Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
The world’s most accomplished hiker, Cam Honan, has updated his list of BEST BOOKS for hikers. Expanded to include more than 90 works divided into eight categories: 1. Educational; 2. Guidebooks; 3. Humour; 4. Inspirational; 5. Literature; 6. Memoirs; 7. Philosophy, and; 8. Ultralight.
It includes his own wonderful and inspirational coffee table books.
by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
When I’m visiting Parksville on Vancouver Island — my parent’s home — most mornings I pick up coffee and head to Rathtrevor Beach, my favourite on Vancouver Island.
Walk with coffee.
Most mornings I take some wonderful photos.
Most mornings at dawn I walk the most scenic beach on Vancouver Island IMHO. 😀
Here is a SLIDESHOW of some of my favourite PHOTOS over the past 4-5 weeks — late summer 2024.
If you post online photos and videos of your hikes, you’ll related to this video.
Frustration.
Kyle is terrific. But — like all of us — things go wrong. Video projects stall.
Life goes on.
Kyle points out that the unused footage in his hard drives is still valuable. We should enjoy the process, not the resulting footage.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. Like and subscribe.
Van Neistad (and his brother Casey) both believe perfectionism is BAD for most of us on YouTube.
Create. Post online, good or bad. And LEARN from the experience.
Over time your content should 😀 … improve.
I haven’t much changed my gear for overnight hiking over the past few years.
If it works, don’t fix it.
Biggest change is my photo / video equipment: phone, drone, and action camera.
I’m no ultralight hiker. 😀 For me the drone and two powerbanks are worth carrying.
My BestHike YouTube channel is high priority on these trips.
Below is a list I’d guesstimate to be 90% accurate for most trips. Of course I’d add food for the number of days needed.
| SLEEP |
| MSR Hubba NX tent |
| MSR Hubba NX fly |
| 5 stakes & MSR aluminum poles |
| FLEXTAILGEAR Portable Tiny Pump 2X. |
| Therm-a-Rest NeoAir® XLite™ NXT MAX |
| NeoAir® UberLite® short (pillow & Bup mattress) & patch kit |
| Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt |
| extra large waterproof garbage bag |
| SHOES |
| Sketchers Men’s Go Walk Outdoor-Athletic Slip-On Trail Hiking Shoes WIDE |
| New Balance 1260s 4E 9.5 w additional insoles |
| CLOTHING |
| Therm-a-Rest pump sack = bag for clothing |
| Plastic bag for dirty clothes |
| Medium length wool hiking socks x2 |
| Janji Transit Tech Pant |
| Columbia OutDry rain jacket |
| Lifaloft Insulator hooded Jacket with stuff sack |
| Baleef Running shorts x2 |
| red Nike quick dry t-shirt |
| wool t-shirt x2 |
| 1 x ballcap black |
| black summer weight BUFF x2 |
| PERSONAL |
| toiletries waterproof bag (green) |
| fingernal clippers |
| ASA |
| Tums |
| Vitamins (gummies) |
| first aid kit with bandaids |
| sun screen |
| tiny Swiss Army knife |
| Hand Sanitizer – 1 oz bottle |
| Prescriptions – Blood Pressure |
| bright orange flagging tape |
| toilet paper TP |
| plastic toothpicks |
| toothbrush |
| toothpaste |
| FOOD |
| Spoon |
| tiny scrubber |
| fuel (1 medium) |
| Ursack XL black |
| 2 long lighters |
| water bottles (2 x litre soft drink empty) |
| water purification tablets (Acquatabs) |
| lemon pepper, Chili flakes, soup spicey stock |
| fire starter blocks |
| JetBoil ZIP stove |
| PACKS / BAGS |
| Hyperlight 3400 Windrider |
| Matador day pack |
| documents – guidebook pages, paper map |
| ELECTRONICS |
| DJI Mini 4 Drone and accessories |
| 2 PHONES |
| 1 USB C, 1 USB A cable |
| EarPods and cable |
| red waterproof electronics bag |
| library audio books |
| Apple Watch w cable |
| Threaded to GoPro adapter for tripod |
| GoPro to threaded tripod mount adapter |
| Ace Pro Action Camera & extra battery |
| Fotopro uFO 2 tripod (.5 pound) |
| plastic phone tripod adaptor |
| Nitecore NU25 headlamp and cable |
| Anker Power Bank PowerCore Essential 20000 (342gm) |
| Ugreen 145W Power Bank (2024) |
| Hip Pack – with Quad lock attachment for phone |
| Wallet |
| Cash |
| credit card and bank card |
| 2 x Sunglass clip-on, flip-up |
| APPS |
| Maps.me app |
| Google maps offline app |
| Guthook App (I have subscription) |
| AllTrails PRO (I have a subscription) |
| Peakfinder |
| Otter (voice notes) |
| Libby (library books) |
| Merlin (bird ID) |
| ReLive (mapping) |
| Weather |
| Photos |
For hiking summer 2024 I upgraded my drone from the DUMBEST in the DJI Mini line-up to the best.
As I’m often alone on the trail, I wanted “follow me” features as well as the best obstacle avoidance I could get.
First flight I was impressed.
BUT trying to hand catch the Mini 4 — I crashed it.
Oops. Not a good start.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Now have the DJI RC-N2 controller with the built-in screen. No longer need to hook up my phone.
I got the full Fly More Kit which includes 3 batteries, charging hub, carrying case, and extras.
Not inexpensive at CAD $1500 including tax.
Of course buying a warranty is essential. I paid CAD $170 (USD $125) / 2 years. I can replace the drone carcass up to 3 times. But IF I lose the drone, no warranty coverage.
I bought some accessories, as well:
I could have gone for the slightly less expensive Mini 3, but decided on the 4 for these features:
Most importantly, super powerful Activetrack.
The drone will follow-me wherever I go, avoiding obstacles so I need not manually watch it every second
Created with Microsoft Designer AI.
… By cross-referencing the number of photographs on stock imagery libraries tagged with “walking trail” or “hiking trail” for over 500 locations, we found which destinations yielded the highest number of photos, thus emerging as the places in the world with the most scenic trails.
Explore
Having hiked most of the top 10, I’d rank Laugavegur and Everest as most photogenic.
I saw this on the @heyBarsee Twitter feed.
besthike.com 