coastal – Page 42 – besthike.com

February 5, 2010February 2, 2010

why haven’t I hiked Crater Lake?

Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. …

I kicked myself for driving past, in the past, after I watched this video. It looks superb.

[clearspring_widget title=”Beautiful Places in HD” wid=”4818aa96925a19fd” pid=”4b685d30201387a6″ width=”425″ height=”271″ domain=”widgets.clearspring.com”]

Tony’s show is one of the top ranked video podcasts on iTunes in the “Places & Travel” section. The easiest way to get every one is to subscribe on iTunes. It’s free.

But you can check out the other videos first on the official website – Beautiful Places in HD.

January 5, 2010January 1, 2010

The North Coast Trail

The new North Coast Trail is close to the top of my MUST HIKE BEFORE I DIE list.

The North Coast Trail is a 43.1 km wilderness hiking trail in Cape Scott Provincial Park on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

… in Cape Scott Provincial Park runs along beaches and in forest around the northern tip of Vancouver Island from Shushartie Bay to Nissen Bight. At Nissen Bight it links up with an existing 15 km trail which leads to the trailhead at San Josef River. The total distance for hikers between the trailheads is 61 km. The trail is in a wilderness area and hikers may see deer, elk, black bears, cougars, wolves, sea birds, seals, sea lions, grey whales and sea otters. In two failed attempts, Danish pioneers tried to settle the area at the turn of the twentieth century and the trail incorporates some of their original routes.

Detailed route information is available on the BC Parks – Cape Scott hiking page.

official website – Northern Vancouver Island Coastal Trail

I’ve added it to our list of best hikes in North America

November 30, 2009November 28, 2009

Fundy Footpath, New Brunswick, Canada

Marc Guitard recommends a 41km hike in Fundy National Park, Canada.

Marc writes:

It’s a truly wild coastal area along the Bay of Fundy which has the world’s highest tides. There are 2 river crossings that have to be timed at low tide or else they are otherwise inpassable.

They rate it as 41 kms, but is in fact close to 50km when you include the ‘approach’ Goose River Trail, (8-9km) – part of Fundy National Park, but is necessary to walk to reach the start of the actual Fundy Footpath.

There is a more touristy (driveable) section of the coast called the “Fundy Trail” but it is not the same thing. The Fundy Footpath actually spans from Fundy National Park TO the Fundy Trail.

Recommended 4 days.

details on CanadaTrails.ca – Hiking the Fundy Footpath

November 26, 2009November 8, 2009

the sorry campgrounds of Hawaii

Over the past 3 years I’ve checked out or tented most of the official campgrounds on Kauai and Maui.

Despite being an outdoor tropical paradise, the campground situation on those 2 islands is a mess.

Your choices include National Campgrounds, State Campgrounds, County Campgrounds and a few private campgrounds.

Though inexpensive, the problem is actually getting a campsite permit for the State and County locations. You must find an administrative office and get there during office hours. You cannot simply show up at the campground at dusk.

Here are some signs I saw 2009 posted at the Waianapanapa State Park campground office on Maui.

Looks like morale is low. Budget tight.

In fact, the County of Maui has closed campgrounds recently: Baldwin and Rainbow.

The cabins at Waianapanapa are oft called the the best lodging deal on Maui, but they get mixed reviews.

=== Best for tenting – Kauai or Maui?

Kuaia is generally better and more relaxed than Maui. When I camped without a permit in Kauai I was awoken by a friendly officer who informed me that I needed to go to an administrative office, … then charged me $5 cash instead of the usual $3 permit fee. I was very happy with that compromise.

But both islands could and should offer far better tenting than they do now.

=== Dislaimer:

Before you leave an angry comment, I did find a few good campgrounds. Mostly in the National Parks.

I stayed 2 nights free at the superb Kipahulu Campground on Maui. Loved it … despite the fact that drinking water is not available.

Hosmer Grove I liked too. It’s also free. But why don’t they expand the tenting area?

The two wilderness campsites in the Halekala volcano are both great, especially Paluku.

The Kokee State Park campground on Kauai is superb.

I loved, too, the wilderness campground at the end of the Kalalau Trail on Kauai.

Most of the Kauai beach campgrounds, however, are filled with loud party animals. Locals use them as party sites 7 nights a week.

What Hawaii really needs is more private campgrounds. Camp Olowalu on Maui is the best private on the island. It would be great … except for the traffic roaring by all night long. And the big dogs running free that threatened while I was there.

=== Are things going to improve?

The Big Island finally has an online system for buying your Camping Permits. Nice.

Leave a comment if you have an opinion on Hawaiian campgrounds.

November 18, 2009November 9, 2009

best of the Bibbulmun Track, Australia

The Bibbulmun Track is a long distance walk trail in Western Australia, … almost 1000 km long. The name comes from the Bibbulmun, or Noongar people, Indigenous Australians from the Perth area.

Dave Tomlinson gives some tips on best sections, water, fuel and tenting vs shelters:

Our Hiking Blog – Bibbulmun Track – Advice and tips on this long distance hike

more photos tagged “Bibbulmun”

November 17, 2009November 8, 2009

Waianapanapa State Park, Maui

There are a number of day hikes, short and long, out of uber popular Waiʻanapanapa State Park.

