fauna – Page 21 – besthike.com

November 1, 2013November 4, 2013

Kuari Pass trek – day 4

by site editor Rick McCharles

day 0 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6

Another beautiful morning.

Kuari day 4

Another fantastic breakfast.

breakfast Kuari day 4

Omelette. Toast. Muesli. Corn flakes. And much more.

Alf and I are both coffee addicts. We’d have 2-3 mugs to start each day.

We shared this camp with hundreds of these smelly, entertaining characters.

sheep - Kuari day 4

Climbing over the first ridge we saw our titular destination, Kuari Pass.

Kuari Pass

On both sides of Kuari we saw no people. The herds were already gone south for the season.

Kuari day 4-2

Seasonal herders huts were empty.

waterfall - Kuari day 4

This was the biggest waterfall en route.

waterfall - Kuari day 4-2

It dropped hundreds of metres in stages.

I doubt this bridge will EVER be taken out by flood.

Kuari day 4-3

I once had a backpack damaged on a pack animal. Straps rubbed a hole in it.

pack mule - Kuari day 4

pack mule - Kuari day 4-2

Happily, our mule drivers were very careful. Sleeping mats were wrapped around our gear.

There are butterflies everywhere in the Himalaya.

butterfly - Kuari day 4

Alf and I thought we might DASH up to the pass for sunset.

Kuari Pass camp - day 4

Distances are deceptive. That climb takes 90min!

Instead we used the afternoon for reading and writing. There’s plenty of time for both on a guided trek. I carried two iPods. And began Games of Thrones.

Kuari Pass camp - day 4-3

Alpenglow was amazing this evening.

Alpenglow - Kuari Pass camp - day 4

Alpenglow - Kuari Pass camp - day 4-2

That afternoon I’d tried to get close to an insanely colourful Himalayan Monal.

And we were spied upon by a sentinel on the ridge.

Our cook was sure it was a bharal (Himalayan blue sheep). Our guide wasn’t so sure. Compare with another photo of bharal from nearby Nanda Devi National Park.

Alpine Ibex? Serow? Goral?

Leave a comment if you can identify by that profile.

It was Blue Sheep being pursued by George Schaller and Peter Matthiessen in Nepal 1973. Their adventures documented in one of my favourite books, The Snow Leopard.

BEST of all, just before dark Alf spotted “Baloo“. A Momma Asian black bear and 3 cubs.

bears - Kuari day 4

That photo was taken at 18 times zoom. The zoom was sufficient, but light was fading fast.

Those are the first bears Alf has seen in the wild. And the first our Guide had seen on this particular trek. A rare sighting.

See all high resolution photos from this day.

day 0 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6

October 28, 2013June 15, 2022

Kuari Pass trek – day 0

by site editor Rick McCharles

day 0 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6

The trek over the Kuari (“doorway“) Pass in the Indian Himalaya was the route followed by Shipton and Tilman and other early mountaineers en route to the peaks on the Indo-Tibetan border.

It is also called the Curzon Trail as the famous former Viceroy of India traveled this route in 1905. (Some say Curzon abandoned that adventure after being attacked by wild bees.)

Frank Smythe:

“We breasted the slope and halted, silent on the path. No words would express our delight. The Himalayas were arrayed before us in a stupendous arc“. (1931)

The tag line for Kuari is “best mountain vista in the Himalayas“.

Click over to kuaripass.co.uk to see the entire panorama, the best I’ve seen online. 7000m peaks are lined up like soldiers for your inspection.

Kuari, as well, is one of the best two treks for those, like me, who want to see famed, mysterious Nandi Devi. Not quite visible from the Pass.

This is Arnaldur Indridason from Norway.

Kuari day 5

Call him Alf.

Alf and I both signed on separately for the Kuari Trek with Red Chilli Adventure out of Rishikesh. (trip details PDF)

Red Chilli’s Vipin Sharma returned our emails. Gave us clear answers and specific prices. That’s a very professional company.

Cost $600 each for 2 hikers. (Price drops up to a maximum of 10 hikers.)

