Timeless advice from US Forest Service, circa 1946:
“It is better to carry a clear head on your shoulders than a big pack on your back.” …
Linked by REI on Facebook.
trekking Huayhuash, Peru
by site editor Rick McCharles
MY best hike was a guided 11 day adventure in the little known Huayhuash Circuit in 2004.
Here are a few of our photos.
Far better are these photos and videos from a September 2011 guided tour. (May is the best month, so this is a little off season.)
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
swim 5700km …
Good luck with that, Dan.
In May 2012, Dan will embark on his biggest journey to date, as he attempts a Global Triathlon – swimming, cycling and running around the world. This will include a grueling 5700km swim, as Dan attempts to become the first man in history to swim the Atlantic. …
How do you swim the Atlantic?
One stroke at a time.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
(via Alister Humphries)
Kloofing Suicide Gorge, South Africa
Kloofing is an adventure activity that typically involves the descent of a deep ravine or watercourse that may be dry or wet. The defining factor is usually that the ravine is several times deeper than it is wide. All manner of walking, scrambling, climbing, swimming, plunging, jumping, bumslides or abseiling (rappelling) could be involved.
A kloofing trip usually combines hiking with the descent of a watercourse. Some of the more “interesting” kloofing involves long abseils or high jumps into pools from varying heights, up to as high as 20 or more metres (for example the popular ‘Suicide Gorge‘ in South Africa). …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Looks like FUN.
I’d sign on with a guide to ensure safety.
Doh. Two different guiding sites I visited say that these trips are cancelled “due to maintenance”.
Leave a comment if you know different.
Suicide Gorge is the favourite adventure of James Haden. He also likes Table Mountain in South Africa. And Mt Sinai in Egypt.
Gear Junkies in Patagonia
What is it like to be truly remote and pushed to your physical and emotional limits in the wilderness?
This video, culled from clips taken by our race team on the go in remote Chile during the 2012 Patagonian Expedition Race, gives a solid glimpse into that question. …
read more – Gear Junkie
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
… the team managed a third-place finish …
… . . Coming into CP17, we were four hours behind the Japanese team, and we decided to gamble on a straight-line bushwhack through a valley in the night with only two hours of tent-less sleep. In the predawn light, just before the glacier pass at CP18, we came upon the Japanese. They were clearly surprised [they had been ahead for a while] and yet they greeted us warmly, forming a line with each one of them shaking each one of our hands, smiling, and saying “Good to see you.” It was surreal. They then shared a look and bolted. [Note: Team Eastwind, from Japan, ended up beating Team GearJunkie/YogaSlackers by about 30 minutes in the 10-day race.] …
(via The Adventure Blog)
Dientes Circuit trip report
Sebastian Irazuzta via email:
… In 2010 I was inspired by the trek you have posted on Navarino Island in the South of Chile. After some research my wife and I decided to take our Canadian winter vacation to Southern Chile and Argentina and see the wilderness of Navarino Island for ourselves. I have posted a short description along with some photos and videos of this trip on Everytrail. …
That’s an interactive map. Click on the image to see it.
I should mention that the weather was sometimes amazingly harsh.
Despite this, I think it was one of the nicest wilderness treks I have
done. I think you may find this post interesting in that I have
uploaded my GPS tracks for the entire trail. This is something I wish
I had had when I was on the trail myself as some sections were
difficult to navigate by map alone due to bad weather.
Thanks Sebastian!
Check out Dientes information page.
barefoot running backlash
Predictable.
There had to be a downside to running in bare feet.
Science of Sport:
Vibram shoes named in lawsuit: The danger of barefoot running
Vibram Five-finger named in lawsuit – zealousness, unfiltered advice creates more problems than it fixes
The main problem seems to be heel strike impact force.
related – ‘Born to Run’ author helping search for Boulder ultrarunner Micah True
True, better known as Caballo Blanco, went missing while out on a run.
Grand Canyon slots
A new documentary, Last of the Great Unknown, looks terrific.
It will premiere at the 2012 5point Film Festival in Carbondale Colorado, April 26-29th.
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on Vimeo.
Deep within the Grand Canyon’s vast wilderness are secret and intimate tributaries rarely visited by man, hiding some of the Canyon’s most remarkable features.
The barrier to entry is steep. To explore them, one must have a knowledge of backpacking, packrafting, rappeling, anchor building, and off-trail navigation. The Last of the Great Unknown is the story of these slots, the canyoneers who systematically explored their drainages, and the secrets hidden deep within their walls.
South Pole return on foot
Scott 2012 Expedition:
No one has ever walked from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back again.
In 2012 … Ben (Saunders) and his team mates Alastair Humphreys and Martin Hartley take on arguably the most ambitious polar expedition in the last century: the four-month Scott 2012 – the first return journey to the South Pole on foot, and at 1,800 miles, the longest unsupported polar journey in history …
Last November they spent a week training, and getting to know one another, on the Isle of Skye.
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
Good luck team.
(via Alastair Humphreys)
_____
Alastair just finished rowing across the Atlantic. How did that go?
“If you ever see me anywhere near a boat again, you have my permission to shoot me!” – Sir Steve Redgrave after winning his fourth Olympic gold medal for rowing. Four years later, he won a fifth…
“This is bloody stupid!” – John Fairfax after becoming the first person to row the Atlantic solo. Two years later, he rowed the Pacific…
Attempt on Mt Anne, Tasmania
Frank (Our Hiking Blog) recommended a fascinating Sydney-based site called Sons of the Desert – a bushwalking blog
They post gorgeous BIG photos.
They got “lucky” with the notorious weather. Except for the wind. Tasmanian wind can destroy tents. And Maytag them.
Here’s how they tried to hold down one.
This is a great read – An Attempt on the Mt Anne Circuit, posted Jan. 2012.
If you like that, check their South Coast Track trip report.
Gawd. I still remember that mud.
… Yet I’m still planning a trip to Australia for Sept / October. Can hardly wait.
besthike.com 