Just picked up my tickets. Here are my major events, so far:
Of course there’s much more happening in Banff this weekend …
The official website is quite confusing. An easier way to follow the action is on their events calendar.
trekking in Afghanistan?
I’d love to get to Afghanistan for hiking.
This article from the Time’s Online says it’s only for the very adventurous at this point:
Afghanistan is bursting with potential as a future tourist destination. Its mountains could rival Nepal as a trekking destination, while Silk Road cities like Herat with their brightly tiled mosques are the match of more celebrated rivals like Samarkand or Isfahan. The jewelled lakes of Band-e Amir are itching to have feet dipped in them. Nomads lead their camel caravans past the broken remains of tanks. The promise is there, and Afghans and travellers alike are just waiting for the right moment to finally return.
…
Of course the late, great Eric Newby went in dangerous times. One of my favourite hiking books:
A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush – Amazon
5 walking regions in Italy
ENRICO FORTE – Top 5 Trekking – Hiking spots of Italy on Newsvine.
The title is a little over-the-top, but it did give me some leads on hikes in Italy I had not heard of before:
1) Liguria
2) Lombardy
3) Trentino Trentino-Alto Adige
4) Veneto
5) Emilia Romagna
Friends just returned my Italia and it is near the top of my person must-hike list of destinations.
Certainly Alta Via 1 tops my list. That’s 150km hut-to-hut, the classic Dolomite high route.
Treks in the Dolomites: Alta Vie 1 and 2 (Cicerone Mountain Walking) – Amazon
Sex in a Tent – Michelle Waitzman
Michelle is everywhere these days. Look for a cover article on New Zealand Wilderness magazine.
Promoting her new book (which will certainly be a huge success) has Michelle on the book tour, both virtual and in the real world.
She was even interviewed by The Outdoor Station: listen to the audiocast.
Sex in a Tent: A Wild Couple’s Guide to Getting Naughty in Nature, Wilderness Press 2007
Sex in a Tent is a new book that tells you everything you need to know (but were too embarrassed to ask) about thoroughly enjoying the outdoors with a romantic partner.
Sex in a Tent is a mostly fun, sometimes serious guide to love, sex, and adventure in the great outdoors. In this penetrating look at what really goes on behind the tent flap, expert camper and outdoor love-maker Michelle Waitzman reveals everything you need to know to fulfill your wild fantasies. Showing you the best positions for campers (the tent tango), to recipes for a romantic meal in a Ziploc bag, to how to look and feel sexy when you’re wearing grimy zip-off hiking shorts and haven’t bathed in days (hint: zip ’em off and go skinny-dipping), she inspires you to leave behind the boring bed sheets and crawl into a tantalizing tent.
About the author:
Michelle Waitzman was a late bloomer when it came to the great outdoors. Born in the urban wilds of Toronto, she didn’t fall in love with camping until her late twenties, when a trip around Australia and New Zealand introduced her to the pleasures of a starry sky and a cozy sleeping bag.
Now spending time in the wilderness is an integral part of Michelle’s life, and she shares her passion for the outdoors (and outdoor passions) with her partner Gerhard. They live in Wellington, New Zealand where a tramp in the bush is never far away. Michelle decided to write this book after a decidedly uncomfortable and unsatisfying night in the woods, trying to break in their new tent. While there were lots of books on the market about how to start camping, or take your kids camping, couples seemed sadly under-represented.
Michelle blogs about the outdoors at LoveInATent.blogspot.com .
It’s family friendly blog though you may see the odd photo like this:
Sex in a Tent – get it on Amazon.com
The Beckoning Silence – Joe Simpson returns
The Beckoning Silence is one of the compelling mountaineering books written by Joe Simpson. It’s not as good as his Touching the Void, in my opinion, but is still brilliant:
The Beckoning Silence – Amazon
This month a documentary — also called The Beckoning Silence — with Joe Simpson as narrator, will be released. The film is loosely adapted from Joe’s book and was created by the same team that made the BAFTA-award-winning documentary Touching the Void, my favourite outdoor film ever. (It happened in the remote Huayhuash Mountains in Peru.)
The new film The Beckoning Silence is …
… the true story of four twenty-something climbers … who attempted to climb the notorious North Face of the Eiger in 1936. They began their ascent via an access shaft from a railway tunnel that ran halfway up the mountain, but before long, tragedy struck.
… unlike Touching the Void, this distinctly chilling story does not have a happy ending. All eventually perished. Kurz was the last to die, spending a frostbitten night within feet of rescuers before signing off with the line: “Ich kann nicht mehr” (I cannot go on). …
Joe Simpson: High flyer – The Independent
If it’s half as good as Touching the Void, it will be well worth getting a copy of the new film. (Available on 4DVD on November 5th.)
