Category: health & safety

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West Coast Trail 2021 Trip Report PREVIEW

by BestHike editor Rick McCharles.

Click PLAY or watch a short preview on YouTube.

I’d planned to YOYO in celebration of our #1 hike in the world reopening after the pandemic:

June 10 starting SE from Bamfield.

June 15 starting NW from Port Renfrew.

As happens so often on the WCT, plans changed.

I broke my main camera on day 3 of a planned 12 day adventure. Then bruised my thigh badly 😩 on day 5 — landing hard on a root in a mud bog.

I felt forced to reschedule my second West Coast Trail to start July 3, 2021.

I’ll put together detailed info-tainment videos for the WCT once I’ve done it twice. 😇

RESERVATIONS

Reservations opened April 30, 2021. Open only to Canadians.

Due to computer system glitches, I wasn’t able to start day 1 ~ June 4, 2021.

The earliest I could reserve was June 10th out of Bamfield.

TRANSPORTATION

As the ferry Port Alberni to Bamfield was still closed to hikers, I booked by phone on the West Coast Trail Express.

CAD $125 Nanaimo to Bamfield one way. I was the only passenger.

Excellent service. I recommend them.

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These (hiking) Shoes Are Killing Me

Highest priority for hikers is foot care.

Know that your feet expand while hiking — especially in hot weather — so many of us buy walking shoes a size larger than what we wear in the city.

I loved Christopher Mcdougall’s book …

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

That said, I’ve never hiked barefoot or with minimal shoes. Raised in cold Canada, my feet are wimpy.

If you have time, go back to the beginning. Listen to an audiocast about the history of footwear.

Amazon Was Supposed to Kill the Bookstore. James Daunt Had Other Plans | Better in Person – Freakonomics Radio

He started with one small shop in London. He has since resuscitated both Barnes & Noble and Waterstones. He tells Stephen Dubner exactly how he does it. If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
  1. Amazon Was Supposed to Kill the Bookstore. James Daunt Had Other Plans | Better in Person
  2. 685. How to Survive the A.I. Shock
  3. How to Run an Institution in an Anti-Institution Era | Better in Person
  4. How to Return Stolen Art (Update)
  5. “I Trust Almost Anyone More Than Myself” | Better in Person
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Free Outside by Jeff Garmire

Jeff “Legend” Garmire is an adventurer who climbed the Colorado 14ers, survived The Great Western Loop, broke the Arizona Trail self-supported FKT, Long Trail Unsupported FKT, and the Colorado Trail Unsupported FKT and much more.

Free Outside is his telling of his Calendar Year Triple Crown: Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail.

I listened to the audio version which Jeff reads himself.

Fast paced. No dull moments.

8000 miles averaging over 30 miles a day.

I enjoyed the book.

It’s real to his experience. So real that no editor seems to have corrected spelling nor typos.

Seemed to me the CDT would be my least favourite of the three — overall. Too many cows. Too much dirty drinking water.

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Hiking Alone

Nicole Qualtieri:

I embarked on my first solo backpacking trip in 2014. It’s no small admission to say that the effort changed the course of my life.

That trip was — perhaps — overkill for my first shot at backpacking solo. I completed 150 miles, combined over multiple trips on the Continental Divide Trail in Montana and Wyoming. But I dialed in my system and wilderness skills, powered through blisters, and faced my fears over the course of those miles.

In a world filled with noise, constant companionship, phones that never power down, and internet advice coming at us incessantly, here’s one more bit of advice I’d like to impart — turn it all off. Take a walk in the dirt.

This summer, go backpacking alone. …

Backpacking Alone Is for Everyone
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Respecting Female Hikers

An important post from Backpacker:

DO be friendly, but not aggressive. If a woman doesn’t seem interested in having a conversation with you, back off.

DON’T ask solo women where they’re headed or where they’re camping.

DON’T suggest that a woman hiking alone is unsafe.

DON’T use sexual innuendo.

DO give solo women space. Keep distance between your tents if you end up camping in the same area.

DO be extremely cautious about flirting. Don’t make her feel like she has to change her pace or otherwise compromise her hike to escape from you.

How To Avoid Seeming Creepy To Solo Women Hikers

Haiku Stairs Kaneohe by Kalen Emsley

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BestHike #8 – Everest Base Camp / 3 Passes

The Everest Base Camp via 3 Passes is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.

Click PLAY or watch a 1 minute introduction on YouTube.

Base Camp / 3 Passes

Everyone wants to hike to Everest Base Camp (5,320m / 17,450ft). The 3 Passes route is the most epic.

Based on weather and fitness, you can do one or more passes as well as peaks like Kala Pattar (5,545m) that don’t require a permit.

base camp sign

AT A GLANCE

Nepal
  • majority of hikers in the Everest region hire a guide, porter(s) and/or pack animal(s) but it’s fairly easy to do independently
  • guided trekkers stay in lodges, or sprawling tent encampments
  • October to November best months
  • beginning of March to mid-May next best
  • 16-18 days minimum for 3 Passes. 21 days would allow for rest / illness / sidetrip / and other unanticipated delays.
  • if you don’t have time, it’s recommended 14 days just to get to Base Camp and back safely.
  • generally easy hiking on good trails with a light pack. Some very challenging, potentially dangerous sections, if you cross any of the 3 Passes
  • on the main trails buy food as you go and stay in simple “lodges”
  • Everest trails are not expensive, but many spend more than they anticipate on luxuries
  • be clear — you might have to QUIT if by bad luck or rushed ascent you suffer altitude sickness (Acute Mountain Sickness or AMS).
  • many suffer respiratory problems. And fatigue.

Read more on our Everest Base Camp / 3 Passes information page.