Category: long hikes

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Sierra High Route – American Adventure


Allie Comeau on the Sierra Blogging Post had to include a Sierra trip as one of her Top 10 American Adventures.

Good call.

It’s on our list of the best hikes in North America. Similar to the famed John Muir Trail, but without wasting so much time and energy descending each day. On the Sierra High Route you try to stay HIGH.

9. Hiking the Sierra High Route, California: The 195-mile stretch between King’s Canyon and Yosemite National Park is not for the faint of heart. This trail, through the country’s most rugged terrain, is challenging to say the least.

This one is dangerous. The expert is Steve Roper.

The Sierra High Route (also called the Roper Route) is a cross-country hiking route, 195 miles (314 km) long, through the Sierra Nevada. It was scouted by Steve Roper and described by him in his book Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country (1982; 1997). …

Wikipedia

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I’m going to need Steve’s guidebook.

Amazon – The Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country

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4646km through China on foot

A brilliant time lapse video of what happens to a trekker in China … who does not shave.

Christoph Rehage from Hanover, Germany, is a cinematographer and student of China Studies.

Click PLAY or watch his China video on YouTube.

November 9th 2007 – November 13th 2008

one year on foot – 4646km through China

unlimited beard & hair growth

– All of the distance from Beijing to Ürümqi has been completed solely on foot, straight good old walking. There are instances where you can see me in the video sitting on a plane or riding a boat, but those are during breaks I had to take from walking, either to sort out bureaucracy issues or to take care of some personal things. …

– The songs I used in the video are 1) Zhu Fengbo – “Olive Tree” and 2) The Kingpins – “L’aventurier” – visit the Kingpins website if you want to know more, they are very cool I think.

– This is not a strict “1 pic a day” video, because I wanted to make it a bit more alive by adding some additional movement. Sometimes during the film you would follow me turn around, or something would happen in the background. I tried to capture these moments to make the video more interesting.

more information on his website – The Longest Way

(via vagabondish on Twitter)

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Ibn Battuta, greatest explorer ever?

I watched the first two episodes of a British TV documentary series where Tim Mackintosh-Smith retraces the footsteps of 14th Century Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta, who covered 75,000 miles, 40 countries and three continents in a 30-year odyssey. He was islam’s and perhaps the world’s greates traveller.

Excellent!

Click PLAY or watch an introduction on YouTube.

Leave a comment if you find those full episodes posted online.

Next I’d like to see this movie.

Journey to Mecca is an IMAX® dramatic and documentary feature that tells the amazing story of Ibn Battuta, the greatest explorer of the Old World, following his first pilgrimage between 1325 and 1326 from Tangier to Mecca.

Narrated by Ben Kingsley.

Click PLAY or watch the movie trailer on YouTube.

official home page – Journey to Mecca Giant Screen

What a story!

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best SAFE hikes in Australia?


More often than not on our list of best hikes in the world we promote “challenging” adventures.

The very dangerous West Coast Trail is our #1 pick. One in every hundred hikers has to be evacuated!

What if you don’t want to be evacuated?

From Our Hiking Blog:

We have come up with a short list that meets the following criteria:

– No death defying stunts required to complete the trip
– Relatively mountain / drop off free
– Challenging enough to make you feel a sense of accomplishment
– Multi day with at least 3 nights camping required
– Generally isolated and away from too much infrastructure

Before we give you the list, recall that Australia is chock full of dangerous animals. My friend from Canberra found a poisonous snake in the back seat of his car while putting his infant daughter into the car seat. I’d rather risk a Grizzly than meet a Brown Snake on the Trail.

The walks, in no particular order, are:

  • Great South West Walk – Victoria
  • Wilsons Promontory Circuit Walk
  • Overland Track – Tasmania
  • Australian Alps Walking Track
  • Thorsborne Trail – Hinchinbrook Island – Queensland
  • Bibbulmun Track – Western Australia
  • Great Ocean Walk – Victoria

    • Read the entire entertaining post – Hiking with Bathmophobia – 7 hiking trips that won’t scare you to death (too much) !

    wallaby
    photo – besthike editor Rick McCharles – Overland Track, Tasmania – 2007 trip report

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    hike or bike length of New Zealand

    Love in a Tent comments on a New Zealand government plan to draw even more outdoor enthusiasts to that fantastic country.

    tongariro

    … New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, held a “job summit” to try to find ways to save jobs during this global recession. He gathered together a bunch of business and labour leaders to see if a day of brainstorming could produce a miracle solution.

