Category: long hikes

Posted on

UK – South West Coast Path


Mark Owen, South West Coast Path National Trail Officer, emailed to recommend his “best hike” in the world:

The South West Coast Path National Trail – 630 miles of superb coastal walking. From Minehead on the edge of the Exmoor National Park to the shores of Poole Harbour in Dorset it is the best way to enjoy the wonderful coastal scenery, wildlife and heritage.

map

He’s convinced us. We’ve added it to our list of the best hikes in Europe.

We love coast trails. The vistas are non-stop. Unless it gets foggy.

foggy-coast
Trail Database

Of course you need not hike the whole thing. It’s very easy to section hike.

south_west_coastal_pathawb_158_h
National Trails

official website – South West Coast Path National Trail

maps and guidebooks

Posted on

trekking Manaslu and Annapurna, Nepal


Wow. Check out a 39-day mega-trek photo trip report posted by Tubby.

And this is only PART 1 of their adventures in Nepal.

Tubby’s group connected a trek around Manaslu with the Annapurna Circuit. AND the sidetrip to Annapurna Base Camp.

They had wondrous moments. And many challenges.

Here’s the receipt from Maoist rebels for the group “donation”:

rebel.jpg

This extortion is supposed to be ended. But I expect the odd local in Nepal will still be asking for cash for the cause.

As always, the charming people were a highlight:

kids.jpg

I can’t find a way to summarize this monster trip in a short blog post. You need to check it out yourself: Trekking our arses off in Nepal #1

manaslu.jpg
Manaslu

Annapurna Circuit information page.

Annapurna is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.

Posted on

adventurer rewarded for stupidity?


map-of-brooks-rangeDavid Roberts was air rescued in Alaska this past summer at a cost of over $90,000.

Though he had a lot of experience with arctic wilderness in Saskatchewan, the media is reporting that he was totally unprepared, and a “goofy guy”.

Roberts, a 54-year-old Australian, was trying to walk almost 100 miles across the Brooks Range wilderness when he set off a long-distance distress call on Friday. He’d been out there alone for two months.
…

He hauled a 140-pound sled full of supplies behind him, he said. A persistent stomach bug left him dehydrated while frequent, stabbing pains pierced his cold feet.

He traveled fewer than 40 miles in two months — far less than he’d expected.

…

Alaskans have little patience for seemingly ill-prepared adventurers, and news of the rescue prompted comparisons to another explorer who trekked into the wilderness 16 years ago — Chris McCandless. McCandless starved to death after trying to survive on his own for more than three months near Denali National Park.
…

Roberts didn’t know who would have to pay for his rescue when he made the decision to get help, he said. “I didn’t presume that somebody else was going to pick up the tab on that.” …

Anchorage Daily News – Adventurer’s wilderness trek ends with air rescue, free hotel

Roberts will not be billed for the rescue costs.

Posted on

The Great Eastern Trail

From Section Hiker:

I love the Appalachian Trail, but on weekends and in the summer time, it can feel really crowded.

In fact, the ATC estimates that 4 million people hike on the AT each year, and a lot of their trail maintenance and stewardship efforts go toward mitigating their impact on the surrounding environment and other visitors’ experiences. Repairing overuse damage, building privies, and adding more campsites is necessary to contain an ever increasing number of visitors each year.

So when I learned about the Great Eastern Trail (GET), I was intrigued. It’s a new 2000 mile, long distance trail that will lie west of the AT and pass through Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virgina, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, linking the Florida Trail to the North Country Trail. …

get_allforweb-1.jpg
larger version

click through for more information on this terrific under construction thru hiking adventure – The Great Eastern Trail

It will (eventually) link the Florida National Scenic Trail in the south to the North Country National Scenic Trail in New York.

Posted on

TOP 7 THOUSAND-MILE TREKS

A headline in ALL CAPS ??

Am I CRAZY !!

A list this over-the-top deserves them.

Adventure Journey — The Extreme Traveler’s Handbook — makes 7 bold picks … DESERVING OF ALL CAPS.

7) Heysen Trail – Cape Jervis to the Parachilna Gorge, South Australia
6) Pacific Northwest Trail – Cape Alava, WA to Glacier National Park
5) Tarifa, Spain to the border of Switzerland
4) Nouakchott, Mauritania to Timbukto, Mali
3) San Carlos de Bariloche to Rio Gallegos, Argentina
2) Jammu > Srinagar > Leh > Shimla, India
1) North-south full traverse of Madagascar

top-7-treks.jpg

details – TOP 7 THOUSAND-MILE TREKS

Actually, I am quite impressed with their list. It’s gutsy and informed. That walk in Argentina would be FANTASTIC.

