hiking Yellowstone to the Yukon

This looks good.

Karsten Heuer’s journey was intended to show that such a system of parks and corridors is feasible. He set out in June 1998 from Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, on the beginning of a 3,400 kilometre hike that would end, 18 months later, in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.

Along the way, he faced personal problems, including the breakup of his relationship with the woman who had planned the journey with him. He came to terms with difficult public relations problems when he spoke to loggers and others with a stake in the economic exploitation of wild lands. And, above all, he overcame extraordinary physical challenges: ferocious storms, avalanches, apparently impassable rivers in full flood, and bears that mistook him for dinner.

Accompanied by occasional human companions and a remarkable border collie named Webster …

walking-the-big-wild-y2y

Y2Y.net

walking-the-big-wild

Laugavegur trek, Iceland

I’m starting Iceland’s most famous walk July 24, 2018. Wish me luck.

My first attempt a few years ago failed. Wanting to hike in June, the trails were far too muddy.

One of the best hikes in the world is the Laugavegur

 (Landmannalaugar to Skógar route)

by clesenne
by clesenne

AT A GLANCE

  • IcelandIceland‘s best hike
  • weird and wonderful landscapes
  • best route is Skógar – Landmannalaugar 77km (48mi) in 4-6 days in either direction
  • shorter options 55km (34mi) or 22km (13.6mi)
  • tent or sleep in huts
  • permits not required
  • steep rough, rocky and slippery slopes
  • in good weather, this trek is only moderately difficult
  • up to 100 hikers starting each day during high season July and August
  • it can be dangerous in bad weather. About every second year someone dies.

Click PLAY or watch Alastair Humphrey’s highlights on Vimeo.

Check our Laugavegur information page on how to organize this adventure for yourself.

2006 murder in the Himalayas

Winner of the 2011 Banff Mountain Festival Book Award: Best Book, Mountain and Wilderness Literature.

… in 2006, an impulsive, naïve young Tibetan nun and her best friend, both yearning for religious freedom from Chinese rule, joined a group of fellow Tibetans desperate to escape to India, where the Dalai Lama has lived since the 1950 annexation of Tibet by China.

Kelsang Namtso and Dolma Palkyi embarked on the brutal journey over the Himalayas. Smuggled by illegal guides past Chinese border police, the group braved freezing temperatures and snow, the high altitude, and perilous crevasses.

Green alternates the refugees’ trek with that of Luis Benitez, an American celebrity mountain guide leading a rich group of international clients to the Himalayan peak Cho Oyu. The two groups met on the peak as Chinese guards, alerted to the refugees’ presence, chased after the escapees with machine guns ablaze, and Kelsang was killed in full view of the Westerners. …

Murder in the High Himalaya: Loyalty, Tragedy, and Escape from Tibet by Jonathan Green (2010)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The author is a good writer. But there are numerous factual errors. He needed a better editor and more expert proof readers.

Green doesn’t sound like a climbing insider to me. I suspected he’d never visited Cho Oyu nor Tibet in writing the book.

Snowman Trek, Bhutan – Fastest Known Time attempt

Wow. This looks epic.

A team of Ultra-marathon runners (Benjamin Clark, Timothy Olson, Anna Frost, & Matt Trappe) journey to Bhutan to set a speed record on the world’s hardest trek.

But Bhutan’s Himalayan landscape isn’t welcoming to athletes unused to the conditions, and it’s inhabitants must be persuaded to let the runners pursue their dream.

The result is a shared accomplishment and an adventure that constantly teeters on the edge of total failure.

It’s going to be launched in select U.S. theatres May 17, 2018.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

North Coast Trail, Vancouver Island

My Feet Hurt:

I hiked the North Coast Trail from August 27 to September 1 in 2014.  I spent 5 nights and 6 days on the trail.

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6

The North Coast Trail might be very, very tough.

We recommend easier alternatives to the standard route. There are other similar hikes on Vancouver Island of course, all easier than the NCT.