Category: books and magazines

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From Lost to Found on the PCT

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail is a 2012 memoir by American author Cheryl Strayed, describing her 1,100-mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in a journey of self-discovery.

The book reached No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, and was the first selection for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0. …

I’m not as keen on the book as most. NY Times DWIGHT GARNER, for example.

But it did keep me going.

She’s a decent story teller. And her story is compelling.

At age-26 her life was a train wreck. Money problems. Divorce. Abortion. Experimenting with heroin. In grief still, 4 years after the death of her mother.

With no long distance hiking experience, she tries for salvation on the PCT.

wild

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

There are plans to have Reese Witherspoon play Strayed in a future film.

The author re-married in 1999. They have two children and live in Portland, Oregon

The PCT worked for her.

She didn’t appear at the PCT kickoff 2013, by the way. There are many REAL thru hikers who resent Strayed being the most famous ever.

Much like the tragically inept Katz and Bryson, the most famous Appalachian Trail hikers.

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Walkopedia Magazine – Spring 2013

William and Alexandra Mackesy posted the Spring 2013 edition of Walkopedia Magazine online.

Highlights from their excellent website, Walkopedia:

  • Mustang, Nepal – the world’s second best walk?
  • Icon: Pavilion, Tai Shan, China
  • Walkopedia favourite: Pindos Mountains and Vikos Gorge, Greece
  • Photo essay: Route of the Volcanoes, La Palma, Canary Islands
  • Trailblazer guides
  • The world’s best camp tucker
  • New on Walkopedia

    – Scotland, Cairngorms, UK
    – Glacier National Park, USA

    • Check it out – Spring 2013 edition of Walkopedia Magazine

    walkopedia

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    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.

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    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)

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    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.

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    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 report – Mini 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.

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    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

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    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)