Category: books and magazines

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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.)

How I Lost My Mind-and Almost Found Myself-on the Pacific Crest Trail (P.S.)

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.

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top 10 Adventure cities of the world

Just subscribed by RSS to Adventure Trip magazine online. Nice.

adventure-trip-magazine.jpg

One article was written by Kraig Becker of The Adventure Blog: Top Ten Adventure Cities

10. Moab, Utah – USA

9. Cusco, Peru

8. Zermatt, Switzerland

7. Boulder, Colorado – USA

6. Punta Arenas, Chile

5. Chamonix, France

4. Queenstown, New Zealand

3. Vancouver, British Columbia – Canada

2. Arusha, Tanzania

1. Kathmandu, Nepal

A great list. Thanks Kraig.

Check out the new online magazine for yourself: Adventure Trip magazine

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Lonely Planet walking guidebooks in decline?

Through besthike recommendations, people have bought hundreds of Lonely Planet guidebooks. They reinvented the genre, in my opinion. Never buy any other company without first comparing against LP.

Sadly, for the past 6-7 years I’ve started to notice problems.

LP author Thomas Kohnstamm has a new book coming out this week:

A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism

A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism

THE Lonely Planet guidebook empire is reeling from claims by one of its authors that he plagiarised and made up large sections of his books and dealt drugs to make up for poor pay.

Thomas Kohnstamm also claims in a book that he accepted free travel, in contravention of the Melbourne-based company’s policy.

His revelations have rocked the travel publisher, which sells more than six million guides a year – guides that generations of tourists have come to rely on.

Mr Kohnstamm, whose book is titled Do Travel Writers Go To Hell? said yesterday that he had worked on more than a dozen books for Lonely Planet, including their titles on Brazil, Colombia, the Caribbean, South America, Venezuela and Chile.

In one case, he said he had not even visited the country he wrote about.

“They didn’t pay me enough to go Colombia,” he said.

“I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating – an intern in the Colombian consulate. …

News.com.au

More alarming for hikers is that LP does not seem to be updating any their excellent walking guides as frequently as in the past.

BBC recently purchased controlling interest in Lonely Planet. BBC has their own problems, however. I’m not sure LP can recover.

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Backpacker magazine – find a hike USA

Their choices are a bit of a random hodge podge but include some good calls:

  • Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: Mocqui Canyon via Lake Powell
  • San Francisco: Bear Lake/Emigrant Wilderness
  • Appalachian Trail: Flume Visitor Center to US 302
  • Moab: Morning Glory Arch
  • Canyonlands National Park: Horseshoe Canyon

    • backpacker.jpg

    I particularly like their QUICK START page:

    Trip-planning tips, gear lists, safety advice, and other essential wisdom ever hiker should know.

    PLANNING
    GEAR
    FOOD
    FITNESS
    SKILLS
    SURVIVAL
    LEAVE NO TRACE
    FIRST AID
    STAYING WARM AND DRY
    BUGS, BEARS AND POISON IVY

    Backpacking 101 – Backpacker

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    hiker and builder – Ron Strickland

    Ron Strickland has a site dedicated to long distance trails and the National Trails System in the USA.

    He’s authored a number of books including:

  • THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRAIL GUIDE
  • SHANK’S MARE: A COMPENDIUM OF REMARKABLE WALKS

    • I’ve been writing about hiking since around 1999. Ron’s done more. And for somewhat longer than that.

    pacific-nw-trail.jpg

    Ron Strickland began to create the 1200-mile Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) in 1970. Seven years later he founded the non-profit Pacific Northwest Trail Association (PNTA) to locate, develop, maintain, and protect the Trail. He described its Continental Divide-to-Pacific Ocean route in The Pacific Northwest Trail Guide.

    His current project is the creation of the transcontinental Sea-To-Sea Route.

    He is excited about C2C’s (1) vast scale, (2) proximity to record numbers of potential hikers, and (3) potential to transform America’s National Trails System. He says, “Hikers know that initially a proposed long walk can seem overwhelmingly difficult. But the wiser heads among them realize that even the longest journey is accomplished one step at a time. So, too, the Sea-To-Sea Route at first glance may seem like an impossible dream. But in 2007, having already convinced many skeptics, I know that I am on the right path and that this project is the perfect way for many hikers `to give back to the trail'” …

    Keep up the good fight, Ron!

    And congratulations on your March 2007 wedding to Christine Hartmann. There’s hope for us old bachelor hikers yet.

    2006-3-24-clou-at-bas-relie.jpg

    … married him even though she’d been winter hiking with him on the Appalachian Trail and knew what she was getting into.

    It’s a great story. To learn more, start with Ron’s Biography.

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    Forbes Traveler – best day hikes USA

    Several of my favourite bloggers picked up on a story in Forbes Traveler magazine.

