BERLIN (Reuters Life!) – German naturists will soon have their own 18-km (11-mile) long trail for hiking in the nude and some enthusiasts have been trying it out before the official opening next May.
Heinz Ludwig, who runs a nearby campsite, has led the project to create the nudist trail that meanders up and down the Harz mountain range in central Germany, overcoming some local protests by pointing out its potential boost for tourism.
“I think it’s a great way to promote tourism here,” Ludwig told Reuters on Tuesday after Bild newspaper published a picture of two women wearing nothing but rucksacks on the trail. “There’s already been a lot of interest in it.” …
The trail is being marked with special signs warning the uninitiated that they could encounter nude hikers. …
There are about 200,000 brown bears in the world. The largest populations are in Russia with 120,000, the United States with 32,500, and Canada with 21,750. …
… Although many people hold on to the belief that some brown bears may be present in Mexico and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, both are almost certainly extinct. …
The brown bear of Europe is closely related to the Grizzly. And looks like a Griz.
… In Europe, there are 14,000 brown bears in ten fragmented populations, from Spain in the west, to Russia in the east, and from Scandinavia in the north to Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia (with about 800–900 animals), and Greece (with about 200 animals) in the south. They are extinct in the British Isles, extremely threatened in France and Spain, and in trouble over most of Central Europe.
The Carpathian brown bear population is the largest in Europe outside Russia, estimated at 4,500 to 5,000 bears.
Scandinavia is home to a large bear population, with an estimated 2,500 (range 2,350–2,900) in Sweden, 840 in Finland, and 70 in Norway. Another large and relatively stable population of brown bears in Europe, consisting of 2,500–3,000 individuals, is the Dinaric-Pindos (Balkans) population, with contiguous distribution in North-East Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. …
In the Picos de Europa mountains in Spain, I’d swear “digs” I saw along the trail were made by bear. But I saw no other bear sign. The few animals in that range are very closely monitored.
As a career gymnastics coach, I can assure you that hiking is NOT the best way to get fit.
For each hour of exercise, gymnastics conditioning and Crossfit are the easiest ways to get strong and lose weight. Using your own body weight as resistance works best.
However, the LSD (Long Slow Distance) exercise methods do work. But they take many, many more hours.
above Chamonix, France
I hiked most days this past summer, many with a full pack.
Within the first few weeks my fitness (for hiking) was perhaps best of my life.
Rarely could any walker pass me, with or without a pack.
Climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland I must have passed 700 people including trail runners who walked up, ran down. None passed me. The 1,344m (4,409 ft) seemed easy in the good weather.
You need weeks on the trail if you plan to get fit by hiking. But it will work.
Wild Backpacker has a good summary of our favourite hiking destination in the American Southwest:
… Buckskin Gulch is the longest and deepest slot canyon in the Southwest, and while others are narrower, prettier or more challenging to explore, the length and variety of the terrain in the ever changing narrows make it an amazing experience. The narrows extend for nearly 15 miles, with some parts only 10 feet wide. The cliffs grow steadily higher downstream, reaching a height of 500 feet above the streambed at the confluence of Buckskin Gulch and Paria Canyon. The walls of both canyons are rather dark, as the sun rarely reaches the bottom of the deep canyons. The walls of the gulch still show interesting swirls and curves worn by floods.
Buckskin Gulch and the Paria Canyon, is located in the Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness Area of Southern Utah. Buckskin Gulch is best done at least as a two-day canyoneering and backpacking adventure, although there are day hiking options …
But even more extreme is Coyote Gulch in Escalante, Utah.
… The most challenging part of this hike is the climb out of Coyote Gulch near Jacob Hamblin Arch. The climb involves scrambling up a 100-foot pitch of slick rock that ascends from the canyon floor at an angle close to 45 degrees. A 100-foot length of rope is useful here for raising backpacks. A compass is also useful for the last part of the hike, which involves a 2-mile cross-country walk from the canyon rim back to Jacob Hamblin Trailhead. Sneakers or other wettable shoes are the most practical footwear inside the canyon, as you will frequently be required to cross the stream bed. …
This lesser known hike turned out to be my personal favourite in Scotland.
An energetic walk over a low pass into one of the wildest and most spectacular glens in Scotland …
the Lairig Ghru is widely regarded as the finest mountain pass in Scotland. …
Traditionally, people walked the full 28mi (45km) from Aviemore to Braemar … The walk described here is a day’s outing from just south of Glenmore, through dramatic Chalamain Gap and up to the top of Lairig Ghru then back to Coylumbridge through Rothiemurchus pine woods.
