coastal – Page 44 – besthike.com

July 3, 2009July 1, 2009

farewell M.V. Lady Rose

I recently learned that the M.V. Lady Rose, a heritage vessel, carrying hikers to and from Port Alberni, B.C. is history.

What a shame.

Many’s the West Coast Trail hiker that has enjoyed that rustic ferry Bamfield – Port Alberni.

The M.V. Lady Rose, originally christened “Lady Sylvia” at her 1937 launching, was built by A & J Inglis Limited of Pointhouse Shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland, and was designed by W.D. McLaren of Vancouver. …

Designed for the sheltered coastal waters of British Columbia, this stocky little vessel soon proved capable of much more, becoming the first diesel powered vessel to cross the Atlantic driven by a single propeller. …

The official Lady Rose Marine Services website does not mention that it’s gone.

Sister ship Frances Barkley continues carrying cargo, mail and up to 100 passengers on that route.

May 30, 2009May 30, 2009

best Bay Area trails

From Tom Mangan of Two-Heel Drive:

Best of the best in Bay Area trails:

Berry Creek Falls Loop, Big Basin Redwoods State Park. …

Dipsea Trail to Matt Davis Trail from Stinson Beach, Mount Tamalpais State Park. …

Three Peaks, Mount Diablo State Park. …

High Peaks Trail, Pinnacles National Monument. Not exactly Bay Area, …

Tomales Point, Point Reyes National Seashore. …

Angel Island State Park. …

Point Lobos State Preserve, south of Monterey. …

These are my favorite hikes in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve done them all a few times. Links at the end of each item go to guide books and professionally produced maps available at Amazon.com and its partner retailers. …

Best of the best in Bay Area trails

436166825_e6f616714e

Pinnacles National Monument trek – trip report

May 22, 2009

researching the North Coast Trail, B.C.

I’m looking for first hand advice on the lastest, greatest hike on Vancouver Island, B.C.

The North Coast Trail has been on our list of best hikes in North America since before it opened officially in 2008.

Nathan Derksen hiked it in 2004 – trip report

North-Coast-Trail
one of Nathan’s excellent photos – larger version

… The 43.1 km trail 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[1]. 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. …

It’s often compared with the famed, nearby West Coast Trail.

I have already contacted the 3 main trailhead transportation companies as I won’t have a personal vehicle.

Cape Scott Water Taxi
Box 580 Port Hardy B.C. V0N 2P0
Phone (250) 949-6541
Toll Free: 1-800-246-0093
info@capescottwatertaxi.ca
capescottwatertaxi.ca

Catala Charters Jim & Cathy Witton
Box 526 Port Hardy, BC V0N 2P0
Phone/Fax (250) 949-7560;
Toll Free 1-800-515-5511
catalacharters@hotmail.com
northcoasttrailwatertaxi.com

North Coast Trail Shuttle
Box 977 Port Hardy, BC V0N 2P0
Phone: 250-949-6888 Cel 250-230-1994
shuttle2@telus.net
northcoasttrailshuttle.com

Leave a comment if you have recommendations for me.

May 17, 2009May 19, 2009

Bibbulmun Track trip report

Only about 500 people have completed the Bibbulmun Track, nearly 1000kms (620mi) from Kalamunda in the Perth Hills to Albany on the south coast of Western Australia.

One of those is Dave Tomlinson who posted his 2007 trip report on Our Hiking Blog.

Bibbulmun_Track_map_large

… When I reflect on the entire time I spent hiking the track, I think the first few days were the toughest of all. There is nothing quite like the challenge of carrying a heavy pack over difficult terrain in 40 degree heat. Although the track goes through eight towns, the first one is ten days from Perth. So, my pack was very heavy with supplies and I was stiff and sore during those initial stages. But as I progressed, my muscles began to get attuned to what was expected, my pack gradually lightened and things became easier. …

albany_windfarm_bibbulman_track

… Amazingly, I completed the whole distance without even a blister. Apart from some general soreness when I first started, I didn’t have any problems at all. There wasn’t a single day when I didn’t wake up and feel excited by what I was doing. Even on the most physically demanding days I embraced the challenge and never felt any doubt about reaching Albany in good health. The weather was generally very good and my Goretex jacket was often nothing more than my pillow at night. I only had rain on four days in the entire seven weeks. …

dave_at_the_end_bibbulman_track

To learn more about this amazing tramp, here are the most important links:

» The Bibbulmun Track – a long distance hike – Trip Report – Part One

» Bibbulman Track – Southern Section – Trip Report – Part Two

» official website – Bibbulmun Track

April 13, 2009April 9, 2009

best SAFE hikes in Australia?

More often than not on our list of best hikes in the world we promote “challenging” adventures.

The very dangerous West Coast Trail is our #1 pick. One in every hundred hikers has to be evacuated!

What if you don’t want to be evacuated?

From Our Hiking Blog:

We have come up with a short list that meets the following criteria:

– No death defying stunts required to complete the trip
– Relatively mountain / drop off free
– Challenging enough to make you feel a sense of accomplishment
– Multi day with at least 3 nights camping required
– Generally isolated and away from too much infrastructure

Before we give you the list, recall that Australia is chock full of dangerous animals. My friend from Canberra found a poisonous snake in the back seat of his car while putting his infant daughter into the car seat. I’d rather risk a Grizzly than meet a Brown Snake on the Trail.