    It’s not comprehensive review, rather a few picks from well respected experts. (Those in bold are also on our list of best hikes in North America. )

  • Mt. Katahdin, Baxter State Park, Maine
  • Kennecott District, Wrangell St Elias National Park, Alaska
  • Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Naples, Florida
  • Grayson Highlands State Park, Virginia

  • Lost Coast, King Range National Conservation Area, Northern California
  • Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California
  • Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness, White River National Forest, Colorado (info)
  • Mt. St Helens, Oregon
  • Na Pali Coast State Wilderness Park, Kaua’i, Hawaii
  • Coyote Gulch, Escalante Subdistrict, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah

    • details with photos – Spectacular Day Hikes – Jon Brooks – Forbes Traveler

    The wildlife at Corkscrew Swamp, choice of Jeffrey Hunter of the American Hiking Society, looks fascinating.

    limpkin.jpg
    Limpkin (Aragua itis — Family: Aramidae) – original – flickr – leppyone

    more interesting photos of the swamp on flickr

    I’m hiking the Na Pali Coast myself this week.

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    KauaÊ»i – Hawaiian hiking paradise

    I’ve finally done it.

    Made the trekker’s pilgrimage to the volcanic island of KauaÊ»i (also spelled Kauai). My first trip.

    There are more miles of hiking trails here than on the rest of Hawaiian islands combined. It’s the “Garden Isle”. The one used in the opening fly-in scene for Jurassic Park.

    The most useful website I’ve found is Hawaii Trails:

    kauai-hiking-map.jpg
    Hawaii Trails – Kauai map

    The second highest peak is Mount WaiÊ»aleÊ»ale near the center of the island, one of the wettest spots on Earth with an annual average rainfall of 460in (11.7m). The resulting floods have eroded deep canyons, including what Mark Twain dubbed the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific” — Waimea Canyon, 10mi (16km) long and up to 3000ft (900m) deep.

    waimea-canyon.jpg
    NASA

    We’ll head first to Waimea. I’m using Robert Smith’s hiking guidebook:

    Hiking Kauai, the Garden Isle

    Hiking Kauai, the Garden Isle

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    hiking the Canary Islands, Spain

    If I was flying there today, I’d head for the Island of Gran Canaria.

    The Canary Islands are an African archipelago which are part of Spain and consist of seven islands of volcanic origin in the Atlantic Ocean. They are located off the north-western coast of mainland Africa (Morocco and the Western Sahara).

    canary.png

    Wikipedia

    roger_eileen_hiking_in_gran_canaria_spain.jpgThat’s the home of Rambling Roger and his wife Eileen. They are super experienced hiking guides. Or they can set you up with the best guidebook and maps for your independent hiking.

    The guidebook is self-published by Roger, available hard copy or PDF.

    I don’t know much about Gran Canaria. Let’s see some “interesting photos” on flickr.

    872720222_c36d13ff94.jpg
    original – roca del cangrejo – flickr – maccanti

    807739106_9783f96b89.jpg
    original – flickr – maccanti

    Nice!

    Will contact you when I get there, Roger.

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    best California hiking guidebook

    Once again I went to California, unsure where to hike.

    There are too many choices. Too many good guidebooks. Here’s the one I ended up buying:

    California Hiking (Moon Handbooks)

    One of the authors is Tom Stienstra, sometimes called “the other Tom” in relation to Tom Mangan of Two Heel Drive. (Mangan reviews hikes on the San Jose Mercury News. Stienstra does the same for the San Francisco Chronicle. Both are Bay Area papers.)

    Turns out Stienstra is the “best-selling hiking guidebook author in America”. It says so on his book, so it must be true.

    AND Stienstra’s in the stars with John Muir:

    tomhead2.gif

    Tom Stienstra inducted into California Outdoors Hall of Fame in 2003

    amb1.jpgI don’t want to downplay the co-Author’s contribution:

    Ann Marie Brown has lived in and explored the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. A hiker extraordinaire, she has logged more than 10,000 miles exclusively on California trails. …

    GORP

    Anyhoo, if you are looking for the best overview of hikes in California, this is it. They’ve divided California into 16 hiking zones.

    I wanted to hike the “Southern Deserts”. For that region “best hikes” are recommended including:

    Tahquitz Canyon
    Ryan Mountain Trail
    Mastodon Peak
    Lost Palms Oasis

    I did 3 of these. All excellent

    This guidebook has the guts to recommend “best hikes” in categories including:

    Best Beach and Coastal Walks
    Best Butt-kickers
    Best Desert Hikes
    Best Hikes with a View
    Best for Kids
    Best Summit Hikes
    Best for Wildlife
    … and many more

    The best overview of California: California Hiking (Moon Handbooks)