The park includes … seabird colonies, anchialine pools, native hala (Pandanus tectorius) forest, caves, heiau (religious temple), a natural arch, sea stacks, blowholes and a small black sand beach….

Waianapanapa-map

You can walk to Hana (3mi) along the coast, if you like. I walked most of that, often closer to the water than the official trail. Some call this the WAI’ANAPANAPA COASTAL TRAIL.

A few pics:

Close to the parking lot, the most popular attraction is this black sand beach.

All very pretty. Especially the contrasting bright green vegetation against dark black lava stone.

see the rest of my photos

November 2, 2009May 15, 2013

Waimoku Falls / Pipiwai Trail, Maui

Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles.

Most tourists in Maui drive a rent-a-car to Kipahulu Visitors Center in Haleakala National Park, the end of the famed Road to Hana.

The main attraction are the so called “Seven Sacred Pools“, a name invented by some overzealous tourism marketer. In reality, the ʻOheʻo Gulch has dozens of pools and a number of waterfalls, a few very welcoming of swimmers.

Welcoming if you’re not scared off the warning signs posted everywhere.

warning-sign

I spent only a few minutes at the pools, instead quickly beginning the climb up Pipiwai Trail. I knew it would be fantastic as Trailspotting calls it their “favorite hike on Maui”:

Distance: 4 miles
Type: Out & Back
Difficulty: Medium
Elevation gain: 900ft (from 200 – 1,200ft)

Beginning at the rugged and remote eastern Maui coastline follow the Pipiwai stream inland and you’ll soon be surrounded by dense jungle, heading towards a series of waterfalls each increasingly more impressive than the last. En route you’ll cross bridges and streams, and negotiate an unforgettable boardwalk journey through a dense bamboo forest that towers so far above your head that daylight struggles to reach you. And since the Hawaiian islands are some of the wettest places on earth, you’re sure to be impressed with the towering 400 foot wall of water at the end of the trail that is Waimoku Falls. …

Pipiwai Waterfalls & Bamboo Trail

The bamboo was the highlight for me, too.

Actually, this kind of bamboo is one of those dread invasive species. But it’s an invasive species I love. I’m an invasive species, myself.

You’ll be warned about mosquitos. I never saw even one during 2wks on Maui in October.

Pipiwai gets better and better the closer you get to Waimoku Falls.

Click that last photo to see a larger version of a true Hawaiian paradise.

The other highlight of this hike for me was tenting at Kipahulu Campground right at the trailhead.

Waimoku Falls Pipiwai Trail map

I spent two nights. It’s free after you pay for your National Parks pass. Authorities are frantically improving the visitor center right now. I expect the primitive campground will be improved, as well.

Walking the shoreline here is highly recommended. A half mile stretch is called the KAHAKAI TRAIL.

See all my photos from Pipiwai, one of the very best hikes in the world.

Or, better, check out Stuart’s photos – Trailspotting: Hawaii, Maui: Pipiwai Waterfalls. Click on his trail map for a larger view.

Leave a comment if you’ve done Pipiwai and have something to add.

November 1, 2009October 29, 2009

Hoapili Trail, Maui

Trip Report by besthike editor Rick McCharles.

I first heard of this hike on Trailspotting.

… the Hoapili Trail will take you across … 200 year old lava beds to a secluded beach.

From the trailhead hike through patches of kiawe woodland and beaches scattered with sand and white coral, contrasting starkly with the black of the lava outcroppings. Eventually and suddenly the vegetation stops – a telling sign that you’re on the newest of the lava beds – and take a sharp left turn through a gate before proceeding on through fields of barren lava formations. …

I was intrigued.

You can see how far the lava had to flow from the volcano to the sea.

This is part of what is called the Hawaiian “King’s Highway”.

Past the beach I saw a four-wheel drive truck and people camping. One reference tells that wild camping is allowed there. Tempting.

Instead I only enjoyed a short break on the log swing at Keoneoio Beach.

All the Maui hiking guidebooks include Hoapili. But many references wrongly calculate the distance from La Perouse Bay to Kanaio Beach as 5.5 miles. It’s about 2mi (3.2km) one way.

I’ll not include Hoapili on our list of the best hikes in the world. I liked it. But many would find it too hot, too desolate. The jagged lava is tought on the feet, as well.

There’s definitely no water or other facilities. If you are hiking the Hoapili, you must be self-sufficient. Like this guy.

feral-goat

more photos from this hike

Hoapili-map

October 29, 2009October 28, 2009

new thru hike in Australia

… We hope to develop a walking trail network of some 2,000 kilometres (about 1,250 miles), which will pass along the Eastern Cape York Peninsula.

This is one of the last pristine tropical regions in the world. It is wild, beautiful and presently largely trackless and inaccessible. The coast has many stunning tropical beaches lapped by the azure blue Coral Sea, with the Great Barrier Reef running the closest it gets to the Queensland Coastline. ….

You can help with this project by filling out a short, fairly painless survey linked from the home page. (click the survey START button)

Eventually the network of trails could be connected into one of the greatest long hikes anywhere.

DreamingTrails.com

October 28, 2009October 20, 2009

hiking blog – Madeira Walking

Madeira is an archipelago in the Atlantic, an Autonomous region of Portugal. Madeira Island and Porto Santo Island are the only inhabited islands.