Just downloaded an audio version (unabridged) of this book. I’ve always enjoyed Thubron.
… I’m contemplating a trekking trip in Asia, needless to say.
paving the Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Fears of road construction ruining our #8 trek in the world have been somewhat exaggerated.
Hikers are concerned when they see articles like this:
… Late last year, the Australian tour operator Peregrine Adventures, which has organised trips to Nepal for more than 30 years, abandoned the “classic” Annapurna Circuit, which stretches for 300 kilometres and reaches altitudes of more than 5000 metres.
“We’ve dropped that trip altogether because of the road,” operations director Tietse Stelma says. “Ten years ago it was such a beautiful trek going up into the mountains with the Annapurnas in front of you. Now you have more and more traffic on the road and building activity – when you go on a trek, you don’t want to hear that.” …
Rocky road for trekkers – The Age
Annapurna is still a wonderful adventure. But you might want to skip the Jomson Trek, the section where a new roadway is under construction.
Here’s a terrific documentary titled Paving Shangri La which paints the worst case scenario:
Click PLAY or watch it (Part 2) on YouTube. (7.29min)
Part 1 = watch it on YouTube. (7.42min)
The narrator is Andrew Stevenson, author of A Nepalese Journey: The Essence of the Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Circuit – Himalayan Journey.
I have friends trekking Annapurna in October. I’ll report back on just how much the road construction “ruined” the experience.
Not much, I expect.
Backpacker magazine awards 2009
Backpacker magazine has their annual Readers’ Choice 2009 survey up online.
A sample: Which of the … mountain photos is your favorite?
screenshot
Click through to register your votes: Readers’ Choice 2009 Survey
Lake Tahoe: A Fragile Beauty
I’m still researching Tahoe … though my upcoming hike there might be postponed. (Sadly, I’ve started a new job.)
Grab-and-Go hikes in Florida
Guidebook author Sandra Friend has done it again. Added another cool online feature.
A new free resource for hikers: head on over to the Florida Trail website to download yourself a set of Grab-and-Go Hikes. … These are mini-guides to popular day hikes (many with opportunities for camping) along the Florida Trail, and include mileages, directions, and a map.
Quality is excellent. Here are screenshots from the Big Oak Trail PDF download:
Florida Trail Association – Grab-and-Go Hikes
Check out, too, Sandra’s main website: FloridaHikes.com
Wend – free adventure magazine
Yet another magazine – Wend – is offering a free digital version online to attract attention to their dead tree product.
It’s nicely done.
Check it out: Summer 2008 – Volume 3, Edition Issue 2
Magazines do not seem to be dying in the way that newspapers are. But rather evolving.
Of course I’m not able to link directly to any article. Wend is unlikely to get much attention from bloggers.
section hike the Hayduke Trail, Utah
Backpacker magazine recommends a 55mi stretch of the infamous 800+mi Hayduke Trail in the American S.W.
The otherworldly terrain in southern Utah’s labyrinthine canyon country–slots, hoodoos, mesas, bizarre sandstone formations–is as confusing as it is captivating. Get off-track or miss one of the infrequent water sources, and you have real problems. This 55-mile, roughly eight-day stretch of the Hayduke Trail serves up both extremes. You’ll travel mostly off-trail, with steep, loose scrambles, deep sand slogs, and a paucity of distinctive terrain features. Long stretches are waterless–including the first 25 miles. In return, you get bragging rights for a spectacularly remote and rarely traveled journey.
Tech assist Use ExpertGPS (expertgps.com) to plot routes using topo and aerial photographs, then send data to your GPS. Plan best-case routes and alternates, since the complex terrain may present obstacles you can’t identify on screen. Example: See
backpacker.com/haydukefor our custom file with multiple off-trail routes.Start in Canyonlands’s Needles District, where multicolored sandstone towers stand like 200-foot candles above the desert. You’ll pass under Seldom Seen Bridge and trek by the cliff dwellings and rock art of Fable Valley. Mark water caches (drop one pretrip to avoid carrying three days’ supply at the start) and critical water sources (at miles 24.7, 34.1, and 42).
