Trekking around MANASLU

Timing is perfect.

A new guidebook for the start of the Himalayan hiking and climbing Spring season.

Himalayan Map House is delighted to announce the publication of a new trekking guide to the Manaslu & Tsum Valley region – the fastest growing trekking destination in Nepal.

… Manaslu and the Tsum Valley are rapidly becoming the new trekking destination for both experienced and novice trekkers. As if these two treks were not enough to savour, the book also introduces new treks in the Lower Manaslu area around historic Gorkha, as far north as the Rupina La route. Also within the book are some fledgling routes below little-known Ganesh Himal, including the Ruby Valley.

It may not have the aura of Everest or Annapurna, but the majestic mountain of Manaslu (8163m) has a remote charm that calls on all trekkers to discover the undiscovered. Lush forests, terraced hillsides, mysterious canyons, gargantuan summits and Buddhist culture are enticing. For so long beyond the horizon, the Tsum Valley is astonishing and secretive. Hilltop monasteries, traditional villages,

colourful people, enigmatic yaks and hundreds of mani walls, chortens and kani gates add to the compulsive blend.

guidebook

That’s where I’m headed next trip to Nepal.

Backpacker – HIKE THE CLASSICS

Backpacker magazine recycles these (meaningless) list articles. But I still find them useful.

The Perfect Circle: Hiking the Annapurna Circuit

Chile’s Torres del Paine Circuit

PennineCorsica’s GR 20

Peru’s Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Italy’s Alta Via 1

New Zealand’s Milford Track

England’s Pennine Way

Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro

Everest Base Camp, Tibet

Tour du Mont Blanc

details – HIKE THE CLASSICS (2009)

great multi-day treks low altitude

Lonely Planet:

… just want to want to enjoy a good trek without worrying about acclimatising?

Altitude sickness, which usually kicks in around 2500-3000 metres (8200-9850 feet) and higher, affects some (but not all) of us, no matter how healthy you are.

And while we love Peru’s Inca Trail and Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro, both of these iconic treks hit heights that can affect your health and prevent you from summiting.

So we’ve rounded up the five best treks that feature unique terrain and boast fantastic scenery

• W trek, Torres del Paine, Chile
• Bathali village treks, Nepal
• Milford Track, New Zealand
• GR20, Corsica, France
• Grand Canyon: rim to rim, Arizona

read more

Bathali Village Tour
Bathali Village Tour

BBC has sold Lonely Planet, by the way.

TORRES DEL PAINE – photo trip report

Keiko and Dave trekked Chile’s famed W from west to east.

Fantastic pics. Plenty of FOOD. 🙂

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

See the rest on the full trip reportMini Guide for 5 days in TORRES DEL PAINE – CHILE – W trail

related – our Torres del Paine information page

Check a new book – Patagonia Chronicle: On Foot in Torres del Paine by Susan Alcorn.

Walkopedia

My favourite hiking website is Walkopedia.net.

That’s William and Alexandra Mackesy.

They aspire to database a complete collection of the world’s great walks and hikes by 2020.

I love it. 🙂

Supplementing the website, they publish regular online magazines. Check out the Christmas 2012 edition:

Cappadocia, Turkey

Kilimanjaro from Mt Meru

Cappadocian classic: Rose Valley

Photo Essay: Ben Duncan’s Wind River Mountains

Inquisition on Mount Athos

Best camp tucker

New on Walkopedia Website

Kili from Meru

NEW Scottish National Trail

Gore-Tex Scottish National Trail Launches

New Scotland End to End route is unveiled with accompanying book and BBC TV programme.

… a new long distance route linking Kirk Yetholm in the borders with Cape Wrath in the north west of the country linking various existing long distance trails to form a single 470-mile walk.

The trail is the brainchild of longstanding walking writer and broadcaster, Cameron McNeish, and, in parlour game parlance, is both a newly published book, authored by McNeish and a television programme produced by BBC Scotland and set to be broadcast over the Christmas / New Year period. …

Thus far the new route has no waymarking of its own, bar new plaques to be sited at Kirk Yetholm and Cape Wrath along with one at the Water of Leith Visitor Centre in Edinburgh and the Cape Wrath Trail stretch isn’t signposted at all.

In other words, for now at least, it’s mostly a line on a map …

Amazon

… The GORE-TEX® Scottish National Trail will also have its own website showing the route and GORE-TEX® Footwear plans to link key sections of the route with local and regional outdoor shops to help drive footfall into local retailing outlets. …

Gore.com

BEWARE midges.

(via Hiking in Finland)

Edward Abbey – “I Loved it…I Loved it All”

Ned Judge:

An eight minute film essay that I co-produced and directed with Ed Abbey in 1985. …

We met in Moab and went out to Arches National Park to shoot some practice sessions with a home video camera. We would review them at the motel in the evening. After a day or two, Ed was feeling pretty comfortable on camera so we scheduled the shoot. We were all happy with the way it went.

But then we ran head-on into network reality. Roger Mudd, the show’s host, was extremely negative about putting an “eco-terrorist” on the show. … So this Abbey essay was put on the shelf and never aired.

Abbey died 3 years later in March 1989.

Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.

Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental groups, and the non-fiction work Desert Solitaire. Writer Larry McMurtry referred to Abbey as the “Thoreau of the American West“. …

The story of his death and burial is … very Abbey.

Those two books are MUST READS for any serious outdoorsperson.

(via Rocky who calls Edward Abbey the Hunter Thompson of the environment)

Nimblewill Nomad – all 11 America’s National Scenic Trails

His quest began New Years Day, 1998.

Noon Sunday, September 9, 2012, Nimblewill Nomad reached the summit of Grand Monadnock Mountain, New Hampshire, thus completing his trek o’er the New England National Scenic Trail.

And as to the significance of that day? Well, it marks the successful conclusion of Nimblewill’s quest to hike all eleven of America’s National Scenic Trails. He now becomes the second person, behind Bart Smith, to have documented this accomplishment.

nimblewillnomad.com

You might recall his hiking books: Ten Million Steps and Where Less the Path is Worn.

National Scenic Trails (18,734mi)

Appalachian National Scenic Trail
Arizona National Scenic Trail
Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
Florida National Scenic Trail
Ice Age National Scenic Trail
Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
New England National Scenic Trail
North Country National Scenic Trail
Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail
Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail
Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail

(via gossamergear)