health & safety – Page 89

August 8, 2007

bigger than Switzerland, with much higher mountains

Flying in to Anchorage, Alaska from Juneau I was already worried.

How can anyone possibly hike Wrangell-St. Elias?

It looks the realm of mountaineers, not mere hikers like myself.

Because there are very few maintained trails within the park, travel through dense brush, along steep scree slopes, and across fast and cold glacial streams and rivers should be expected.

For most routes, map and compass reading skills are essential. Weather in these mountain ranges can vary to extremes in relatively short time periods. It is best to expect (and prepare for) almost any possibility with a variety of layerable clothing (polypropylene, wool or pile), raingear, and extra food. Summer snow storms may occur at elevations of 4,500 feet and above.

Trip Planning

A successful hiking trip requires adequate planning. You should be prepared for everything and should not count on aid or rescue from others. Here, you will be on your own. Caution and good judgment are key ingredients for a pleasant expedition. For many hikers, hiring the services of a local guide will make the trip safer and more enjoyable. In general, the areas above tree line (~3,000′) afford the easiest hiking and best views. These areas are often accessed by chartering a flight to one of the many possible “bush” landing strips. Note that there are many more places to land than are shown on maps. Air taxis will often land on gravel bars or on the tundra.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve – Hiking & Backpacking in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest National Park in the USA. Indeed, if you combine it with the adjacent Parks and reserves it’s the largest protected land mass in the world.

But how does one hike it if you have only a small vehicle, not a helicopter or light plane? (Perhaps I can find some gold nuggets to pay for this trip.)

This will take some reconnaissance.

Wish us luck.

August 5, 2007

slogging the Dusky Track in New Zealand

Adventurous Jenni and Nick are on an around-the-world trip with stops for some of the best hikes on Earth.

I asked Jenni which was the “best” so far. Instead she let me know which was most “challenging”:

The “epic”, and one we always refer back to as to judge how difficult a trek has been, has got to be the Dusky Track in NZ, a tough 8 days. In fact all the treks we did in NZ were great (Rees Dart, Banks, part of the Copland, Routeburn, Tongario Circuit …

Jenni on Day 1 of the Dusky Track

Fiordland in New Zealand (like Southwest Tasmania and coastal west Patagonia) is fearsome. Rainy, windy, cold and boggy. And buggy. Did I mention the deadly sandflies?

I was too “chicken” to try any of the more daunting, remote trails in Fiordland when I was there.

Happily, Nick and Jenni were able to complete the entire tramp:

So that was Dusky Track. Damn hard work – you had to concentrate on every step (we reackon we took about 250,000 over the 9 days and 84km) – up and over slippery tree roots, slippery mossy rocks, through mud, bog and rivers, across three wire walkwires to the end all for two good views – the rest was spent in the forest.

I made it, with a lot of help, and my limits were certainly tested.

Would I do it again – no – but Iâ€™m glad Iâ€™ve done it and Iâ€™ve learnt that I prefer the hard slog up the mountain and then spending time high rather than in the forest.

We were so lucky with the weather, it would have been 100 times worse in the rain and the mud would have been dreadful.

Dusky track for me = mud, blood, sweat and quite a few tears.

Dusky Track trip report – Jenni

Nick & Jenni’s Choquequirao to Machu Picchu trek

Nick & Jenni’s Dientes Circuit Trek in Patagonia

July 27, 2007

Angel’s Landing, Half Dome, Huashan – too dangerous?

There is talk of closing Angel’s Landing in Zion and Half Dome in Yosemite.

The controversy with the first two (American hikes) is rekindled â€” not surprisingly â€” each time a tourist falls to their death. Access is simply too easy for the inexperienced and under-prepared.

But if you (like us) feel you are capable of these moderate difficulty scrambles, do not fear if access in the USA is eventually restricted.

You can always head to Xian, China and Huashan.

… between the West and North Peak, is a path called ‘Changkongzhandao‘ (The cliff side plank path).

This path is pretty much the whole reason for me coming to Mt. Huashan. Originally seeing photos of this awesome sight in an email when i was working, i decided i had to come and take a look for myself.

The path leads to a small lookout where it is about 70 metres in length. Once you reach the end, you just come back and continue on your way. It is a cliff face. 90 degrees. To get across, they have whacked large nails into the side of the cliff and placed planks of wood over the top for you to cross. The path is about 40cm wide!

