Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Death Valley: The name is forbidding and gloomy. Yet here in the valley, much of it below sea level, you can find colorful badlands, snow-covered peaks, beautiful sand dunes, rugged canyons, and the hottest driest spot in North America.
Just a few of James’ wonderful pics:
Death Valley California photo set – flickr – James Gordon
Keep cool on the Trail.
Kevin Pringles of Chill Factor Clothing emailed:
We have developed a cooling hat that keeps people cooler and safer in the heat, so it is perfect for hikers. The hats have a crystal material inside that absorb water and turn into a cooling gel. When soaked in ice water, the hats get very cold and they can protect people from heat related injuries. For more information, check out the following link:
more hat styles – photo Gallery
Backpacker magazine recommends a 55mi stretch of the infamous 800+mi Hayduke Trail in the American S.W.
The otherworldly terrain in southern Utah’s labyrinthine canyon country–slots, hoodoos, mesas, bizarre sandstone formations–is as confusing as it is captivating. Get off-track or miss one of the infrequent water sources, and you have real problems. This 55-mile, roughly eight-day stretch of the Hayduke Trail serves up both extremes. You’ll travel mostly off-trail, with steep, loose scrambles, deep sand slogs, and a paucity of distinctive terrain features. Long stretches are waterless–including the first 25 miles. In return, you get bragging rights for a spectacularly remote and rarely traveled journey.
Tech assist Use ExpertGPS (expertgps.com) to plot routes using topo and aerial photographs, then send data to your GPS. Plan best-case routes and alternates, since the complex terrain may present obstacles you can’t identify on screen. Example: See
backpacker.com/haydukefor our custom file with multiple off-trail routes.Start in Canyonlands’s Needles District, where multicolored sandstone towers stand like 200-foot candles above the desert. You’ll pass under Seldom Seen Bridge and trek by the cliff dwellings and rock art of Fable Valley. Mark water caches (drop one pretrip to avoid carrying three days’ supply at the start) and critical water sources (at miles 24.7, 34.1, and 42).
Tip: Waypoint your vehicle at trip’s end as well. …
read more – Backpacker
I’m currently reading The Monkey Wrench Gang (P.S.), the book that inspired this adventure.
I’m no Brian Frankle. This 55mi section for wimps sounds plenty tough enough for me.
(via The Adventure Blog)
A hiking buddy from Peru, Grant Assenheimer, is off to work for Medicines Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in Ethiopia.
His partner Chantelle is going to visit in December. There they will head for one of my most sought after future hiking destinations. Click through to see the pics.
Martin Wierzbicki
more Photos by Martin
UPDATE: Grant emailed from … Bangladesh. What’s with that? Someone tell him the hiking is better in Ethiopia.
UPDATE 2: Grant emailed again to confirm he was reassigned due to RAT INFESTATION. Yup. The last rat plague was in 1959. They are back.
Villagers must eat the rats as they have very little other food. Grant must hike many miles, actually, as 3 of his assigned villages are accessible only by foot.
Pierre Dehaene wrote to tell us of an EU supported local trekking company.
Sheikh Sina offers hikes and excursions in the Deserts and High Mountains of South Sinai. With 25 different routes to choose from, there is something for all levels, from adventure seekers to leisure vacationers. Customers may enjoy 10 day, 5 day and 3 day excursions in various regions.
Sheikh Sina, a Bedouin run trekking company, strives to offer the best hiking and trekking experience in the South Sinai Mountains. We remain sensitive to the local environment and its people by promoting responsible travel in protected areas that have been selected as World Heritage sights by UNESCO.
Start on their Treks page. It details options in the Galt Region and the Umm Shomar Region. Some are open year round.
I was there once in 1994 and — foolishly — went snorkeling and scuba diving instead of hiking. Friends set off to Saint Catherine’s Monastery. I went to the beach.
I love the desert.