• 82km over 6 days of hiking
• 8 days all inclusive (Oct 18-25, 2013)
• 34,000 rupees + 3.1% because I paid with credit card
• tips to 2 drivers, 2 mule drivers, cook and guide

Animal trackers, gun bearers and skinners are extra. 😦

Note: Lonely Planet recommends this hike in the opposite direction. LP got that WRONG. There’s not one single reason to start in Joshimath. Especially if you are not acclimatized to altitude.

We wisely started at Ghat 1330m, slowly and steadily working our way up to over 3500m.

Alf and I did not meet until the morning of departure. Always a gamble, it turned out that Alf and I had many common interests. We were both travellers. Both hikers. We’d both done Milford Track in New Zealand and Huayhuash in Peru, for example.

Red Chili provided an excellent vehicle and a safe driver for the 8hr trip up into the Himalayan foothills.

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I stayed awake for almost all of that. There are many interesting sites en route.

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Well past monsoon, the roads were in good repair. We had no delay longer than a few minutes.

P1230612

It’s rare to find a valley in the Indian Himalayas without people. During the trip we bought last minute provisions at roadside villages.

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It began to rain as we arrived at our trailhead campsite.

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First order of business in all things India is … Chai.

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This fellow needed to climb to turn on the Village electricity for the evening.

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Road repair and animal grazing. Those seem to be the two main industries in roadside Himalayan villages.

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The youngest babies rode along on mules.

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So far, so good … 🙂

See all high resolution photos from this day.

day 0 | day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6

September 12, 2013September 5, 2013

Beaver and Bison

A few clips we collected near Waterton Lakes National Park.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

September 9, 2013September 4, 2013

BBC Natural World – Himalaya

Kraig Becker:

…The video below is a full episode of that series which happens to be focused on one of my favorite places – the Himalaya. If you have 49 minutes to spare, you’ll get a great look at those mountains and the people that live there, with some of the most breathtaking scenery you’ll find anywhere. So sit back, turn up the volume and enjoy the show. It is one of the greatest on Earth.

Adventure Blog

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I’m doing some research for a planned trip to the BIG mountains.

September 5, 2013September 4, 2013

Polar bear attacks hiker

… pulled from his tent and attacked by a polar bear in Torngat Mountains National Park in northern Labrador.

Matt Dyer, a lawyer from Maine, was badly injured during the attack at around 1:30 a.m. AT on July 24. …

The bear ripped through the electric fence the group had set up around their campsite that night.

When the campers realized what was happening, they acted quickly and fired flares to try to scare the bear away. …

Parks Canada strongly advises visitors to hire an armed bear guard during their stay, but it is not mandatory.

The Inuit bear guards are hired through the Nunatsiavut base camp set up within the park.

However, Castaneda-Mendez said his group was never offered the armed bear guard, and said that the outfitter they hired insisted it was not necessary. He said his group was under the impression the portable electric fence was an adequate deterrent. …

CBC

September 2, 2013September 1, 2013

Red Rock Canyon, Waterton

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Three teens from Calgary SOMEHOW had never been to Waterton Lakes National Park, even though it’s only 3hrs drive from their homes.

Almost immediately we came upon 4 bears grazing the hillside.

Like adjacent Glacier National Park, Waterton is a great place to see wildlife.

Due to bear problems in the National Park campgrounds, tenting was not allowed at Crandell Mountain Campground in 2013. We decided to stay outside the Park at Crooked Creek.

We shared the Creek with a family of Beavers.

Red Rock Canyon is a classic day hike, an easy loop.

More adventurous is to follow the Canyon up the mountain for as long as possible.

The guys ended up scrambling over and under logs, getting wet and generally having a blast.

All and all, a pretty good introduction to the joys of Waterton National Park.

more Red Rock Canyon photos

more Waterton photos

August 23, 2013August 23, 2013

Grizzly Bear eats Black Bear

Banff’s Sundance Canyon trail has reopened after a grizzly bear ate a black bear in the popular hiking area west of Calgary earlier this month.

