Lichter and Forry – 1st winter PCT

Shawn “Pepper” Forry and Justin “Trauma” Lichter trudged up a muddy hillside during a desert downpour to reach the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail.

The two men had just completed what’s thought to be the first documented, wintertime through-hike of the iconic, 2,650-mile footpath from Canada to Mexico. …

During the early stages of the trip in Washington and Oregon they traveled on snowshoes. When they reached the Truckee area they switched to skis and spent about 400 miles “survival skiing” over and around rocks, brush and ice. For the latter part of the trip they wore lightweight hiking boots. ..

The joyous, muddy end of an epic Pacific Crest journey`

lava-fields-pct

… Before this trip, the two combined had more than 55,000 miles of trail hiking experience in seven different countries.

Their bond is one forged by years of hiking and establishing new routes together: in 2007, they established a precursor to the 850-mile Te Araroa trail in the Southern Alps of New Zealand; in 2008, they became some of the first people to traverse the 850-mile Hayduke Trail in the Grand Canyon; in 2011, they traversed the Himalayan Mountains from the eastern Nepal border to the India-Pakistan border; and, in 2013, they completed the High Sierra Ski Traverse from Sonora Pass to Mammoth Lakes, California.

You get the idea: These guys are tough. …

Outside Online – First-Ever Winter Thru-Hike of the PCT

Thanks Fedak.

VALLEY UPRISING — Official Trailer

VALLEY UPRISING is the much-anticipated documentary from Sender Films about the epic history of climbing in Yosemite National Park and the counterculture roots of outdoor sports.

Narrated by Peter Sarsgaard, the film features digitally-animated archival photography, spectacular climbing footage and interviews with Yosemite greats — from pioneers like Yvon Chouinard, Royal Robbins, Lynn Hill and John Long to cutting edge modern athletes like Dean Potter and Alex Honnold. Valley Uprising tells the story of the bold men and women who broke with convention and redefined the limits of human possibility in America’s legendary national park. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I saw an edited version at the Best of Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. Excellent. 🙂

12 Long Walks in the USA

The series began with the Pacific Northwest Trail on July 2, 2011, and finished at the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail on December 28, 2012. The total distance was approximately 14,302 miles (23,012 km). …

This Hiking Life

click for larger version
click for larger version

Total Bear Sightings: 48 (including 22 grizzlies)
Total Mountain Lion Sightings: 2
Total Pairs of Shoes: 28

See the HIGHLIGHT photos.

That’s Cam Honan.

best hiker

I often name Andrew Skurka as the greatest hiker of modern times. But Cam’s done far more distance. And done more of the best hikes worldwide. 🙂

100 Classic Hikes

36 countries on 6 continents.

Cam Honan:

Listed below are 100 multi-day hikes that I have had the good fortune of doing from 1995 to the present day. In my opinion they are all “great”  or “classic” hikes, however I have refrained from assigning them any type of order other than alphabetical. How can one compare the jaw-dropping grandeur of high alpine regions to the stillness and timeless quality of the desert?

The Hiking Life

Cam

___

editor: I’ve started clicking my way through Cam’s impressive list.

By comparison, I’ve only done about 35 of those, in part or in whole.

Leave a comment if you know of any hiker who’s done MORE of the world’s best hikes?

Sufferfest 2: Desert Alpine

Cedar Wright and Alex Honnold

This time, a month riding their bikes and climbing desert towers in the American Southwest should be a piece of cake for these fast friends. Or will it? …

Click PLAY or watch a clip on YouTube.

Radical Reels Night People’s Choice Award at the BMFF Festival – sponsored by Deuter.

That was our favourite of 8 short films in the Best of the Banff Mountain Film Festival program – night 2.

Cheryl Strayed’s Lost – a review

… based on the memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed.

The film stars Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern. …

In 1995, Cheryl Strayed decides to hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone, as a way to heal herself, following her divorce, the death of her mother, and years of reckless, destructive behavior. …

The film garnered mostly positive reviews, with much acclaim going to Witherspoon’s physical and mental performance and Vallée’s direction. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating …

wikipedia

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

Reese was nominated for a 2015 Golden Globe as Best Actress.

Hikers, especially PCT hikers, are mostly pissed that Strayed has gained so much fame for being so woefully unprepared. She hiked about 1000 miles of the 2,663 mile thru hike.

I must say, however, that I enjoyed the book. And enjoyed the film.

This movie is recommended. 🙂

Though Cheryl Strayed should probably stay far away from real hikers, she’s super happy with how the film turned out.

new film – A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods / U.S.A. (Director: Ken Kwapis, Screenwriters: Rick Kerb, Bill Holderman)

An aging travel writer sets out to hike the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail with a long-estranged high school buddy. Along the way, the duo face off with each other, nature, and an eccentric assortment of characters. Together, they learn that some roads are better left untraveled.

Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Offerman, Kristen Schaal.

Premiere is at … Sundance. No surprise.

Walk in the Woods

Redford is Bryson. Nick Nolte is Katz. 🙂

Great Himalayan Trail

The Great Himalaya Trail is a proposed trail of more than 4500 km stretching the length of the Greater Himalaya range from Nanga Parbat in Jammu & Kashmir to Namche Barwa in Tibet thus passing through Kashmir, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. When completed, it will be the longest and highest alpine walking track in the world …

It will never be “completed”. There are many GHT routes, higher and lower. They can be hiked continuously or by section.

map

Check out two main websites, both pretty good:

greathimalayatrail.com

thegreathimalayatrail.org

The second mostly covers GHT Nepal.

The guidebook I’m researching is from Trailblazer – Nepal Trekking & the Great Himalaya Trail 2011 by Robin Boustead.

He’s got a coffee table book, as well, that I’ve never seen – The Great Himalaya Trail.

The-Great-Himalaya-Trail-413x272

Stuart Bilby solo’d the Nepal GHT Nepal in 127 days in 2014, an incredible accomplishment. No cars, buses, planes, donkeys or yaks for transport. Stuart lost 19kg body weight. Actually, the first half he did with Lisa Lee-Johnson.

Linda Bezemer published a (much more reasonable) GHT Low Route electronic guidebook which you could use with an iPad on the trail. 1550km broken into 11 sections.

Seth, Kathleen and John did a 2014 east-west GHT Nepal traverse.

But my favourite is Gerda Pouler’s account of her 2012 very personal adventureGreat Himalaya Trail: 1,700 Kilometres Across the Roof of the World [Kindle Edition].