Category: guided hikes

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hike the Haute Route, Switzerland

The Chamonix-Zermatt Haute Route is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.

Greg Witt of Alpenwild:

Like you, I love the Haute Route. I have a popular video series on the Haute Route and my company, Alpenwild, is the leading US tour operator doing hiking and walking tours in the Swiss Alps. It’s our specialty. That’s really all we do.

Last year we did the Haute Route 7 times with guided groups and had self-guided clients on the trail every day between June 28 and September 20. Our 2012 season is already well ahead of last year. In addition to our guided and self-guided tours, with Chamonix or Verbier starts, we are also offering a Deluxe Haute Route for 2012—a kinder, gentler itinerary for those who want the scenery but less elevation gain and without the huts. …

Check their guided tours for 2012.

Alpenwild plans to publish Best Hikes in the Swiss Alps: An Alpenwild Guide to Hiking in Switzerland as an e-book by year end. That will be a terrific resource.

If you lack language skills (French, German, Italian) the self-guided option is worth considering. All of the fun of independent hiking, but none of the hassle of finding a place to sleep each night.

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hiking Cordillera Apolobamba, Bolivia

Two places I really want to hike:

1) Bhutan
2) Bolivia

I keep waiting for Bhutan to open to independent trekkers. … sigh …

Bolivia I’ve actually hiked once, but did not have nearly as much time as I wanted.

Bolivia is Peru, but still little visited by trekkers.

… South America’s highest nation is known as the “Tibet of the Andes” for its altiplano, a plateau where valley bottoms sit at 13,000 feet. Above that, mountains are so big and buried in snow and glaciers that you really could mistake them for the Himalayas. And the best place to see it all is western Bolivia’s pristine and barely known Cordillera Apolobamba. Hard against the Peruvian border, the region is home to Andean condors, herds of vicuñas (related to alpacas), endangered speckled bears, and the 65-mile Apolobamba trek, which runs from Curva north across Apolobamba National Park to Pelechuco. The weeklong high route crosses five passes between 15,400 and 16,728 feet. …

Backpacker – CORDILLERA APOLOBAMBA, BOLIVIA

Safety is a real issue in that range. I’d likely sign on with local guides, like trek apolobamba

They are advertising a new adventure, by the way, … the Kallawaya Circuit.

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Manaslu Circuit the new Annapurna?

Check out a new website edited by Richard Bull – ManasluCircuittrek.com

It’s about 170km hiked over 2-3 weeks.

… the Manaslu Circuit Trek takes you from just 700m altitudes at Arughat (or Gorkha Bazar) up to 5160m on the pass – a tremendous range of altitudes, temperatures and micro-climates. …

Manaslu circuit is now a tea-house trek. Camping is not required unless you go off the beaten track. Here is a rough outline of the route with some information about where the tea-houses and lodges are. …

Robin Boustead (Great Himalayan Trail pioneer) says:

“Many would argue that the Manaslu Circuit trail is the best general trek in the country, with colourful cultures and dramatic valleys against a backdrop of classic Himalayan peaks.”

manaslucircuittrek.com

Richard has mixed feelings about promoting this excellent alternative to Annapurna and Everest Base Camp. But I feel progress is inevitable. Best it be managed for the maximum benefit of the local peoples.

Andy Bryant posted a terrific trip report.

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Santa Cruz Trek, Peru

The most popular multi-day adventure in the White Mountain range of the Andes.

Cordillera Blanca guides this itinerary:

Day 1: Huaraz – Cashapampa – Llamacorral (3700m)
Day 2: Llamacorral – Jatuncocha – Taullipampa (4250m)
Day 3: Taullipampa – Punta Unión pass (4750m) – Paria (3850m)
Day 4: Paria – Vaqueria – Llanganuco – Huaraz

details – cordillerablanca.pe
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Huaraz is our #2 hiking town in the world. An outdoor adventure mecca.

We did Santa Cruz independently in 2005. (PHOTOS)

Altitude sickness is the main risk. You need many days to acclimatize before hiking over 4000m.

Check our besthike Santa Cruz information page.

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Huayhuash Circuit – Peru

by site editor Rick McCharles

Personally, my guided Huayhuash Circuit trek of 2004 (PHOTOS) was the ‘best’ hike of my life.

Huayhuash is fantastic.

Peruvian Soul guides that trip today:

… The demanding and strenuous trek that has place in this 30km long mountain range is one of the most rewarding in the world. With its breathtaking views of awe-inspiring snow mountain peaks, glaciers, lakes and wildlife, Huayhuash has become a must for all trekkers around the globe.

While trekking Huayhuash you will be able to appreciate all the majesty of Yerupaja (Peru´s second highest peak with 6634masl) and Siula Grande (6636masl) which was the famous scenery of Joe Simpson’s epic book, based on his and Simon Yate’s true story of survival, “Touching the Void”. …

more photos

• 6-16 days with this option recommended:

Difficulty: Challenging
Duration: 9D/8N
Length of the trail: Approx. 124km/77 miles
Trekking distance per day (approx): 15km

Check the extremely enticing website for a detailed breakdown of that adventure – Huayhuash Mountain Range – A trek of a lifetime!