The walks, in no particular order, are:

Great South West Walk – Victoria

Wilsons Promontory Circuit Walk

Overland Track – Tasmania

Australian Alps Walking Track

Thorsborne Trail – Hinchinbrook Island – Queensland

Bibbulmun Track – Western Australia

Great Ocean Walk – Victoria

Read the entire entertaining post – Hiking with Bathmophobia – 7 hiking trips that won’t scare you to death (too much) !

wallaby
photo – besthike editor Rick McCharles – Overland Track, Tasmania – 2007 trip report

March 25, 2009

15-day Tahoe Rim Trail $1750

Book fast if you want one of the 30 spots. Late July 2009.

It’s a fund-raiser for the trail association.

Hiking a long-distance trail from end to end in one push, or thru-hiking, is a badge of honor for those who have accomplished such a feat. It takes a lot of planning to coordinate food, water, campsites, and the like. Plus, you have to be extremely fit to carry your lodging and all of your food on your back for days on end.

But there’s a great way to get a similar experience without sacrificing all of your weekends to planning from now through May. The Tahoe Rim Trail Association, steward to the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail in Nevada and California, is offering people the chance to participate in a 15-day guided thru-hike with support in the way of food and other supplies. You’ll still need to be in good shape and carry a backpack with personal gear and one- or two-days’ worth of food and water. But that’s pretty cushy, by most thru-hikers’ standards. …

details via – Where Next? – Thru-Hike the Tahoe Rim Trail

tahoe-rim1

larger version – flickr – asmythie

March 23, 2009March 23, 2009

Norwegian Trekking Association

Just researching hiking in Norway …

The Norwegian Trekking Association has a nice website: English, German and Norwegian.

dnt

Today, DNT is Norway’s largest outdoor life organization, with more than 210,000 members (2006) in 55 some local member organisations across the country, from Kristiansand in the south to the North Cape in the north. …

The local member associations operate cabins, mark routes and ski tracks and arrange trips and courses. Together they maintain a network of about 20,000 km of marked foot trails and about 7000 km of branch-marked ski tracks. DNT activities are based on extensive volunteer work. Each year, volunteers together work more than 175,000 hours. …

Here’s their information on arguably the most popular walk in the country, the Besseggen traverse:

More than 30 thousand hikers traverse Besseggen each year, making it Norway’s most trekked route. With good reason. The splendid view of the wild Jotunheimen and steep trails imbue a feeling of having mastered the mountain. The hike isn’t particularly difficult or exposed, but it’s airy, with lake Gjende 400 metres below on the south side and Bessvatn a few metres below on the north side. When you’ve also gone up the gigantic Bukkelægret scree slope, you’ve had a real hike. …

click photo for more padraic woods photos on flickr

If researching hiking in Norway, the Norwegian Trekking Association is a good place to start.

It will lead you to links like the official Welcome to Besseggen home page.

February 11, 2009

Incredible Crater Lakes

Another amazing photo article from Environmental Graffiti – 12 Most Incredible Crater Lakes On Earth

… While popular belief is that crater lakes are formed after water fills up meteorite impact craters, very few such lakes actually exist. Most of them are formed in volcanic craters – but all offer spectacular sights for sore eyes!

Fascinating, spectacular, stunning and at times deadly, this is a trip into the extraordinary world of crater lakes. …

see the rest – 12 Most Incredible Crater Lakes On Earth

related post – hiking Earth Impact craters

February 2, 2009February 1, 2009

Torres del Paine Circuit trek, Chile

Hank Leukart posted a magazine quality essay on one of our top treks in the World, the Paine Circuit.

Adopted by Kiwis in Chilean Patagonia. How to hike the Torres del Paine Circuit on someone else’s family vacation

… The only thing standing between us and views of 270-square-kilometer Glaciar Grey was Paso John Garner, a steep and rocky pass through the Patagonian Andes Mountains. My brother Brian and I looked up nervously at the severe mountain crags and glacial ice surrounding us, and though we hadn’t been able to substantiate the rumors of a lost hiker’s death during a blizzard in the pass three days before, the gossip made us uneasy. We knew that some hikers had turned back, failing to conquer the pass due to dangerous weather. …

glaciar-grey

read the 3-part series article on Without Baggage

Especially if you want to find out why Hank decided to climb on to an iceberg.

hank

related posts – more Without Baggage trip reports

January 30, 2009January 28, 2009

walk Pembrokeshire Coast Trail cliffs

Geoff emailed a response to our UK – South West Coast Path post.:

… if you’re going to add the Cornish Coast to your list, you really should consider the UK’s other great long distance coastal path, the Pembrokeshire Coast Trail in south Wales – the scenery is relatively similar, but being mostly within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is less developed, less touristy, a bit more rugged (and a bit wetter) – and overall I reckon a bit better. It’s also one of the best places in the country to see seabirds, too. I’ve only done sections, but the bits I have seen are stunning.

It does look great.

pembrokeshire-coast
larger original – Wikipedia

The Pembrokeshire Coast Path is a National Trail in southwest Wales. It was established in 1970, and is 186 miles (300km) long, mostly at cliff-top level, with 35,000 feet (11,000 m) of ascent and descent. …

Wikipedia

pembrokeshire