Category: books and magazines

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first person to hike the PCT?

The Pacific Crest Trail … follows the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range, which parallel the Pacific Ocean by 100 to 150 miles (160 to 240 km). The Pacific Crest Trail is 2,650 miles (4,260 km) long …

In 1970, Eric Ryback, a 17-year-old student, was credited as the first thru-hiker on the trail and his 1971 book The High Adventure of Eric Ryback: Canada to Mexico on Foot focused public attention on the PCT.

Wilderness Press, publisher of guide books “The Pacific Crest Trail: Volume One and Volume Two”, raised in those books specific doubts about Ryback’s claim and produced evidence that he accepted rides for some of the journey. Ryback and Chronicle Publishers sued Wilderness Press but the suits were dropped in 1974.

The first person confirmed to have thru-hiked the entire PCT, as well as the first person to hike from south to north, was Richard Watson, who completed the trail on September 1, 1972.

The first woman was Mary Carstens, who completed the journey later in 1972 …

Eric’s book is sadly out of print.

(via Hiking Lady)

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Via Alpina trek 111 days

Do you know the Via Alpina?

After decades of hiking some of the world’s great trails, über-adventurer Brandon Wilson heard about the Via Alpina, paths running the length of the Alps across eight countries. Besides offering immersion into Alpine life and wilderness, it’d be the ultimate physical challenge. It meant climbing nearly 700,000 feet from valley to peak—over 111 days and more than 1200 miles.

Intrigued, he imagined it was a sort-of European Appalachian Trail, only with better wine.

Brandon and his wife in 2009 did 111 days across 8 countries.

Their adventures are chronicled in a new book, Over the Top & Back Again: Hiking X the Alps.

Sounds GREAT.

Read some review excerpts.

Why have I not heard of this author?

Backpacking Light has a new review with terrific photos – Via Alpina: Not Another Walk in the Woods

Brandon’s the award winning author of Along the Templar Trail. I’m adding both to my TO READ list.

Check out his website for photos and info.

UPDATE: “Over the Top & Back Again: Hiking X the Alps” received the 2010 Book of the Year Bronze Award (travel essay category) from ForeWord Reviews at the American Library Association conference in New Orleans.

For everyone who has gone digital, it has also just been released on Amazon Kindle (lighter to pack that way!).

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do you want a hiking Kindle?

Andy Howell has been using one for a few months … and gives it quite a favourable review:

… The key to the Kindle is its weight. This is a properly portable machine which can slip into your case or pack quite happily. …

First off, this is a very light way of carrying a lot of books …

With the wifi link usually off I have been able to get three weeks usage without any problems at all. If you are backpacking you should be able to rely on three weeks, maybe four, so long as you keep the machine warm at night, although I must say I’ve not noticed any great degrading of battery performance in the cold.

When backpacking you will want to keep the Kindle in a waterproof sleeve of some kind — I use an Ortlieb map carrier which I know to be watertight. Phil Turner has devised his own protection system details of which he has published here so you can knock one up yourself. …

The really big downside is that you can’t share books or pass them on to someone else. You can register up to 6 Kindles with one Amazon account, which might get around things a little. But this system is still far too inflexible and Amazon need to sort this out quickly, even if it is to let you pass books on a limited number of times. …

read the rest of the review

I’m quite happy with audio books and podcasts on my iPods (normally carrying two) but wouldn’t mind trying a kindle on a longer adventure.

I mostly read in the tent. And it seems a pain that a headlamp is required to read a kindle. In fact, that might even be a deal breaker for me. Perhaps I’d use the built-in audio jack or rear speakers to listen to my audio books via Kindle.

Leave a comment if you’ve tried taking a Kindle on the Trail. Either here or over on Andy’s review.

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DAVE PIDGEON will not take his iPad on the Trail.

Compass Points Media via flickr – original photo

But he does review a few Apps on this post – A Backpacker’s iPad

(via Tom Mangan on Facebook)

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Cicerone Lightweight Camping

… new guide by John Traynor provides detailed information and advice on how to get the most out of camping light – on foot or by bike, canoe or car. From picking a campsite in the wild to coping with bad weather, tips for campers with some or no experience on gear, luggage, campsites and taking the kids.

Cicerone

It’s available as an eBook now. And as a dead tree dead weight in 2011.