There is also a chain nailed to the rock for you to hold onto as you make your way across. For $5AUS you can choose to hire a safety harness (you would be absolutely stupid, i mean insane not to have one). Half of the path are planks of wood and the other half are foot holes carved into the rock. As the people i was with were too scared to go, i went alone taking the photos myself trying not to drop the camera with my hands shaking as if i had just drunk 20 cups of coffee.

I took my time and on the way back another brave bloke was coming towards me to do the same walk. I asked him to take a photo of me and he explained to me that the ultimate photo to take on this path is a pose where you lean back facing the cliff wall (because of your harness), your body 45 degrees, relying 100% on your harness with both arms waving in the air! The ground by the way is 1km down.

The best i could do was lean 45 degrees over the edge but my hands were stuck firmly to the strap connecting my body to the wall. I couldn’t let go, my brain was telling me “Go on, do it”, but my hands wouldn’t budge. Now i see myself as an adventurous person willing to try anything, but this was the first time in my short years where my brain and body disagreed with one another and it felt really strange.

I hit my limit where i had no idea what my limit was up until now. And I’m actually quite glad knowing it’s hanging off a cliff relying on a piece of metal and strap, 1km up on a plank of wood, now that can’t happen too often, can it? There is a saying ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’. That was actually shuffling across those wooden planks.

The adrenalin rush i got from that and hiking Mt. Huashan lasted all the way back down to the cable car where it was 7:00pm and the perfect time to leave for a 3 hour bus ride back to Xi’an.

Andre’s World Trip: Mt. Huashan

Angel’s Landing – our information page

July 24, 2007

Lonely Planet author’s body found

Sad news.

Clem Lindenmayer is author of one of my favourite hiking guidebooks, Lonely Planet Trekking in the Patagonian Andes.

Clem Lindenmayer, 47, disappeared while hiking near Minya Konka mountain, also known as Gongga Shan in Sichuan province.

China’s official Xinhua news agency said villagers found his body on July 19.

Mr Lindenmayer’s family said they last heard from him on May 2 when he contacted his wife by email to tell her he was preparing for a hike around the mountain range, which lies in a rugged region that was once part of Tibet. …

The email stated his intention at that stage was to do a six-day circuit around Mount Gongga.

But by the end of May the family had still not heard from him, and a search was undertaken.

… rescuers searching for Mr Lindenmayer had earlier found a body believed to be that of a Japanese mountaineer who vanished 26 years ago. …

Lonely Planet author’s body found – World – smh.com.au

July 17, 2007

hike Carthew-Alderson, Waterton, Canada

Waterton Lakes National Park is the best kept hiking secret in Canada. YOU can go â€” but let the non-hiking hordes jam the roadways of Banff and Jasper instead.

Contributors Kelly and Lexi (getting married Aug. 4th in the Yukon, by the way) raved about their 2006 Carthew-Alderson hike in Waterton. Based on their recommendation, we added Carthew-Alderson to our list of the best hikes in North America.

Last Friday the weather was hot and clear so we made a dash to Waterton.

Unfortunately, Saturday morning the weather changed as we approached the summit, high point of the day hike.

To see what happened click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Stuck in the clouds, we missed most of the best vistas. We even got lost crossing the top of the ridge having to ask a marmot for directions.

Click PLAY to see how it looks on a “sunny” day. Or watch it on YouTube.

You might have noticed, the biggest drawback of Waterton is wind.

Carthew-Alderson 20km (12.4mi) from Cameron Lake to Cameron Falls. Highly recommended. Hiker’s shuttle C$10 / person available at Tamarack Mall.

July 16, 2007

trek the remote Huayhuash Circuit in Peru

I’m jealous.

Frequent contributor Eu-Jin Goh is just returned from 12 days hiking my personal favourite trek in the World.

… the Huayhuash circuit is the most spectacular extended hike that we’ve done so far.

There were four of us on the hike, Emily Rains, Ray Woo, together with Serene and I.

I had contacted Chris Benway from Cafe Andino to organize our trip for us and he did an incredible job of making sure everything went smoothly; I highly recommend Chris to anyone going to Huaraz.

I arranged for a fairly deluxe trip this time; we had two arrieros, Fernando and Juan-Carlos, taking care of the ten (!) mules and two horses, together with our cook, Zacarias Carrera, or Zac.