Tip: Waypoint your vehicle at trip’s end as well. …
read more – Backpacker
I’m currently reading The Monkey Wrench Gang (P.S.), the book that inspired this adventure.
I’m no Brian Frankle. This 55mi section for wimps sounds plenty tough enough for me.
(via The Adventure Blog)
Tahoe Rim Trail in September
Tom Mangan on Two-Heel Drive posted a great overview on the famed California loop trail.
I’m looking at perhaps a week on the trail finishing Sept. 20th, 2008.
The Tahoe Rim Trail is a 165-mile (266 km) long-distance hiking trail which forms a loop around Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada and Carson ranges of California and Nevada in the United States. The trail ranges in elevation from 6,240 feet (1,900 m) at the outlet of Lake Tahoe to 10,338 feet (3,151 m) at Relay Peak in Nevada. About 50 miles (80 km) of trail above the lake’s west shore are also part of the much longer Pacific Crest Trail. …
The main hiking season is usually from July through September, though lingering snow patches may sometimes be found into August of high snow years. The trail is open year-round, but is not marked for winter use. The climate is typical of the Sierras, with severe storms during the winter and almost no precipitation falling in the summer.
… Hikers must obtain permits before entering the very popular Desolation Wilderness area southwest of the lake.
Tom recommended this guidebook.
Wilderness Press The Tahoe Rim Trail: A Complete Guide for Hikers, Mountain Bikers, and Equestrians
I’ll pick it up to plan my itinerary.
10 best day hikes in Ontario
Explore magazine lists 10 great walks in Ontario, Canada:
1. High Falls Trail, Petroglyphs Provincial Park
2. Gibson Lake Trail, Frontenac Provincial Park
3. Baker Trail, Massasauga Provincial Park
4. Fire Tower Trail, Restoule Provincial Park
5. Under the Volcano Trail, Neys Provincial Park
6. Brent Crater Trail, Algonquin Provincial Park
7. Bluff Trail, Awenda Provincial Park
8. Cobre Lake Trail, Mississagi Provincial Park
9. Spicebush Trail, Rondeau Provincial Park
10. Awausee Trail, Lake Superior Provincial Park
Awausee Trail. First look out. – Picassa
(via AOL travel)
recommended hiking book – The Cactus Eaters
How I Lost My Mind-and Almost Found Myself-on the Pacific Crest Trail
Traversing broiling deserts, snowy mountain passes and dank rain forests on its crooked way from Mexico to Canada, the Pacific Coast Trail is an epic challenge for die-hard backpackers. White and his girlfriend, Melissa, set out, late in the season and bereft of experience, to tread all 2,650 miles of it, leaving behind lousy reporting jobs and hoping to find self-definition and a deepened relationship. (They call their trek the Lois and Clark Expedition.)
Hilarious greenhorn misadventures ensue—including the author’s ill-advised chomp, while dizzy with dehydration, into a reputedly moisture-laden prickly-pear cactus—that tested their survival skills and commitment as a couple. The trail becomes less an itinerary than a world unto itself, full of squalor, discomfort and majestic scenery, and peopled by charismatic misfits and an austere cult of ultra-light speed-hikers, as the couple rely on arcane camping gear and bizarre gummy-bear-and-marshmallow diets. The wilderness authenticity the author seeks proves elusive; all journey and no destination, the story itself eventually trails off with the hero even more callow and confused than when he started. Still, White’s vivid prose and hangdog humor make readers want to keep up.
The Cactus Eaters – Amazon
Thanks Peter Spiller of Outside San Diego for the tip.
It’s jumped to the top of my MUST READ ON THE TRAIL list. Sounds like A Walk in the Woods crossed with A Blistered Kind of Love.
besthike.com 