Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
I signed up with AppalachianTrail.org in anticipation of a trip to Appalachian Trail Days in 2007.
They strongly recommend Lightweight Backpacking and Camping: A Field Guide to Wilderness Equipment, Technique, and Style.
Reading the reader reviews on the Amazon site (always a good idea) comments are somewhat mixed.
But I am IN. It’s added to my “to read” list.
Already a lightweight Backpacker, I’m now simply fine-tuning my kit and food for various hikes. Looks like a perfect resource for me.
A Year of Adventures: Lonely Planet’s Guide to Where, What And When is an inspiring book.
Hiking in New Zealand, diving with sharks in South Africa, ballooning in Switzerland and storm watching in Alaska. Choose from over 100 activities in 130 countries, some to challenge you, some to enjoy at a leisurely pace, and catering to all fitness levels.
Organised by month and week to allow you to plan the best adventure at the best time of year.
Country and Activity indexes provide easy access search by the destination of your next holiday, or by the adventure you want to experience.
Lonely Planet has a webpage supporting the publication.
A great inspiration to me personally, author Eric Newby led a grand adventurous life.
On World Hum’s list of the top 30 travel books of all time, Newby’s “A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush ranked No. 17.
It is a brilliant book. I often reflect back on his hillarious account of crossing paths with the ultimate adventurer Wilfred Thesiger who he joins in the great adventure beyond. Thesiger died in 2003.
I am looking forward to reading Walking the Big Wild: From Yellowstone to the Yukon on the Grizzly Bears’ Trail by Heuer.
It looks right up my alley.
We often recommend Cicerone hiking guidebooks, some of the best in the world.
But having Cicerone as publisher of a title is no guarantee.
Nothing was added to the hiking literature by the publication of Cicerone Walking in British Columbia in 2002. It is not even a good overview of the region.
How many of these tracks could author Janna Fleming have walked?
Cicerone should stick to the formula of very specialized trekking guidebooks by very expert authors.
Publishing weak volumes waters down the brand image.
On the other hand, we strongly recommend all of their books authored by Kev Reynolds. He is a god of hiking guides.
In order to look less foolish at the Blogger Ho Down this weekend, I need a copy of the famed Curtis Creek Manifesto, a comic guide to fly fishing.
Where can I get one?
Get Outdoors – Curtis Creek Manifesto: How To Fly Fish Comic Book – Getoutdoors.com Outdoor Blog
Swede Renata Chlumska is one tough gal. Already having climbed Everest, this time she set out to see the edge of America. All of it.
Renata was fiance of the late, great Goran Kroop of Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey fame.
After 439 days circumnavigating the continental United States — thought to be the first time this was accomplished — kayaking through ocean swells, biking through desert conditions, witnessing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Chlumska was overjoyed to have reached her journey’s end.
It took her 439 days to kayak and bike around U.S.
More on Renata’s trip blog.
We’ve been awaiting a new book on our favourite hike, the West Coast Trail. It’s here and we can hardly wait to get our hands on it.
It’s called The West Coast Trail – One Step at a Time.
The author, Robert J. Bannon, sells it directly on his website for C$20. Or you can pick it up in book and gear shops in Western Canada.
“Using a light-hearted style, Bob invites readers to experience the adventure of a lifetime as he and his hiking partner don overweight backpacks, traverse root and mud covered pathways, climb and descend countless ladders, camp on white sand beaches and generally experience a richness of life that most of us only dream about.”
The West Coast Trail: One Step at a Time was a 2005 finalist for the Heritage Group Writing Award.
The West Coast Trail is one of the best hikes in the world. Climb up to 50 huge ladders, ford rivers on cable cars, short-cut the trail at low tide — it’s a glorious wilderness hike 75km (47mi) long with no easy exit to civilization. Carefully regulated, it can be almost impossible to get a permit during high season.
Read more — Besthike West Coast Trail.
Peter Potterfield is the author of Classic Hikes of the World.
He spent a week hiking a section of the Kungsleden — Abisko Mountain Station to Kebnekaise Mountain Station — about 100 kilometers — “some of the best scenery of the entire route, including Sweden’s highest mountain.”
Hiking Arctic Sweden page 1 – GreatOutdoors.com
Kungsleden: The Basics
The Trail: The 450-kilometer Kungsleden begins at Abisko, in the north, and continues south to Hemavan. Hiking the entire route takes a month, or more, figuring about 100 kilometers per week. …
When to Go: The huts on the northern section are open from mid-June to mid-September, when the trail is sufficiently free of snow to be hiked. The midnight sun shines from the end of May to Mid July. Expect a wet track but uncrowded huts until mid-July, when the month-long busy hiking season begins. Any hike in September comes with the risk of early season snow.
Trip Planning: Lappland is relatively remote, but surprisingly easy to reach from Stockholm if you know how. Kiruna makes a laid-back staging city, accessed by air, with convenient bus connections to and from the hike.
The STF, the Swedish Touring Federation offers basic information in English and Japanese, and much more in Swedish and European languages. STF volunteers answer email, so if you inquire in English about a travel detail or ask a question about Kungsleden, you usually get a response in English within a week or so.
photo – elfi kaut
Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.
Times of London in December 1901 (legend has it) posted by Ernest Shackleton for a journey to Antarctica.
Now that was adventure. Once, having his ship frozen in the ice, he was forced to sledge across the Weddell Sea pack, then boat to Elephant Island. Then sail to South Georgia Island. The greatest survival story of all time?
besthike.com 