Russ is the editor of Wilderness Trailcraft. I’ve linked to it on the right hand navigation under BLOGS.

Please, just shoot me in the head. I’ve gone over the top this time. I have created an Excel spreadsheet with a whole bunch of different types of foods in the hope of finding the best lightweight food. Please don’t laugh; bear with me, this actually is interesting.

In the quest for lightening my load I finally made it to the food in my backpack. I have already created spreadsheets with the calorie intake for each meal so I know I’m not carrying too little or too much food. But one analysis remained, how can I lighten the per day weight of the food that I carry? I have read in multiple places that long-distance hikers use “1 1/2 lbs per day” as a rule of thumb. But when I weigh my food I am always over 2 lbs per day. What are they doing different than me?

I now understand the errors in my ways. Check out the table below. This table is sorted by Cal per Oz. The topmost items are the lightest foods for the number of calories they contain. If you carried only Mountain House Mac & Cheese then you would only have to carry 19oz to achieve 2500 calories (a typical daily intake). Here’s another way to look at it… If you want to carry 1 1/2 lbs per day and you need 2500 calories then you have to average 104 calories per ounce. So in the table below you need foods like Cheese Nips Crackers or Instant Oatmeal. Flour tortillas won’t get you there and neither will Tuna Creations (both are my personal favorites). You can eat these less efficient foods but you have to compensate with foods like Swiss Mix or Mac & Cheese to up your daily cal to weight average.

Seeking lightweight food

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hiking Angeles National Forest, California

Escaping the smog of LA is not so tough.

You could drive up to Mt. Whitney.

Or what about Timber Mountain via Icehouse Canyon in Angeles National Forest?

Modern Hiker posted a terrific trip report with photos, video, Google map, a flickr photo set, … (Is this blog GREAT, or what!)

Theirs was a challenging 10mi day hike with the wind blowing hard. But you could do a multi-day trip via Ice House Saddle if you prefer.

I opened the door to the Mount Baldy Visitor’s Center and walked inside. The warm, dark wood interior was a welcome respite from the howling winds outside. The rangers stood behind their desk – a bearded man and blond woman – smiling at me.

“Hi. I’d like a permit for the Cucamonga Wilderness.”

Still smiling, the woman said, “We are not recommending anyone go up there today.”

“Oh?”

The man chimed in. “We’re measuring wind gusts at 60 miles an hour. I almost got knocked down today.”

“But of course, we can’t do anything to stop you,” said the woman. Still smiles, that one.

I reached for a ballpoint pen and started filling out our Wilderness Permit. “I’m going to try for Ontario Peak. Is it more windy in the canyons, or on the ridge?”

“It’s windy everywhere.” The man with the beard was not smiling. All gravitas, he.

“What about ice?” …

Timber Mountain via Icehouse Canyon – Modern Hiker

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“Night Hiking” and “Mornings on the trail”

Tom Mangan pointed me to a post extolling the pleasures of Night Hiking on an outdoors blog called As The Crow Flies.

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Here’s another fascinating, original post on As The Crow Flies:

I love mornings. I’m usually awake by 5am, and love getting an early start but I also enjoy drinking hot beverages and appreciating the morning. This is my usual morning routine, on the trail.

From the comfort of my sleeping bag, I reach out of my tent, start my stove and heat up water to make a 16 oz nalgene bottle full of instant coffee. I put the bottle in my bag to warm me up while I eat my breakfast.

Breakfast is usually cereal, nuts and powder milk mixed with water. After I eat, I drink my coffee and enjoy the morning. Then I heat more water and make green tea in my nalgene bottle. While I drink that I look over the guide book pages for the day. Then using the same tea bag I make another nalgene bottle full of tea. When I finish that, I wash my face with the warm tea bag, and stow it in an outside mesh pocket of my pack until it is dry and can go in my ziplock garbage sack.

Then I leave the comfort of my bag, pack up (I can pack up in 2-4 minutes), and go. This way I start the day hydrated and with little or no water that I have to carry.

As The Crow Flies – Mornings on the trail

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