The Beckoning Silence will be shown at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival in the UK November 17th with Joe and the production crew in attendance. I’d love to be at that screening!
(via The Piton)
Himalaya – Michael Palin
Just finished an excellent book, Himalaya by Michael Palin of Monty Python fame.
Palin is far better known now for his adventure travel documentaries on BBC TV. In fact, this book is the companion to Himalaya, the TV series available on DVD (2004).
Instead of reading the book, I bought it on Audible.com (about US$12) as Palin reads his own prose. And reads it very well. Both informative and amusing.
I recommend Palin to one and all. (The audio version is much lighter to take with you hiking.)
Himalaya – the book – Amazon
Michael Palin – Wikipedia
A second book was produced from Palin’s 6 month trip featuring the photos taken on the Himalayan journey by his official photographer:
Inside Himalaya – Basil Pao
hike Half Dome, Yosemite
What are the best day hikes in the world? Certainly you must include:
Rick Deutsch is the author of One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome, our recommended guidebook to one of the most exhilarating hikes anywhere. (See video)
Rick has a dedicated website as well — hikehalfdome.com — focused on the Half Dome hike and related topics.
One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome
30th Anniversary cover of Outside magazine
UPDATE – Check the COMMENTS on this post for those embittered by being passed over for “icon status” by Amanda Beard.
John Muir – one crazy hiker
Just read my first John Muir book — The Mountains of California.
I knew very little about the icon before reading about his decade exploring the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Long before there were any trails built.
A young man, John Muir dropped out of University and started hiking.
… instead of graduating from a school built by the hand of man, Muir opted to enroll in the “university of the wilderness” and thus walked a thousand miles from Indiana to Florida …
Arriving in San Francisco in March 1868, Muir immediately left for a place he had only read about called Yosemite. After seeing Yosemite Valley for the first time he was captivated, and wrote, “No temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite,” and “[Yosemite is] the grandest of all special temples of Nature.” …
Pursuit of his love of science, especially geology, often occupied his free time and he soon became convinced that glaciers had sculpted many of the features of the valley and surrounding area. …
A large earthquake centered near Lone Pine, California in Owens Valley was felt very strongly in Yosemite Valley in March 1872. The quake woke Muir in the early morning and he ran out of his cabin “both glad and frightened,” exclaiming, “A noble earthquake!”
In that earthquake rock fall, Muir ran towards the thundering boulders to assess how they bounce and where they settle into place.
In one chapter of the book “A Near View of the High Sierra” Muir describes his spontaneous first ascent of Mt. Ritter. In October. Without even a jacket. On a vertical face of rock and ice where there was no turning back. It was summit or fall.
He would study a single water-ouzel (his favourite bird) for hours. Or days on end.
In a wind storm he climbed 100ft to the top of a Spruce to see how the tree reacted. (Swinging in an arc of from 20-30 degrees.)
Muir may not be the greatest writer of all time, but he was one passionate outdoorsman.
Muir co-founded the Sierra Club and served as first President until his death. Sierra became the template for the modern environmental organization.
President Roosevelt with Muir in 1903
hiking in Alaska … disappointing
Obviously there is great hiking in Alaska. The State has two-thirds of the Nation’s parkland.
Why did I have so much trouble finding great hiking?
I bought Hiking Alaska, 2nd: A Guide to Alaska’s Greatest Hiking Adventures by Dean Littlepage. (The second Falcon guide I purchased this year if you are keeping track.)
Littlepage provides a good overview — 100 hikes sorted in a convenient “trip finder”. He even list hikes for those without vehicles. (Thanks Dean.)
But we still had trouble finding the “best hikes in Alaska”.
Problems:
Fortunately we had our own vehicle. Unfortunately we had no mountain bikes (which would have been convenient for getting back to the car from the finishing trailhead).
The weather is always a worry in Alaska, especially coastal Alaska.
There are many wonderful things to do in Alaska. My feeling is that hiking is not highest priority for most visitors. We found the Yukon much more hiker-friendly, by comparison.
So far, here is our list of the best hikes in Alaska. If you can add to the list — hikes or hiking areas as good or better — leave a comment below.
• Chilkoot Trail Yukon / Alaska
• Chena Dome Trail (and Angel Rocks)
• Kesugi Ridge Trail Denali (McKinley)
• McGonagall Pass Denali (McKinley)
• Gates of the Arctic
(Feel free to include major treks requiring fly-in access, time and money.)
besthike.com 