(via Andy Howell)

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Westwood Lake, Nanaimo, B.C.

… Westwood Lake is an ultimate destination for many kinds of Nanaimo-ites, owing to its kilometres of springy pathways for runners and walkers, beaches for swimmers, fish for canoers, and its access to Mount Benson and Westwood Ridge …

I did just the 6km loop around the lake, catching some interesting photos.

Westwood Lake, Nanaimo, B.C.

The sun we hadn’t seen for many days was evaporating snow into mist.

Westwood Lake, Nanaimo, B.C.

Westwood Lake, Nanaimo, B.C.

Westwood Lake, Nanaimo, B.C.

see the rest of my pics on flickr

The best guidebook for the many local trails like this on Vancouver Island are the Hiking Trails series (3 volumes) by Vancouver Island Trails Information Society.

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Jeju Olle hike, Korea day 5

#Jeju #JejuOlle

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

Day 4 had been long long, over 30km. In the dark I lucked into finding a perfect tent site, hidden away in a rock niche high above the coast.

Route 5-6 - Jeju Olle, Korea

It had previously been used as a meditation retreat.

Route 5-6 - Jeju Olle, Korea

Dawn is the most peaceful time of the day. They are not early risers on Jeju.

Route 5-6 - Jeju Olle, Korea

Locals live by the “Sam Mu” (“Three Nothings”) – no beggars, no thieves, no gates.

Route 5-6 - Jeju Olle, Korea

Here is (by far) my favourite restaurant over 100km – the Two Weeks Coffee Shop.

Two Weeks Coffee Shop

The owner retired from Seoul. Because he and his wife love coffee, they purchased the property to set up a retirement job.

Two Weeks Coffee Shop - bicycle construct

Every Korean can guess why it’s named Two Weeks. … You’ll have to go yourself and ask if you want to know. Bring a book and a laptop. They have free WiFi. You can hang out in their lovely garden.

Two Weeks Coffee Shop

Check the vista from atop the nearby cinder cone.

vista from Two Weeks Coffee Shop

Known as an “oreum” (lateral volcano grown over as a hill or small mountain), the Jeju Olle never bypasses one without making you climb to the top.

Route 5-6 - Jeju Olle, Korea

That’s the second largest “city” on Jeju, Seogwipo.

Route 5-6 - Jeju Olle, Korea

They have the same huge, colourful web spiders I’ve bumped into many times in Hong Kong.

Route 5-6 - Jeju Olle, Korea

I imagine these small, timid feral cats eat the spiders, when they can.

Route 5-6 - Jeju Olle, Korea

I finished at the official Jeju Olle office in Seogwipo, a bit disappointed that I ran out of time to do route 7. Some feel that’s the best of all.

Read more about route 6 on the official website.

See the rest of my route 5-6 photos on flickr.

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

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Resources if you want to plan a trip for yourself:

Visit Korea – Jeju Olle (also available in many other languages)

JejuOlle.org (also in Japanese, Chinese and Korean)

Wild Junket – Hiking in Korea: Jeju Olle Trail

Though I did not use it, there is a guidebook in English. Look for it on the island or check it out as a PDF linked from this Visit Korea page.

Questions? Suggestions? … Leave a comment.

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The Way Back: best hiking movie yet?

The Way Back is an upcoming drama film about a group of prisoners who escaped from a Siberian gulag during World War II.

… directed by Peter Weir from a screenplay also by Weir based on the memoir by Sławomir Rawicz. It stars Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris …

The film is based on a memoir titled The Long Walk by Slawomir Rawicz, depicting his escape from a Siberian gulag and subsequent 4000 mile walk to freedom in India. Incredibly popular, it sold over 500,000 copies and is credited with inspiring many explorers.

In 2006 the BBC unearthed records (including some written by Rawicz himself) that showed he had been released by the USSR in 1942 and the book was based on the story of other Polish soldier, Witold Glinski. …

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

They are already talking Oscar nominations.

(via The Outside Blog posting on three men who repeated the walk to raise awareness that the real hero real hero of the Great Escape was a Polish man named Witold Gliński.)

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Backpacker Magazine BEST. HIKES. EVER.

