He got it into his head to try to complete the 211mi JMT in only a week. Nuts.
Just to make it a little more challenging, he started with a pack weight of about 1/3 body weight. And climbed the highest mountain in the continental U.S. at the beginning of the adventure. (Sensible people finish on Mt. Whitney. They don’t start there.)
Many have done similar things. But none that I’ve seen have documented it so beautifully. Here’s Ryan’s 40min movie slide show of his week in the footprints of John Muir.
British Adventurer Ripley Davenport will attempt the first recorded solo and unassisted traverse across the vast landmass of Mongolia, on foot from east to west, starting in April 2010.
This effort to push the frontiers of human capabilities, challenge ecological values and inspire youth to reach beyond their perceived limits and engage their dreams.
The Expedition will involve walking 1700 miles / 2750 km’s across the Eastern Mongolian Steppe, Gobi Desert and the Altai Mountain Range, while hauling provisions and equipment weighing in excess of 200kg in a wheeled trailer, specifically designed for the journey, in 90 days or less. …
Robert Louis Stevenson’s account of his 140 mile trek through the Massif Central of southern France has long captured the imagination of walkers and lovers of literature alike. In 1991 the Stevenson Trail was finally adopted by the French footpath authorities as the GR70. This guide will prove indispensable to the holidaymaker planning to follow in the nineteenth century author’s footsteps.
It includes a comprehensive list of facilities, accommodation and places of interest along the route, detailed route directions and account of Stevenson’s adventures with his sole companion and beast of burden, the donkey Modestine, at each stage. …
• The Walker’s Haute Route
• Chamonix-Zermatt Haute Route
• “High Route”
• Mt Blanc to the Matterhorn
• Chamonix to Zermatt
It’s official. The Haute Route in the Alps replaces the Tour de Mont Blanc at the #9 position in our list of the top 10 hikes in the world. The TMB is awesome, … but too crowded.
Long live the Haute Route!
“the greatest collection of 4000m peaks in the alps!”
Why we love it:
the best hike in Europe!
Alpine charm: valleys, lakes, glaciers
great food, history, culture
from Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe (4810m, 15,781ft)
… to the Matterhorn, the most beautiful peak in the alps
staying in huts, and eating your meals there, you can hike with a very light pack
see ibex and chamois in the wild
finishes with the 2-day Europaweg – a true high-level path opened in recent years (and sometimes closed due to avalanche)
some mountaineers use this trek for altitude acclimatization, climbing Mt. Blanc, the Matterhorn or, best, Weisshorn, after they finish
Considerations:
Rain is highly likely. It can even snow on high passes any day of the year.
mid-July through August accommodation may be full
mountain huts can be crowded & noisy (we prefer tenting, to be truthful)
in 2009 cost was around $70 for bed, bedding, breakfast and an evening meal
iron ladders bolted into the mountain en route, though there is a way to bypass them
cable-cars and chair-lifts are cheating, but you certainly may want to use them to shorten some hiking days
German is the main language of the Haute Route though French is useful too. Anglophones may struggle.
Bookings are now open for a guided hike of the first 11 days of the proposed route, one that will eventually require 48 days, 650km.
4 October – 15 October 2010
11 October – 22 October 2010
18 October – 29 October 2010
Be a trail blazer.
… We have opened the first stage of the hike, consisting of 11 days. You will be hiking through mountain wilderness from Pakhuis Pass in the Cederberg to the remarkable Turret Peak in the Koue Bokkeveld, following the length of the Cederberg and the Skurfteberg. …
In association with the Cape Leopard Trust, the Rim of Africa traverses the territory of the icon of freedom – the Cape Leopard. As the trail’s choice of totem, the Cape Leopard asks us to walk with personal integrity and impeccability. How do we approach our lives with compassion and where do we find within ourselves our individual human potential and act accordingly.
I was looking for a decent long distance walk in Scotland. The West Highland Way didn’t really appeal, but I found a book describing a route called the Highland High Way which was a high level version of the WHW, and looked a lot more interesting. The book itself described the route as “a magnificent high-level route through some of Scotland’s most dramatic scenery and across some of its finest hills”.
It started in Drymen and finished at Fort William, going in the same direction as the WHW, and sharing many of the overnight stops, but instead of sticking to the valley bottoms it took in high level traverses and summits, including 23 munros. There were 8 one day-stages from start to finish, plus 4 optional ‘day-excursions’ which came back to the same place so could be done without carrying all the camping gear. It all sounded ideal, and I booked a week and a half vacation at the end of May, on the basis that the weather might be OK then, and it would hopefully be too early for the midges. …
This looks far more appealing than the “regular” West Highland Way:
* Final munro total: 23 munros (of which I actually saw 13 of them)
* Total Distance: 235 km (146 miles)
* Total Ascent: 18000m (59055 ft)
* Average ascent per day: 1636m (5369 ft)
* Average walking time per day: 9 hrs 40 mins
* Hilliest day: Rowardenan to Ben Vorlich – 2505m (8218 ft)
The 1996 book he used may be hard to find.