You’d need contact them to find out prices.

related – our besthike Huayhuash Circuit information page

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42 day trek Dolpo, Mustang, Nepal $5550

If I had the cash, I’d definitely sign on for this guided adventure led by Jamie McGuinness.

Highlights

+ Upper Mustang
+ stunning, otherworldly scenery
+ remote, little trekked route
+ magical Dolpo
+ a landscape photographer’s paradise
+ REAL exploration!

Sept 25 – Nov 5, 2011

Watch Jamie’s HIGHLIGHT photos from the 2010 edition of this trek.

details on project-himalaya.com

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hike Wells Gray Park, B.C.

Wells Gray Park has a summer adventure for everyone! The best hiking trip in BC- Hut to hut through alpine flower meadows, lakes and old growth forests. Canoe the pristine waters of Clearwater and Azure Lakes and relax on the beaches.

Hike the incredible Wells Gray Park wilderness in an environmentally sensitive way with only a small pack and stay in the comfort of a wilderness cabin. This trip is one of the best hikes in British Columbia. The all inclusive fully guided and catered outdoor adventures start at only $130/day. …

details on skihike.com

For more information call 1888 754 8735 or email info@skihike.com

Thanks Ian Eakins for the link. Sadly I’ve never hiked that Park myself.

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Dientes Circuit, Patagonia

The Patagonia You’ve Never Heard Of

Backpacking southern Chile’s obscure and wild Dientes Circuit

By Michael Lanza

As our 20-seat, twin-engine Otter DHC-6 prop plane drops through the ever-present Patagonian cloud cover, the Beagle Channel comes into view. On both sides, green hills rise to craggy, treeless mountains. To the north, the jagged Fuegian Andes of Argentina push into the sky. To the south looms our destination: the sharply pointed spires of the Dientes de Navarino. With a steep banking turn, the plane glides down onto the airstrip in the southernmost town in the world, Puerto Williams on Chile’s Navarino Island. …

read the trip report on The Big Outside

22.7-mile (36.5k) circuit

If you are not confident to go on your own, you can do this one guided, 6 days, 5 nights ($1300+) , by aonikenk.

I keep posting Dientes, the most southerly established trek in the world, because I’m still frustrated at having missed it myself on my one trip to the tip of South America.

I’m seriously considering going back in 2012.

Check out Dientes information page.

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top 10 Himalayan Treks

Mick from Wilderness Trekking questions our choice of the Annapurna Circuit as one of the top 10 hikes in the world:

… road building and the inevitable changes with so much trekking traffic have taken their toll …

He suggests a number of terrific alternatives:

Sacred Tsum Valley – Nepal
Classic Manaslu Circuit – Nepal
Everest Base Camp – Nepal
Dolpo Traverse – Nepal
Mythical Nar & Phu – Nepal

Mount Kailas Kora – Tibet

Remote Zanskar Traverse – India
Markha Valley – India

Wild Lunana – Bhutan
Phubjikha Festivals – Bhutan

Wilderness Trekking

Mick’s company guides those great adventures. For example:

… Our Phubjhika Festivals trek combines exploration of many of Bhutan’s historic places of interest, including Taksang, or the Tigers Nest Monastery and coincides with perfectly preserved, ancient Buddhist Festivals.

Making use of a chain of comfortable Bhutanese style hotels, we travel with experienced, English speaking local guides who will be able to interpret our experiences and offer personal insights into this fascinating culture. No trip to Bhutan would be complete without a walk through the Himalayan mountains and our gentle three day trek in the Phubjhika Valley, home of the endangered ‘Black Necked Cranes’ will give us just enough time to relax into the Himalayan rhythm before visiting the annual Nyzer Dromchoe Festival. …

details

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7 day Grand Canyon hike

Scott Cundy from The Wildand Trekking Company recommends this guided adventure for experienced hikers:

The Kanab Creek Backpacking Tour is a 7-day, 6-night North Rim hike that takes us nearly 25 miles into the Grand Canyon before we turn around and hike out.

It features spring-fed creeks, ancient pictographs, slot canyon hiking, fantastic camps, and a chance to see the Colorado River at one of its most remote points.

The trip begins with a day of hiking through the Kanab Creek Wilderness and an amazing camp with pictographs and fantastic spring water. The next day we traverse Jump Up Canyon, a 4-mile slot canyon that narrows to just 15 feet wide while towering hundreds of feet above us, and enter the Kanab Creek drainage.

The next two days we’ll continue down the Kanab Creek Drainage toward the Colorado River, passing Showerbath Spring, Whisper Falls, and other amazing desert water features along the way. After a hike to the Colorado River on day 4, we turn around and begin hiking out, soaking up the views of the famous Red Wall and the North Rim the whole way!

A final night at our first night’s camp is an opportunity to reminisce about the trip and plan our next adventure in to the world’s most famous canyon.

Details – Kanab Creek Adventure ($1495)