Every time I get to Lost Wages, I spend at least one day at Red Rock. It’s only a few miles from the strip to 197,000 acres of beautiful desert wilderness.
While most outdoors folk go for the bouldering, you can quickly access great hiking, as well.
Branch Whitney posted his favourite hikes there:
Easy Hikes
Calico Tank Fern Canyon Las Vegas Overlook
Moderate Hikes
Juniper Peak Boot Boulder Terrace Canyon
Advanced Hikes
Bridge Mtn via Ice Box Canyon Mt. Wilson via Cleaver Crack Rainbow Peak without the Ledges
It’s Prime Time for Red Rock Canyon! – Hiking Las Vegas blog
That excellent website content is available to members only. But non-members can still read their blog in advance of a trip to Sin City.
I am hoping to get there in April, myself.
Elmar Buchner and Thomas Kenkmann say the key to their finding was tiny grains of “shocked quartz” — basically, quartz that has a different microscopic structure from normal quartz due to undergoing extreme pressure of some sort — that was created by the impact.
Having hiked the superb Syncline Loop last year (trip report), it seems obvious it was a meteor crater.
Yet final proof was quite an accomplishment, I understand.
Joshua Tree is NOT most famous for hiking. It’s set-up more so that casual day hikers won’t get lost and die of dehydration.
Nor is it most famous for Joshua trees.
JT is most famous for climbing. Photos I took close to Hidden Valley Campground:
larger version – flickr
larger version – flickr
Joshua Tree National Park is one of the most popular rock climbing areas in the world. More than 4,500 established routes offering a wide range of difficulty are concentrated within about 100,000 acres of park land.
Rock Climbing – National Park Service
Even for a manic hiker like myself, the most fun I had in the park was scrambling.
Almost everyone has heard of a small Park in California because of the hit album by Irish Rockers U2 called Joshua Tree.
Anton Corbijn photography December 1986 – via Brad Biringer
I’ve been wanting to get here for YEARS.
Best hiking destination in the Park, no doubt in my mind, is Lost Palms Oasis. That’s 7.5mi (12km) return from the trailhead to the Palms.
Count on at least another half hour wandering the Palm grove. And another half hour scrambling Mastadon Peak, a nice sidetrip. There’s the Cottonwood Spring campground as seen from the top of Mastadon:
The walk is scenic, varied desert environs, until suddenly a huge palm oasis appears far below trail level:
In early March, most everyone in the park was shooting Spring wildflowers. Including me.
more of my photos from this hike – flickr
In winter, Mt. San Jacinto looks very appealing from down in the desert.
original – flickr – bossco
I’ve always loved mountain gondolas.
Instead of slogging hours up the hill, in just a few minutes, you can get to altitude.
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is one of the premiere tourist attractions of Southern California. A great experience for all. Tickets about $20.
If you have any kind of fear of heights, do not read this paragraph:
In October 2003, a steel cable broke and caused a mechanical failure that left more than fifty tram customers hanging in mid-air … During the crisis, tram officials sought a rescue helicopter but could not locate one. The obstruction was finally removed by a tram operator with no training in maintenance, utilizing a borrowed Leatherman utility knife. …
My thinking was to make the first winter ascent of Mt. San Jacinto. By “first”, I mean “my first” as it’s highly likely people have been up there in the snow before me. And by “Mt. San Jacinto” I mean the lower peak on which I stand:
As you can see, the actually summit behind was not worthy of me. I ignored it, instead wandering around the sub-summit snapping photos of weird ice features sculpted by wind and sun:
My best fun that day was running and glissading down the steep sections:
On returning to the top of the tramway, I learned I had missed the San Jacinto summit completely. Zigged when I should have zagged.
Cannot imagine how I made this error. I tried to follow the signage:
more photos from this hike / scramble – flickr
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is recommended for all. Serious hikers (with 2 vehicles) should ascend by Tram, then overnight hike, exiting via Idyllwild.
besthike.com 