Zac did an amazing job showing us the way and also cooking great food for us; he has great instincts and would figure out what we wanted to do (and then organize it) without us even mentioning it to him. I thought he was head and shoulders above anyone I’d ever had for my trips. Despite all the luxuries, it still cost about 3 – 4 times less than an organized trip by a western agency. …

Peru – Cordillera Huayhuash and Blanca, 11 June to 3 July 2007

more favourite photos from the Huayhuash Circuit – Eu-Jin Goh

The Huayhuash is big, high and potentially dangerous:

minimum 140km (87mi) plus numerous sidetrips

many mountain passes over 4600m (15,092ft)

this forbidding range was made famous when Joe Simpson & Simon Yates climbed Siula Grande in 1985. Simpson wrote Touching the Void.

how to hike the Huayhuash Circuit – besthike information page

July 15, 2007

video – closest black bear ever

Just finishing the Wall Lake hike in Waterton, I commented to George: “We haven’t seen our bear yet today.”

(One time in Waterton National Park my hiking group had seen at least one bear a day. They are easy to spot here. One day we saw 5 bears.)

Right then a bear came strolling directly towards our car. George let the vehicle roll down a hill, quietly pacing the animal. You’ll see it was completely unconcerned by our presence.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

To Identify the mule deer, also in the video, I used the Road Watch in the Pass website.

They are a non-profit organization monitoring animals on the roadways in the Crowsnest region of Alberta. Trying to improve safety for large animals including hikers.

Road Watch Wildlife Information Primer – Mule Deer

Road Watch photo contest winner

July 13, 2007

All-in-one Map Tool review

It’s very rare for me to add any item to my “base” hiking kit. (It’s too heavy already.)

The new essential must be very valuable. Or very light.

The All-in-one Map Tool is both. I carry it with my map and compass.

Bob Moseley from Brooks-Range Mountaineering Equipment Co. asked me to test this award winning product.

I took it with me on a solo kayak hiking trip out of Bamfield, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada. Since the weather was good, I was able to paddle directly to the Deer Island group, the closest to town.

It was a great, relaxing trip. I saw bear, seals, sea lions and nearly stepped on a baby puffin.

Normally mornings on this, the “Shipwreck Coast” are fogged in. On a previous trip to the nearby Broken Group Islands we were a number of times confused in the fog. It’s essential to know where you are on the map, have an exact compass bearing, and a good estimate of your speed and distance to the next island.

The All-in-one Map Tool is ideal in this situation as it has 6 different, easy-to-read map scale rulers to help estimate distance.

More photos from this trip – flickr

Sadly I had atypically excellent weather and did not need to do any dead reckoning in the morning.

So I’ll take it heli-hiking into the Tombstone Mountains in the Yukon in August. Certainly I should have a good chance to get lost there, having to rely on Topo, compass and map tool for survival.

All-in-one Map Tool – US$18 – Brooks Range Mountaineering Equipment Co.

July 10, 2007

wheelchair hiker – 4WheelBob

Tom Mangan hiked with the famous (Backpacker Magazine article) 4WheelBob Bob Coomber .

For those who don’t know Bob’s story: Diabetes has made his leg bones so brittle they break if he tries to stand up on them. He has some use of his lower extremities; he can operate the pedals on his car, for instance.

Don’t be complaining about your “sore feet” when on the trail with Bob!

On Sunday we traveled to Portola Redwoods State Park, back to the hills of Bob’s youth. We hiked for about three hours in the cool shade of that wonderful redwood forest. First we headed up the Old Tree Trail, where I started getting a lesson in Bob’s technique. On easy grades he pushes forward, but on steep grades he reverses and pulls himself up.

Two-Heel Drive: Travels with 4WheelBob

Thanks for the trip report Tom. I’m inspired by Bob’s good example.

Incidentally, Tom has refocused his top-ranked hiking blog more specifically on his home turf out of San Jose, California.

(Now I need to watch the entire hike-o-sphere myself. Formerly I counted on Tom.)

July 5, 2007

should Angel’s Landing be closed?

Good and important question:

What should the National Park Service do, if anything, with Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park?

This question arises every time there’s a fatality, and rightly so. The recent death of Barry Goldstein has rekindled the debate, with at least one reader believing the Park Service should, in essence, certify the ability of hikers determined to reach the landing.

… How do you guard against canoeists, kayakers and rafters drowning while on park outings?

What about those who are swept away by avalanches, who are attacked by grizzlies, die from the heat at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, or fall from Half Dome in Yosemite?

National Parks Traveler: Should Anything Be Done With Angel’s Landing?

original photo – flickr