Category: health & safety

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The Window, Big Bend TX

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Chisos Basin Campground is the best in Big Bend National Park. Reserve in advance as it’s very popular.

The Window, Big Bend

Awaking my first morning I found the famed Window hike ran right past my campsite.

I had two mugs of coffee. Then set off down the trail.

The Window, Big Bend

The Window, Big Bend

The moon still out.

The Window, Big Bend

I was first down the trail this morning. My only company were the large, friendly Mexican jays.

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My first trail in Big Bend, I was impressed with construction and management. Check these stairs cut into stone.

The Window, Big Bend

Here’s the Window pour-off. The only outlet for water from the entire mountain basin.

The Window, Big Bend

Don’t get too close. It’s a 220ft drop to Chihuahuan Desert.

related – Trek Southwest – The Window Trail – Big Bend National Park

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Manaslu Circuit – new cantilever trail section

The guided Manaslu Circuit trek in Nepal is one of the very best hikes in the world.

Some good news.

The April 2015 earthquake triggered landslides that destroyed many sections of the Budi Gandaki Trail, cutting off Upper Gorkha, affecting the movement of local people and trekkers on the Manaslu Circuit.

Now, engineers have used cantilever technology to restore damaged sections of the trail along the narrowest and steepest parts of the Budi Gandaki gorge. …

Nepali Times 

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manaslu-circuit-bridge

(via Manaslu Circuit Trek)

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hiking Big Bend National Park, Texas

I’m planning to hike Big Bend for the first time. In January.

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The Parks Service recommends:

• Desert Hikes
• Mountain Hikes
• River Hikes

As usual I’ll check with Rangers before deciding which hikes. Local information is critical in the desert. Backcountry Use Permits are required.

I’ll be mostly doing day hikes and one night tenting trips. Water is an issue, I understand, even in winter.

Unless you are walking the Rio Grande, of course.

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Santa Elena Canyon
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commercializing Everest’s North Face

A few weeks ago, a Beijing newspaper announced that the Chinese government was building a new mountaineering center and hotel near the north side of Everest. …

The mountaineering center will be located in Old Tingri, a town 40 miles northwest of Everest, and will house much of the infrastructure we currently associate with the French Alps: a heli base for rescue operations on the mountain, a mountaineering school for high altitude workers, and a fully stocked hotel. …

The mountaineering center is scheduled to be completed by 2019, three years ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Outside

I hiked Tingri (Dingri) to Everest in 1998. Dingri was one crappy town at that time. Seems it’s not improved much in the years since.

Dingri 2011
Dingri 2011

As always, there will be pros and cons in commercializing Everest in Tibet.

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Sherpa – directed by Jennifer Peedom

… charting the disastrous Everest season of 2014. The director aimed to get a Sherpa’s point of view on climbing Everest after the famous flareup of 2013, and instead was on the ground to document the appalling loss of life and resulting Sherpa strike the following year. …

David Lintern

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Makalu Base Camp trek

Chris Townsend:

This trek to the base of the fifth highest mountain in the world is my favourite of the three treks I’ve done in this part of the world. …

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Out There – The Pictures 1: Trekking to Makalu Base Camp

That trek was guided. But you can now do Makalu independently.

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trouble climbing Mt Adams

Veteran climbing guide Dave Adlard led some new mountaineers on a climb of Mt Adams, Washington.

Thousands climb it every year.

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The weather went bad.

“If you haven’t figured it out already we’re not going up. We need to get the hell off this mountain alive.” as our guide and friend, David Adlard, said to us at six in morning.

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Read the entertaining trip report on Mtn Talk – Mt. Adams: Get Down Alive

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Greater Patagonian Trail update

GearJunkie:

The Greater Patagonian Trail (GPT) is 1,300 miles long and counting. It is a growing network of backroads and rutted trails stitched together to form an enormous route across South America, and almost nobody knows about it.

That’s because it’s been built quietly, the entire route put together by one couple who hope to share a love of hiking with the world.

At 1,300 Miles, Remote ‘GPT’ Is Longest Trail In South America

I met Swiss-German hiker and explorer Jan Dudeck and his Chilean wife Meylin Ubilla last January. And hope to get back to Patagonia again in 2017.

Laguna Caracol
Laguna Caracol

 

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hiking Salida to Blanca Peak, Colorado

Cam Honan:

Approximately 120 miles in total. Mostly exposed, off-trail terrain. Elevation generally ranged between 10 and 14,000 ft.

Throw in regular afternoon thunderstorms, consistently high winds and a cumulative elevation gain of more than 40,000 ft.

In short; it was a challenging trip.

Sangre de Cristo Traverse Gear List

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