I’d like to subscribe to Adventure Journey … but they have no RSS feed. Ah ha, Google Reader could not discover an RSS feed … BUT, it’s right there on the top of the page. (if I had only looked.)

Thanks MadMardigan.

Posted on

16,500mi National Scenic Trails treks

Bart Smith completed over 37 million steps this morning, plus nearly 100,000 photographs in his 16-year shooting trek of all the National Scenic Trails (NTS). No other person can boast this astounding photo/hiking feat, covering over 16,500 miles and 34 states. …

bart-360_beta.jpgAppalachian Trail (AT) – 2,175 miles

Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) – 2,650 miles

Florida Trail (FT) – 1,400 miles

Ice Age Trail (IAT) – 1,000 miles

Natchez Trace Trail (NTT) – 500 miles

Potomac Heritage Trail (PHT) – 990 miles

North Country Trail (NCT) – 4,600 miles

Continental Divide Trail (CDT) – 3,100 miles

To celebrate, Smith flies immediately to Washington, D.C., where he will join the 40th National Trail System Anniversary festivities.

Legacy of 16-Year Trail Adventure Highlights Largest Solo Photo Project in History – PR Web

bart-smith-photo.jpg

I like Bart’s photo site: Walking Down a Dream.

(via Florida Hikes)

Posted on

thru hike the American Discovery Trail

We are Jennifer and Stacy. We have chosen Shaman (stacy) and Weck (jennifer) as our trail names. Our primary goal is to hike the United States starting with the American Discovery Trail.

american-discovery-trail.jpg

Because we are both out of shape and overweight, we are spending the next several months, planning, training, and preparing to take to the road. We have started by hiking local state parks and trails. We plan to journal and photo document everything we do as a record for ourselves and anyone else out there that is interested in doing the same thing.

Part of the plan is to sell our vehicles, our home, and nearly everything in it. The only things we want are the things we’ll need on the road. For us, this isn’t just a trip, or a vacation… it is a lifestyle change. …

They’ve put together a nice looking blog dedicated to this major life change.

thistrek.jpg

ThisTrek.com

Posted on

hiker Andrew Skurka on tour

Sadly I missed the world’s greatest hiker when he spoke in my city last week.

skurka.png

He’s on tour following his 11,000-kilometre Great Western Loop in 208 days, a blistering pace of 53 kilometres per day.

Next on his calendar:

Thurs, Nov 20 — National Geographic Adventurer of the Year — Washington DC

Sat, Nov 22 — Explorers Festival – Lodz, Poland

Fri, Jan 9 — Cuyahoga Valley National Park — Brecksville, OH

Thurs, Jan 15 — Mystic Seaport — Mystic, CT

events will be updated on his services page.

Posted on

trekking across Iceland

Hardcore hiker Jonathan Ley has done the Continental Divide Trail and Pacific Crest Trail.

But I was most interested in his unique adventure in Iceland:

iceland-map.jpg
larger version

The photos are terrific:

iceland13.jpg

iceland17.jpg

iceland19.jpg

more photos

I really want to trek Iceland after seeing them!

Why Iceland?

When I was hiking the CDT, I had a lot of time to dream-up other hiking trips all over the world. One of those was a hike across Iceland… No particular reason, it sounded like it’d be interesting. When my friend Dave mentioned that he had the same idea, it seemed meant to be. The trip was a lot more enjoyable and safer with a traveling companion.

Iceland is a unique place. It is located along the Atlantic rift, where the earth’s crust is separating. As a result, there are a lot of geothermal features (volcanoes, hot springs, etc) all over the country. Iceland is quite far north – the Arctic circle was just offshore from our starting point – but, the climate is kept somewhat temperate by ocean currents. The land is one of stark beauty, shaped by ice, wind, and volcanoes.

How long was the route?

Even after completing the hike, I’m still not sure. Our best estimate was somewhere around 360-380 miles.

When did you hike?

We started on June 23, 2006, and finished on July 11, 2006.

…

Where / how did you resupply?

The population of Iceland is a sparse 300,000, and most of those live near Reykjavík. Virtually nobody lives in the interior. Still, we passed through a couple areas where we could resupply. There is a small town near the lake Mývatn in the north, and a summer “backpacking village” at Landmannalauger in the south. We sent packages to both places, but it’s possible to buy provisions “as you go”.

…

Has anyone else done this?

People have hiked across Iceland via a number of routes, but each trip has probably been somewhat unique, and the total number is likely small. Since returning from the trip, I’ve been contacted by at least one other American who completed a similar trip a number of years ago… I’m not sure if there are more. …

FAQs