health & safety – Page 71

October 7, 2009October 28, 2009

moleskin – no bloody good

Fedak linked to an interesting post on the Fixing Your Feet (FYF) blog:

… I talk about moleskin because it has been around for so long. For years it was the standard hot spot and blister patching tool. In the next edition of FYF, I will make reference to moleskin as a product, which has seen better days.

Here are three reasons why:

Moleskin doesn’t stick
Moleskin doesn’t conform to the curves of the foot
Moleskin is too thick

read more – Moleskin Galore

No mention of my preferred foot repair product, Duct Tape.

That blogger likes (expensive) Drymax socks, by the way.

October 6, 2009July 26, 2020

hiking Picos de Europa, Spain – day 2

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Kraig Adams video

Trip Report – Picos de Europa Circuit – by site editor Rick McCharles

The morning dawned clear. Quickly I climbed up above the valley cloud.

I met one of the alpine hut guards … with his free running dogs.

Here’s the large sign posted at his refugio, Marques de Villaviciosa:

National Park regulations are somewhat flexible in Spain. And they vary wildly from place to place.

The main “story” of this Circuit are the climbs into and out of the huge Canal de Trea, one of the most spectacular canyons in the world.

There are many slippery and unstable sections before you reach, with relief, the Garganta del Cares gorge at the bottom.

…A remarkable engineering feat, the 3m-wide path running the length of the gorge was gouged out of its sheer walls in 1946 …

This relatively flat day hike is the best and most popular in the Park.

I “cheated” and took the Bulnes Funicular (an underground train) part way up the other side of the gorge, avoiding 4.5km distance and about 400m ascending.

My goal for the next day came into view.

A long but fantastic hiking day in perfect weather.

See the rest of my photos from day 2.

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Kraig Adams video

October 5, 2009October 6, 2009

Hank, you’re our Moses …

This is the second essay of a two-part series about escaping a flash flood while hiking through Buckskin Gulch … Start with the first essay to read the whole story.

PARIA CANYON-VERMILLION CLIFFS WILDERNESS, Utah …

In part 1, Hank Leukart and party were forced to tent up high when caught by a flash flood in the longest slot canyon in the world.

What to do next … ??

… Finally, uncertainly and silence makes the decision for us, as the sun rises and begins to bake us. We reluctantly climb out of the canyon and begin making our way across the trail-less Utah backcountry, in 91-degree heat. We don’t know exactly where we’re going, which, for me, I admit, is my favorite kind of adventure. I use the topographical maps in my GPS device to find our way around The Dive, a stretch of severe, orange and red sandstone cliffs, blocking our route to the closest trailhead. Everyone in the group complains about the sizzling weather, but as I trudge along, I’m find myself enjoying the adventure and extraordinary views of the Utah desert.

“Hank, you’re our Moses,” Suzanne remarks as she watches me lead the caravan across the scorching sand.

I also pray that I’m not like Moses, because, after all, in Exodus, Moses dies before reaching Israel. I hope to stay alive all the way to the White House Trailhead. …

Buckskin

click through to read the END of this tale – Without Baggage – flat stanley survives the utah desert and learns navajo

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