health & safety – Page 71

October 2, 2009October 2, 2009

Buckskin Gulch – surviving flash flood

Hank Leukart and friends head for one of the 10 most dangerous hikes in the USA, Buckskin Gulch, Utah.

Yup. Worst case scenario. It rained while they were hiking the world’s longest slot canyon:

… I hear the sound of a single thunder clap.

“Did you hear that?!” Rich asks me, nervously.

“Yes,” I say, uncomfortably. “But it sounded like it was very far away. I haven’t felt any raindrops.”

“I think we should turn back now,” says a worried Suzanne. Next to the water-susceptible Flat Stanley, she is the most risk-adverse hiker in our group.

“I am not turning back now,” Wendy says firmly. But our major concern is that there are only two safe places for us to camp: at the confluence of the Paria River and Buckskin Gulch (11.5 miles away) and atop the apparently impossible-to-find Middle Route escape trail (6 miles away). If we choose to continue, we must reach one of these two exits, because camping on the floor of the canyon is a recipe for certain death in the case of a flash flood. …

Part 1 – flat stanley escapes a flash flood in buckskin gulch

It’s a cliff hanger, literally.

Flash flood strikes. But we must wait until Hank posts part 2 of the trip report to see how they survived. Here’s one clue:

Read more superb hiking “essays” on Without Baggage. They are more akin to magazine articles than online trip reports.

September 30, 2009September 30, 2009

need insurance to hike Europe?

What if this happened to you?

What would it cost?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The days of foreigners being “covered” for health costs in nations with socialized medicine are ending. In Switzerland you would pay the full cost of helicopter rescue if you are not a citizen.

Even in the developing world, hospital costs could crush you:

… Aussie tourist took an unlucky fall off a steep mountain track in India and ended up paralyzed in a hospital in New Delhi. And yes, you guessed it, this guy was traveling without any insurance, even though he was 64 years old and should have known better.

The result of this stumble is that his family back in Oz have maxed out their credit cards to pay the hospital bills and so far can’t afford to get him on a plane and home. …

A Traveling Without Insurance Nightmare For Aussie Man In India

You must buy travel insurance if hiking out-of-country. Most policies allow trekking, but do not cover climbing nor mountaineering. Double check your coverage.

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On a related issue, posted in Gadling – Should a medical exam be required before a major trek?

Physicians and politicians in Australia are calling for mandatory physicals for any trekkers preparing to hike the Kokoda Track according to Aussie newspaper The Age. The Kokoda is a difficult and remote trail in Papua New Guinea, which has claimed the lives of three hikers this year alone. …

read more – Should a medical exam be required before a major trek?

My gut feeling is that regulation is going too far. The normal “release” form should be enough.

Adults must be responsible to make their own decisions in so far as adventure sport is concerned.

If a company voluntarily requires a medical, no problem. But a government should not impose this requirement.

Dolpo-Trek

For example, A Sierra Club Upper Dolpo Trek in Nepal requires a full medical and approval by the trip leader, but not because the government requires it.

… I’m personally shopping for travel insurance right now. Leave a comment if you have a recommendation.

September 27, 2009September 25, 2009

What is Europe’s toughest trek?

Who would know?

Cicerone guidebook author Kev Reynolds:

The general consensus of opinion usually names the GR20 high-level route across Corsica as the toughest of the Grande Randonees (SP), but with some justification the Pyranean Haute Route – which teeters across the frontiers of France and Spain – gathers a lot of votes.

Pyrenees - click for more photos from the Wandering Ostrich

Both are long and demanding, have sections without proper paths, and journey through remote country, often far from habitation.

Yet there’s another long and challenging route that is also a contender for the title …

The Tour of the Oisans, also known as GR54 …

Tour of the Oisans: The GR54

click image for the tourism-oisans website — tourism-oisans website

All 3 sound great to me.

These are routes that have guidebooks and maps. Not off trail adventures.

September 26, 2009

first dedicated nude hike

Good idea.

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. …

This article was linked from the Nude Hiker blog.

September 23, 2009September 22, 2009

14,000 bears in continental Europe

Are you surprised that the number is that high?

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. …

Wikipedia – Brown Bear

Note that the smaller American Black Bear is much more numerous: up to 476,000 in Canada, and up to 465,000 in the United States.

We’ve had 3 people killed by bear since 2005 in my home Province of Alberta. So I’m quite bear aware when I hike.

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.

September 18, 2009September 18, 2009

getting FIT by hiking

by site editor Rick McCharles

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.

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.

Leave a comment if you have an opinion on this.

September 11, 2009September 2, 2009

hike Buckskin Gulch … and Coyote Gulch

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 …

read more – Buckskin Gulch, Paria Canyon, Kanab, Utah

Challenging. And awesome.

But even more extreme is Coyote Gulch in Escalante, Utah.

coyote gulch eagle

… 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. …

read more on Wild Backpacker

September 9, 2009September 2, 2009

hike Chalamain gap and the Lairig Ghru, Scotland

Love these Scottish place names!

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.

14mi (22.5km)

Lonely Planet Walking in Scotland

Actually, I only did this hike because I was turned back on my attempt to climb Ben Macdui.

The weather alternated between storm and sunshine.

Here was the prettiest purple heather I saw anywhere in Scotland.

But what I most liked about this hike was that I was not much bothered by midges at my two pretty tent camps.

more photos from this hike

September 8, 2009September 2, 2009

attempt to climb Ben Macdui FAIL

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.

Scottish hill walking parlance:

• Munros = 3000ft+
• Corbetts = 2500ft+
• Grahams = 2000ft+

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.

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.

Click PLAY or watch me hiking Scotland on YouTube.

Midges were not a problem!

September 7, 2009September 1, 2009

Mt Everest of Scotland – Ben Nevis

Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

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.

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)