    While many ideas were bounced around, one of the ones that seems to have really caught the PM’s attention is a proposal to build a cycleway the entire length of New Zealand. This would become a major tourist draw, and help to boost falling visitor numbers. It would also create jobs building the trail, which was estimated to cost around $50 million. (Sounds low to me.) …

    Love in a Tent – Cycling to Save the NZ Economy?

    nz-hikeLove in a Tent advises that New Zealand not neglect the Te Araroa tramping trail. That’s 3,000km of gorgeous Kiwi walking. Volunteers are hoping to officially open it in late 2010. (One reason I’m planning to tramp New Zealand in 2011.)

    The Te Araroa Trust posted a response March 14th. An interesting point of view: The Pedal Corridor

    Personally, I’m happy to do the best parts of both routes. Hiking. And biking.

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    7800mi backpacking the Andes

    Deia Schlosberg & Gregg Treinish were named Adventurers of the Year by one of the National Geographic magazines.

    Congratulations.

    did-itTwo years. 7,800 miles. No roads. That was how Deia Schlosberg, 28, and Gregg Treinish, 26, vowed to trek the length of the Andes. They had no idea what they were getting into. Beginning in Papallacta, Ecuador, the two Montana-based wilderness educators cobbled together a route of llama tracks, old Inca roads, and forgotten trade paths down the spine of the world’s longest mountain range. It was an Andes few outsiders had seen before. For good reason: “We were lost the entire time,” Treinish says. “Every time we wanted to quit, we were so far in the middle of nowhere that it wasn’t even an option.” …

    National Geographic Adventure – Trekking the forgotten Andes

    As I write I’m listening to their audio interview on Wend magazine.

    … successfully completed the trek, after covering 56 degrees of the globe, trekking more than 7800 miles, we became the first two people to backpack the Andes Mountain Range, the first two to walk it through the mountains without relying on roads, and Deia became the first woman to have walked South America. …

    finalmap

    It was a struggle at many times. There are no fixed long distance trails.

    across-the-andes

    home page – Across the Andes

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    Mongolia or Baffin Island?

    Kraig on The Adventure Blog profiled two upcoming projects:

  • Expedition: Mongolia 2010
  • Expedition: Baffin Babes 2009

    • … former British solider Ripley Davis will set out on a solo, unsupported trek across Mongolia in an effort to raise funds and awareness of the Hope and Homes for Children project, and UNICEF.

    The expedition is slated to get underway next April, with Ripley pulling all of his supplies behind him in a wheeled cart. He anticipates that he’ll be towing more than 100kg (220 pounds) of gear over a 3000km (1865 miles) course between 47º and 50º north latitude. The journey is expected to take roughly 90 days. …

    //www.flickr.com/photos/tiarescott/33324648/sizes/l/">larger original</a> - flickr - tiarescott
    larger original - flickr - tiarescott

    Expedition: Mongolia 2010

    … And for the ladies:

    … 80 day ski expedition through Baffin Island beginning in March. The plan is to ski over 1400km (870 miles) as they survey the impact of climate change on the fragile environments on the island, while visiting three remote Inuit villages along the way.

    The team consists of Vera and Emma Simonsson of Sweden and Ingebjoerg Tollefsen, and Kristin Folsland Olsen of Norway. …

    baffin_babes_kort_fin_lowres

    Baffin Babes 2009

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    backpacking the John Muir Trail

    An entertaining 6min HD video by Pete Bell.

    … an end to end hike of the JMT this past summer. It features 5 high school students from Chapel Hill, NC and their experience along the trail. We took 16 days at about 15 miles of hiking per day to hike all 220 miles from Yosemite Valley south to Mt. Whitney. We had one resupply at Vermilion Resort where the group cleaned out the small store there trying to stock up with 9 days of food.

    It includes one bear encounter.

    Vodpod videos no longer available.

    BestHike JMT information page.

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    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