The Highland High Way: A High-level Walking Route from Loch Lomond to Fort William by Heather Connon (Author), Paul Roper (Author).
… We hope to develop a walking trail network of some 2,000 kilometres (about 1,250 miles), which will pass along the Eastern Cape York Peninsula.
This is one of the last pristine tropical regions in the world. It is wild, beautiful and presently largely trackless and inaccessible. The coast has many stunning tropical beaches lapped by the azure blue Coral Sea, with the Great Barrier Reef running the closest it gets to the Queensland Coastline. ….
You can help with this project by filling out a short, fairly painless survey linked from the home page. (click the survey START button)
Eventually the network of trails could be connected into one of the greatest long hikes anywhere.
Fjällräven, a Swedish company specialising in outdoor clothing, sponsors an annual hiking race.
Hiking race?
I’ve never heard of this concept before. And 2000+ partipants attended this year!
The competition element is downplayed, however. It’s not in the same category as most other trail races. In this event, you must carry a pack. And sleep in a tent. Most people do it for FUN.
photographer: Kikki Brink
Under the RULES, it seems littering is the biggest breach – immediate disqualification! (I do like that.)
Participants walk from Nikkaluokta 110km to Abisko. (This is the first section of the famed Kungsleden trail. Of the 2000 racers, some no doubt continue to the end of that 440km (270mi) through hike.)
Medals are awarded: Gold if you finish in less than 72hrs, Silver less than 96hrs, Bronze under 120hrs.
#1 New Zealand
#2 Southwest USA
#3 The Rockies
#4 Sierra Nevada
National Public Radio has an interesting podcast called – On The Appalachian, Some Hike Off The Recession:
… For Rusty Towery, taking this much time away isn’t difficult at all. Nicknamed “Wheeler,” he was laid off in November from construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar. He sees this as an amazing opportunity.
“I have no major responsibilities yet in life so [I] might as well do something like this while I can, instead of having to wait like the other half of the population on the trail,” he says.
Wheeler is 26 years old. After being laid off last year, he worked a series of odd jobs to save up a little money. He also ran each day to build his endurance. He says his friends were a little jealous the day he left, even joking that they wished they’d been laid off, too. …
The blissful couple at 17,768-foot Thorung La in Nepal.
… The 128-mile horseshoe-shaped route circles Nepal’s heaven-high Annapurna range, and it’s been hailed as the holy grail of trekking since it was first opened to foreigners in the early 1980s. Travel writers and hikers everywhere gush about the trail …
Season
October is the most popular, thanks to reliably pleasant weather (80°F and humid at 2,000 feet; 20°F and dry at 17,000 feet) and clear skies. …
Map and Books
The best trail guide is Annapurna Trekking Map and Complete Guide, by Partha S. Banerjee (Milestone Guidebooks, $10); it can be found at every bookstore in Kathmandu. Use Trails Illustrated map Annapurna #3003 (natgeomaps.com, $17) and Nepal (Lonely Planet, $25) for pre-trip planning.
Permit
Every trekker needs a permit ($25), but no reservations are necessary. Just pick one up in Kathmandu at the Annapurna Conservation Area Project office on Tridevi Marg (open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily). ntnc.org.np/trekking.php
Trailhead
The trek starts in Besisahar (catch a bus at Kathmandu’s Gongabu Bus Park; they leave regularly) and ends in Pokhara (return on a Greenline Tours bus, greenline.com.np).
Cost (Less Airfare & Rental Car) DIY: Less than $500 // Guided: $1,000-$1,499
Cheap and Easy
Annapurna’s teahouses beat the huts on other classic treks in terms of convenience, cost, and local color. Teahouses charge about $12 per day for a room and meals, and they’re never more than three hours apart, making is easy to keep a flexible itinerary. But that’s not to say there aren’t rules. Here are six: Choose a teahouse before 3 p.m. to beat large guided groups to the nicest places; choose a smaller one for better meal service; take showers immediately after arriving (most hot water is solar heated); order breakfast before going to bed to speed your morning departure; and bring a padlock for your room and a ground pad for the beds, which may be foam, straw, or just blankets.
besthike.com 