Kelly Bastone and Dave Pidgeon:

We’ve covered 245,591 miles of trails in our 37-year history. Here are our 20 all-time favorite trips …

BEST HIKES EVER COVERED

John Muir Trail, CA | Escalante Route, AZ | Teton Crest Trail, WY | Denali, AK | Presidential Traverse, NH | The Lost Coast Trail, CA | The Needles Traverse, CO | St. Mary to Lake McDonald, MT | Appalachian Trail, GA-ME | Zion Narrows, UT | Wonderland Trail, WA | Southern Traverse, AK | Four-Pass Loop, CO | The Long Trail, VT | Boundary Waters, MN | Wind Traverse, WY | Redwood Creek Trail, CA | Olympic Traverse, WA | Willow Gulch, UT | Northville-Placid Trail, NY |

ORIGINAL ARTICLE with links

I know and like all of those in the west and north. But what about these 3 lesser known eastern trails:

• Northville-Placid Trail, NY
• Boundary Waters, MN
• The Long Trail, VT

As a biased west-is-the-bester, I’d best do some research on those.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minnesota

Tim at overlook of Watap Lake from the Border Route Trail

UPDATE: Tom Wemett tells that Northville-Placid Trail has a new website:

“The trail passes through what many consider the wildest and most remote parts of the Adirondack Park, notably the high plateau that encompasses the Spruce, West Canada, and Cedar lakes area, along with that of the Cold River. The highest point the N-P Trail reaches (3008 ft) is at the crest of the ridge to the E of Blue Mt. and of Tirrell Pond.” …

nptrail.org

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Yosemite Grand Traverse

A terrific trip report by one terrific hiker, author Peter Potterfield.

This time Peter is checking out a new itinerary invented by Ian Elman, founder of Southern Yosemite Mountain guides, which won National Geographic Adventure magazine’s trip-of-the-year honours in 2008:

… a sixty mile backcountry journey that takes the hiker through the Ansel Adams Wilderness, over Post Peak Pass and into Yosemite National Park, and along the unique drainage of the Merced River before reaching, eventually, the dramatic high country of Tuolumne Meadows. A side trip to the summit of Half Dome via the cable route is a standard feature of the journey. …

I’ve always considered this region (#4 ranked in the world) hiking heaven.

Click through to Great Outdoors for the full trip report with annotated photos

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Tuscany: hike or bike?

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

In Rome I bought Lonely Planet Hiking in Italy, difficult to find, actually.

(… later I wished I’d bought Lonely Planet Cycling in Italy, instead.)

Of the Tuscany hikes listed in LP, I chose the Tuscan Hill Crests out of gorgeous San Gimignano.

loop, 7hrs, easy, 20km (12.4mi)

the medieval Manhattan

Sounded great:

Low rolling hills, fields full of barley, elegant cypresses and silvery green olives, vines ripening in the late summer sun, an old ruined monastery, a priest careering downhill in a rusty Fiat 500, potted geraniums, cyclists in multi-coloured jerseys, a rustic farmhouse reborn as an agriturismo …

Not my usual wilderness adventure, … but any excuse to travel to Tuscany. Right?

Departing Porta San Giovanni:

hiking San Gimignano, Italy

This is a “hike”?

hiking San Gimignano, Italy

I love Lonely Planet trail descriptions: terse. But in a populated region like Tuscany, landmarks change often. By about half way round the circuit — entirely on roads — I was lost.

I relaxed snacking on both white and red grapes fresh off the vine …

hiking San Gimignano, Italy

October is grape harvest.

… I pondered my options. Should I backtrack?

Never.

Happily I stumbled upon this monk:

hiking San Gimignano, Italy

He’s the icon of the Via Francigena, a pilgrims path from Canterbury, UK to Rome.

… one of three great medieval pilgrims’ routes (the others were the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain and the long route East to Jerusalem) …

The good monk led me back to San Gimignano on small footpaths over private property. This is the kind of hiking I wanted in Tuscany.

hiking San Gimignano, Italy

I soothed my disappointment in not finishing my intended hike with a Gorgonzola gelato in the Piazza Duomo.

hiking San Gimignano, Italy

Next day I rented a bike (5EU cheap) and rode about 70km on mostly paved roads between Sienna and Gaiole in Chianti, a much better way to see the gorgeous countryside.

… But I’ll do a little more research on the Via Francigena. Sections of that might certainly be one of the best hikes in Europe.