Category: fauna

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walk up, ride down – Mt Washington, B.C.

I had a great half day on Vancouver Island. (Not at the much more famous Mt Washington in New Hampshire.)

Mt Washington is the home of the excellent Mount Washington Alpine Resort. It’s 25km from the Comox Valley, close to good hostels in Courtenay.

In summer the chair lift carries hikers and bikers. The view from the top is awesome.

The real highlight are the cheeky ‘Whiskey Jacks’ (Gray Jays) who happily alight on your hand, hoping for crumbs. (Don’t feed them.)

If you climb the mountain (45min) you can ride down for free. Otherwise, a trip is a reasonable $15.

Highly recommended.

more photos – flickr

Nearby is Paradise Meadows Trailhead, the best jumping off point for hiking the Forbidden Plateau. This is also the most popular trailhead of all in massive Strathcona Provincial Park.

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bear attacks trail runner

An incident in the Canadian Rockies opens once again the debate on whether to “play dead” when being attacked by a bear.

A trail runner attacked and bitten up to eight times by a black bear near Lake Louise serves as a chilling reminder of the dangers the public face at this time of year when sharing space with wildlife in the mountain parks. …

D’hamers, a Belgian who has been living and working in the Lake Louise area for more than a year, was no stranger to the 10-kilometre Great Divide Trail, regularly running on the decommissioned stretch of road.

She was running alone on the closed stretch of Highway 1A between Lake Louise Drive and the Trans-Canada Highway when she came face-to-face with the animal around 6 p.m.

The 23-year-old initially began backing up, but when the bear followed her for about 100 metres, she decided instead to lay face down on the ground, according to Morrison.

The attack is unusual, he said, with the last bear mauling in the Lake Louise area taking place in 1995.

The plan to play dead backfired as the bear continued to approach her, sniffing and licking the back of her legs and eventually biting her multiple times on her upper legs and back.

“The young lady showed considerable wherewithal in that she realized her strategy wasn’t working early in the game,” Morrison said. “Playing dead is not recommended in most situations.”

D’hamers jumped back to her feet, yelling aggressively at the bear and continuing to back away. After nearly 30 minutes of D’hamers reversing, yelling and waving her arms, the bear finally retreated. D’hamers continued the final few kilometres back to the main road, where she flagged down a Parks Canada warden. …

Calgary Herald

(via A Trail Runner’s Blog)

bear.jpg
larger original – flickr – jvh33

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inspired by mountain goats

Olivia was inspired to post after seeing a great photo of mountain goats:

While hiking the San Juan mountains in Colorado, we spotted a small herd of mountain goats. …

We arrived at our campsite, wriggled our happy bare toes and snacked on cliff bars. Then the goats came. They didn’t hunch in the bushes inspecting us, they just came right over and surrounded us. We were excited that we got to see them so close up. Until they wouldn’t go away. We figured out what they wanted when Jack peed next to a bush. The goats wanted our urine! The crazy critters! They followed us around waiting for us to relieve ourselves, sometimes quite impatiently. Then they licked it up. Must’ve been the salt in it. Shrug.

I can’t tell you how disconcerting it is to pee while surrounded by three goats huffing and stomping impatiently.

read the entire post on Backpack Reviews

In Canada we are often followed by Mule Deer for the same reason. Once salt starved, they get very demanding of human urine.

goat.jpg
Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana – original – flickr – SqueakyMarmot

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Glacier National Park, Montana – original – flickr – jessicafm

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hike Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

Brian recommends an adventure I’ve never heard about.

Even getting there is a bit daunting:

Isle Royale is different than most national parks in that it requires real planning and preparation to visit. The park, actually an archipelago of 200 islands, is quite remote. Just getting to one of its three ports of departure — Houghton, Michigan, Copper Harbor, Michigan, or Grand Harbor, Minnesota — requires some planning. Once visitors arrive in their chosen port town, they take a passenger ferry or a seaplane (from Houghton only) to the narrow, 45-mile-long island. …

GORP

The Greenstone Ridge is the longest and most popular of Isle Royale’s “long” trails. The trail runs along the spine of the island, spanning some 40 miles from the northeast at Lookout Louise to the southwest at Windigo. “The Greenstone,” as it is called by hikers, winds through forests of maple and birch, past swamps and bogs, and up 1,394-foot Mount Desor, the highest point on the island. …

GORP – Onto the Greenstone Ridge

atop-mt-desor-on-isle-royal-np-overlooking-lake-superior.jpg
atop Desor – photo from Johnny Molloy’s trip report

Moose are one of Isle Royale’s main attractions. The “infamous blackflies and mosquitoes” the main reason to stay home.

