Category: health & safety

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#2 best hiking town is …

Huaraz, Peru

Huaraz is a trekkers’ paradise. On one side of the valley you have the White Mountains (Cordillera Blanca). On the other side, the Black Mountains (Cordillera Negra). We hike the White Mountains, mountain bike the Black Mountains.

And only a short distance away is the remote, high Cordillera Huayhuash, ideal for hard core trekkers.

Huaraz is located in the central-northern part of the country at an altitude of 3052 m (10,013 feet), some 420 km north of Lima. Huaraz sits in the agriculturally important Callejón de Huaylas valley, at the foot of the Cordillera Blanca mountain range, which includes Huascarán, the highest mountain in Peru at 6768 m (22,204 feet). …

On May 31, 1970 the Ancash earthquake destroyed much of Huaraz, killing 10,000 people. Almost nothing was left of the old city with its narrow streets and big adobe casonas roofed with tiles. The main square was the only major structure that survived the earthquake so the city was rebuilt around it. …

Huaraz is connected to the rest of the country through the Panamerican Highway (187 km north of Lima) and can be reached from Lima … in seven hours. …

Huascarán National Park is a popular destination for tourism and trekking. Huaraz is a frequent base for expeditions to the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash. …

The population of the greater area is over 100,000 though you’d never guess it was that big. Huarez retains the feeling of a remote mountain town.

More interesting photos tagged Huaraz, Peru.

One of the best things about Huaraz is that there’s no airport. Regular Peruvian tourists all fly to Cusco, leaving this part of the Andes to us.

Our favourite hike hikes out of Huarez are:

• Huayhuash Circuit
• Alpamayo
• Santa Cruz Trek

Huayhuash

There are a half dozen more, just as good. And many, many more great treks in the Central Andes.

besthikers - Cafe Andino, Huaraz - Alpamayo Circuit 2004

Best months are May through September, the “Andean Winter”. Acclimatization to altitude is your main concern here. These treks are high.

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Half Dome – permit required

Yosemite Blog:

Following on the success of it’s weekend permit system the NPS has opted to extend the program requiring permits for all hikers who wish to ascend the cables to the top of Half Dome, not just weekend hikers. …

Last season weekend permit demand was high and permits were reserved months in advance. Hikers without permits will be turned around at the foot of the cables. …

Click through for details on how to get one: Permits Needed Everyday to Hike Half Dome Starting Spring 2011

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minimalist footwear

Have you tried any of the new ‘barefoot’ shoes as yet?

Gear Junkie has a guest post on what’s available by journalist and author Bill Katovsky of ZERO DROP, a new blog about barefoot and minimalist running.

I wear a fairly flat, but conventional approach shoe myself. No plans to go even more minimal.

Certainly this concept, presumably by Nike, is out of the question:

Has Nike Invented A Second Skin?

Leave a comment if you have an opinion. Is this just a fad? … Or is minimal footwear here to stay?

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walk the Faja de Flores cliffs

Ordesa National Park, Spain.

Eroded ledges, some walkable, are called ‘Fajas’.

… For those with a head for heights the Faja de Flores is a must. A steep climb leads to the entrance of the Faja nearly a kilometre above the valley floor. At first there looks no place for a path but as you get closer the eroded band shows itself and you can see it winding it’s way along the cliff face. The views change around every corner as you get views of the Sierra de Guara, the southern cliffs of the valley and then the Breche de Roland and the highest peaks in the park. …

Hike Pyrenees

That’s a U.K. based company offering this adventure as part of their Peaks and Passes guided walking holiday.

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trek Ausangate Circuit, Peru

We got a recommendation from John Brawner for the Ausangate Peru Company, owned and managed by Edgar.

He took a 6 day guided trek with them.

Details, testimonials and prices on AusangatePeru.com.

Having done this adventure myself with a guide and pack animals for only one day, I know it‘s tricky to do independently. If you have any lack of overconfidence at all, get a guide.

Ausangate is our #4 hike in the world.

Find out more on our Ausangate information page.

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trekking Dientes, Patagonia

Ace and Patricia hiked the most southerly established major trail in South America, part of the Circuito Dientes de Navarino.

I read their trip report with interest. I’d once traveled to Punta Arenas intending to do Dientes, but ran out of time to arrange the tricky transportation to the Puerto William, Chile, on Isla Navarino. That’s the jumping off point for Dientes.

Ace and Patricia ended up taking the Zenit’s 15 passenger boat from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Puerto Williams. And later found a flight back on a 3-seater plane.

Extreme weather in this most extreme part of the world makes all manner of transportation a gamble.

Was it worth it for Patricia?

Yes.

… We reached the dip between the peaks and were rewarded with breathtaking views of the spiky Dientes and across Isla Navarino to sets of islands beyond. It was a clear day and we saw the islands of Cape Horn. It was definitely the highlight of the trip. …

Painted stones & cairns mark the trail. Unfortunately many of those were covered by snow.

Everyone has navigation challenges on Dientes, this adventure more than most. Their goal on day 2 was to cross Paso de los Dientes. The guidebook said to “stay high”. … They stayed too high, eventually having to backtrack when the risk of a mini-avalanche got too great.

If you’ve ever dreamed of hiking the teeth of south South America, download Patricia’s Trip Journal. (PDF)

Check our Dientes information page.

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President Palin did something STUPID

OK, it’s a slow news day.

In her television show tonight, Sarah Palin casts herself as a can-do superwoman of the natural world. She fishes, hikes across glaciers and preaches “respect for the elements” from a speedboat while clad in a yellow cagoule. But the programme has already plunged the Mama Grizzly-in-chief into controversy after a leading conservationist in her adopted home of Alaska accused her of flagrant irresponsibility by fishing too close to protected brown bears. …

Find out whether she survived the encounter on Guardian – Sarah Palin accused of breaking countryside rules in TV nature show

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new movie – 127 Hours

Recall Aron Ralston, the hiker trapped by a boulder in Robbers Roost, Utah for nearly five days in 2003?

… I actually refused to read his book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, not wanting to even think about the possibility of being forced to amputate my own arm with a multitool.

But Director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) and James Franco, who plays Aron Ralston are getting good early reviews.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

… Ralston still climbs mountains prolifically, including a 2008 expedition to climb Ojos del Salado in Chile and Monte Pissis in Argentina.

In 2005, Ralston became the first person to climb all 59 of Colorado’s mountains over 14,000 feet in elevation, solo in winter, a project he started in 1998 …

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phone from Mt Everest

Last year when I trekked the Khumbu I was super impressed to be able to get internet close to base camp. I was able to post photos of myself, near naked. The connection at guest houses was slow and expensive, however.

Now you can post rude Everest pics right from your smart phone:

Nepali mobile network operator Ncell has installed the first 3G base station at the summit of Mount Everest, giving visitors, climbers and people living in the Khumbu Valley the ability to make calls and wirelessly connect to the Internet. …

… “The coverage of the network will reach up to the peak of the Everest,” Ncell Nepal chief Pasi Koistinen said to reporters in Kathmandu on Thursday. …

Mashable

Even from your parachute.

May 17, 2010 - Syangboche, Nepal - (100517) -- SYANGBOCHE, May 17, 2010 (Xinhua) -- Rayan Jackson from the United Kingdom is seen during the sky diving at Syangboche, near Everest Region on May 17, 2010. The jump was attempt from 5,486 metres above sea level. The duration of free fall was 27 seconds. The event has been organized to promote adventure sports in Nepal.