“Bear 122 is the largest, most dominant grizzly bear on the landscape,” the park official said. “Last fall, I would estimate his weight at 650 to 700 pounds, which is enormous for the Rocky Mountains — about as big as grizzly bears get around here.”

Michel said the black bear was likely a fifth the size of the grizzly. …

read more – Grizzly bear eats black bear in Banff

Thanks Peter.

I’m hoping to get out to the Rockies over the next week.

August 16, 2013August 13, 2013

North Coast Trail 2013

scenes from the trail has a detailed trip report on the new North Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. These ladies found it easier than I did. 🙂

Distance: 59.5 km (including about 16 km which is part of the Cape Scott track).

Recommended number of days: for average parties 5.5-7, for fast and very fit parties 3.5-5.

Location: Near Port Hardy, BC. Part of Cape Scott Provincial Park.

Logistics: A water taxi is necessary to get to the starting point at Shushartie Bay. The North Coast Trail Shuttle offers a water taxi from Port Hardy and a pick up at the Cape Scott trailhead (about 60 km from Port Hardy).

Bookings: At this stage, it isn’t necessary to book the track. You should book your shuttle/boat in advance. You must also pay a back country fee to BC Parks of $10 per person, per night.

Further Considerations: Make sure you consult a tide chart before leaving, and have one with you. There is only one short section that is truly impassable at high tide, but many of the beach sections are much easier at low tide. Also consider that this is an area in which there is a lot of wildlife, particularly wolves and bears. …

read more – scenes from the trail – The North Coast Trail

related – Club Tread – North Coast Trail

July 13, 2013July 9, 2013

Klahhane Ridge, Olympics WA

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

If you are talking to experienced Olympics hikers, you’ll very soon be talking about this rugged, interesting — very accessible — route.

The ridge is reached by a variety of hiking trails off of high Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park and offers spectacular views of the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In good weather.

Klahhane is a Chinook word meaning “outdoors.” It’s often misspelled. 🙂

I started from the Visitor’s Center up the Sunrise Trail. And followed the signs for Lake Angeles.

Soon I side tripped a mad scramble up Mt Angeles. Good fun.

The pretty trail winds steeply up and up.

The roadway up to Hurricane falls away below.

The higher you climb, the more rugged it gets.

At points you must guess where the trail lies, under the snow. I took the chance to do some glissading.

Klahhane is pretty. No doubt about it.

I was sorry to see the climb end.

Finally. A glimpse of Lake Angeles far below.

During the slippery, steep descent I fell once. Landing (correctly) on my backpack. No injury.

I’m no real fan of mountain lakes, mainly because of mosquitoes. The flying mini-vampires of Lake Angeles were the first that had pestered me in 5 days.

But I’m happy to have tented there. For some reason the campground was overrun by mountain goats. Altogether we saw 8. Mothers with new born young.

I speculated that some predator might have driven them towards humans for protection … Bears and cougars don’t want to be anywhere near people if they can help it.

Just above was where the only hiker ever died from mountain goat attack. A slight cause for worry.

Next morning I strolled out of the mountains on a quiet old growth trail.

Jeni rescued me. After 5 days, 4 nights … I finally departed Olympic National Park.

more photos

related – The Crossroad – Backpacking in Olympic National Park: Klahhane Ridge (2013)

July 11, 2013July 9, 2013

hiking Hurricane, Olympics WA

At an elevation of 5,242 feet (1,598 m), Hurricane Ridge is a year-round destination. In summer, visitors come for views of the Olympic Mountains, as well as for superb hiking. …

Spectacular views of the Olympic National Park can be seen from the Hurricane Ridge viewpoint. The road leading west from the Hurricane Ridge visitor center is dotted with picnic areas and trail heads.

A paved trail called the Hurricane hill trail is popular with visitors, and is about 1.6 miles long (one-way) with an elevation gain of about 700 ft. It is not uncommon to find snow on the trails even as late as July. …

Hurricane Ridge is named for its intense gales and winds. The weather in the Olympic Mountains is unpredictable …

Don’t drive up the mountain before checking weather conditions.

Hurricane Hill is great.