The midges of Glen Nevis convinced me to quit the western highlands. And forego the western islands. (sob)
Furious scrutiny of my guide book led me to decide, instead, on the Cairngorms. Perhaps a climb of the second highest mountain in Scotland, Ben Macdui (1309m).
That would make me a right Munro bagger … since I’d already stolled up Ben Nevis with my hands in my pockets.
Lonely Planet Hiking in Scotland recommends a route they call Cairn Gorm High Circuit … with a side trip climb to the top of Ben Macdui.
The basic circuit is 7.5mi (12km). The much more difficult scramble to the summit is 5mi (8km) return.
Here’s the easier Cairngorm summit. On a good day.
photographer - Cody Duncan
I was first up to the summit of Cairn Gorm. Dense cloud. Howling winds. … What a contrast from Ben Nevis!
I could only barely see the highest cairn.
Weather is everything in Scotland. I was forced to descend to the controversial new funicular complex. It wasn’t open yet for the day. I had to sweet talk one of the employees in order to be allowed entrance.
Ben Macdui will have to wait.
At the bottom I asked the Ranger (the first National Park Ranger I’d seen in Europe) the wind speed. He confidently estimated 50-60 MPH.
The only higher winds I’d experienced were at Paine in Patagonia, the day backpack covers blew off and flew away like Helium balloons. And the unforgettable day I attempted Mt St Helen in Washington State. I was crawling boulder to boulder on that one. Could not stand up.
The Ranger was not at all interested. At that spot was recorded the “greatest British wind speed 150 knots (170 mph or 274 kmh) on 20 March 1986”.
Here’s how it was blowing for me after I descended down into just a lively breeze.
Ben Nevis (1344m) is the highest mountain in Britain, the trailhead near sea level.
Over 100,000 attempt it every year making it perhaps the most climbed “famous” summit in the world.
Needless to say, many of those have hardly any walking experience.
I was there on one of the finest days of the year. Thousands of people made the top. Some in Crocs. Tiny children in thin coats. Extended families. Elderly couples. They were very, very lucky.
The top of the big Ben is cloud shrouded 6 days out of every 7. But not today.
ruined observatory
At the summit it was cold and windy. I felt I was the only one on top with warm enough clothing. (3 under layers, full hooded down jacket, Gortex shell)
The temperature is normally 9C (48F) colder at the top than the base. Not counting wind chill.
Via the standard tourist route, the Pony Track:
9mi (14.5km)
I went for speed making it up in just over 2hrs, walking. Nobody passed me on the climb, not even the trail runners who walked up, ran down.
Most who have never visited Scotland mainly know the country because of the 1995 Academy-award winning historical action-drama film produced and directed by Mel Gibson, Braveheart.
… Ireland had won by offering a whole basket of measures, including use of the Irish army as extras in battle scenes …
That’s the official story. But a Scottish bus driver who was working during some of the Scottish shoot told me that Mel and the crew could not work outdoors in Scotland … because of MIDGES.
By a terrible coincidence, most of the best hiking in Scotland is in Midge country, the rugged highlands and islands.
For example, one story out of LP Walking in Scotland from the best coastal hike, Cape Wrath:
… We lit the stove for a brew but, within a minute, were reduced to futile, flailing anguish as the black clouds of voracious insects swarmed upon us – even into our mouths. …”
I finally decided to give up on Scotland hiking while attempting the excellent Ring of Steall loop. At the trailhead I saw many of the Scot hikers coming off the trail with mosquito net hats. As you’ll see in the video, I did not have one with me.
They aren’t as bad as the sand flies of western South Island New Zealand, but they are too much for me.
One survey found that 86% of visitors warn their friends not to visit Scotland during the key summer months of July and August. Actually, Scotland is no problem in the summer, so long as you don’t stop moving. The cities are fine. But I’d warn everyone not to hike Scotland between June and September, unless you are much tougher than I.
… This September, 16-year-old Clinton Shard of Squamish, B.C. is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro as a part of a team of six people led by Crohn’s patient Rob Hill, who is the founder of the Intestinal Disease Education and Awareness Society, or I.D.E.A.S. Both of these adventurers have Crohn’s disease, and have overcome tremendous obstacles in order to be able to take on this challenge.
While they are on their journey, they will be posting updates on Twitter (#roberthillclimb, #weneedideas); blogging, posting photos and videos (IBDAdventures.com); and even answering questions via video from their fans on the web while they are climbing! …
BERLIN (Reuters Life!) – German naturists will soon have their own 18-km (11-mile) long trail for hiking in the nude and some enthusiasts have been trying it out before the official opening next May.
besthike.com 