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Chile hates Canadian beaver

pw_map.gifReading trip reports from the famous Dientes Circuit in Chilean Patagonia, you hear horror stories of environmental devastation.

Here’s how it happened.

… In a classic example of ecological shortsightedness, the problem began when fifty North American beavers (Castor canadensis) were introduced by the Argentine government during the 1940s in the hopes of establishing a fur industry. Since then however, without natural predators to trim their numbers, the beaver population has now exploded to 100,000 – invading almost 16 million hectares of unique, native forest.

– it looks like bulldozers steamed through,” says ecologist Josh Donlan, director of Advanced Conservation Strategies, a non-profit based in Driggs, Idaho. …

beaver-damage.jpg

original photo – flickr

Treehugger – Plans to “Totally Eradicate” Tierra del Fuego’s Invasive Beavers

The “final solution”.

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hiking the Marin Headlands in California

A few pics from my hike today with Tom Mangan of Two-Heel Drive.

We headed across the Golden Gate Bridge en route to Point Bonita Lighthouse, touted in my guidebook the “most sensational easy hike in the Bay area”.

Tom concurred.

lighthouse

It’s only open a few hours each day, access blocked by a locked tunnel. Once through the rock, you need cross a suspension bridge deemed so untrustworthy that only two hikers (or three) should cross together at one time. If it collapses, this is what you face below.

sea arch

We wandered several more miles, enjoying the atypically sunny Spring Sunday.

California Poppy
California Poppy

quail
California Quail

See the rest of my photos from this hike on flickr.

Tom’s excellent trip report and photos.

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my Alakai Swamp trail run in Hawaii

I like the route Lonely Planet Hiking Hawaii recommends for Alakai Swamp:

Kalalau Lookout trailhead > Phea Lookout > Kilohana Lookout. And back.

That’s maximum bang / mile, I think.

It’s a brilliant hike, too, by the way. Don’t be deterred by the name “Swamp”.

swamp-boardwalk-a.jpg

OK, it’s a swamp. But it’s so weird and unexpected after the sunny, hot coastal beaches, that I was instantly won over. Many hikers are. For some it’s their favourite hike on Kauai.

The highlight is not the swamp. Not pounding miles of boardwalk in my running shoes.

Some come specifically to see indigenous Hawaiian flora and fauna.

But for most, the highlight is the drop dead gorgeous 4000ft vista looking over Na Pali (The Cliffs). One of he great lookouts in the world.

alakai-vista.jpg

see all my photos from this hike on flickr

learn more – Alaka’i Swamp Trail – Trailspotting

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best hike south coast Kauai, Hawaii

The Maha’ulepu Coast.

haula_beach.jpgAs the last accessible undeveloped coastline on the south shore of Kauai, Maha`ulepu is a quiet retreat, a place to get away from the crowds at popular resort beaches. …

The area is also a remote retreat for resident and visitor alike to be awed and inspired by its beauty and rich past. The scenic splendor of Maha`ulepu, natural and undeveloped, includes majestic Ha`upu Mountain over-looking the fertile valley, the dramatic coastal headlands, the intimate bays and long sandy beaches. …

Best Places Hawaii

We spent 2 days exploring, hiking and trail running the Maha’ulepu Coast with and without kids. Fantastic!

We started here, only steps away from a luxury resort:

hike1.jpg

The coastline is endlessly fascinating, but slightly dangerous. You would not want to fall on the jagged lava.

hike2.jpg

The biggest highlight was seeing two rare monk seals close up. They love to lounge and sleep on the beach — just like obese tourists.

monk-seal.jpg

The hike ends here:

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Unless you ignore these signs, as local fishermen do.

Browse about 70 photos on flickr to see more of the Maha’ulepu Coast.