Category: photos

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Harding Icefield Trail, Alaska

Hank Leukart is in Alaska.

HOW TO HIKE THE HARDING ICEFIELD TRAIL

OVERVIEW: The Harding Icefield Trail is an 8.2-mile, 5-hour hike round trip with a 3,150-foot elevation gain. Hiking conditions are best from June to September. Early in the season, about half of the trail is covered in snow, but hikers with boots will have little problem walking through it.

DIRECTIONS: Kenai Fjords National Park is about a three-hour drive, south of Anchorage, Alaska. …

ROUTE: Even in the snow, the trail is well-marked with signs and orange flags. …

details on Without Baggage – where days last forever.
… exploring the land of the midnight sun.

more photos

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scrambling Mt Remus, Alberta

Great day.

Evidence we made the summit – Amber writing us up in the summit log.

summit log

Of our group of five hikers, three were gymnasts. Here’s Krista celebrating the summit.

Krista - handstand - Remus summit
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We cycled in 6.5km (4mi), then had trouble finding the small cairn marking the start of the rough path to the river crossing. Our experience was exactly that posted on peakware:

Description – by Dow Williams:

Mount Remus is part of the horseshoe shaped Fisher Range at the front end of Kananaskis Country in the Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park.

Kananaskis Country is a maze of provincial parks which encompasses over 4,000 square kilometers of foothills and mountains bordering Banff National Park in the central Canadian Rockies.

Mount Remus starts one end of the horseshoe and Mount Fullerton the other. In between lies Mount Romulus and Fisher Peak. Mount Remus was officially named in 1940 along with Mount Romulus after the legendary twin brothers and founders of Rome.

Remus summit

The only published route up Mount Remus is the moderate to difficult scramble up its eastern slopes to its summit block. The guide book determines the chimney up the center of the summit block to be difficult with an optional moderate approach from the north. I found the chimney did not present a difficult challenge and rate this scramble moderate at most.

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The most challenging aspect of the day involves crossing the Little Elbow River. This aspect of the trip more than likely explains why there is no trail and few, if any, cairns, thus little evidence of any traffic up this mountain. …

read more on peakware

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Most fun was screeing and glissading descents. Here’s my butt track after I discovered tobogganing was even easier.

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more photos from this great day hike

related post – biking hiking Banded Peak, Alberta

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suspension bridge in Switzerland

This photo of Grant Olsen just won a contest.

… …as we stepped off the train in Lauterbrunnen on our first day, lighting struck a steel beam just a couple feet above our heads and slammed everyone to the ground! It was a fitting start to an amazing – and occasionally dangerous – trip.

As we made our way toward a gorgeous little town called  Wengwald, we noticed this suspension bridge. Upon closer inspection, it appeared no one had used it in years. I cautiously made my way out on to the bridge and was rewarded with the most awe-inspiring view of my life! My sister, Diana, snapped this photo and it’s my prized possession from our trip! …

Allie Comeau on the Sierra Trading Post blog – Winner! Weekly Adventure Photography Contest

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hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Though May is reckoned to be the best month to hike Capitol Reef, rather than set up a tent I fled to this little “camping cabin“.

hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

Good call. Morning dawned well below zero with plenty of snow on the ground.

hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

The Visitor Center is everyone’s first stop. From there it’s only a few miles to Hickman Bridge trailhead where you have the option of 4 hikes:

• Hickman Bridge
• Rim Overlook
• Navajo Knobs – 9mi return, 1649ft ascent
• Cohab Canyon

These range from “easy” (Hickman Bridge) to “challenging” (The Knobs), ideal for a mixed ability group.

The route is well marked with cairns.

hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

Views are wonderful throughout though there’s not much protection from wind and sun.

Pectols Pyramid is the first highlight of many.

Pectols Pyramid - hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

My first rattlesnake ever! (They’ve seen me, but I’ve never seen one of them.)

hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

… Apparently it’s too early in the Spring for this guy. And a Ranger told me they are only very rarely found on this trail.

Was he looking for this guy?

hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

The route climbs parallel with the highway. Here’s the valley far below:

hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

That’s them?

The Navajo Knobs?

hiking Navajo Knobs, Utah

A bit of a let down. They’re simply 2 bumps of limestone atop the Waterpocket Fold. The main reason to go the extra miles is to see around the corner. It’s impressive!

I left a Summit Stone atop one Knob, reward for anyone keen enough to get up there.

Rangers were pushing this guidebook: Capitol Reef National Park – The Complete Hiking and Touring Guide.

I used my trusty Lonely Planet Hiking in the USA.

As both a driving tour, and hiking destination, I highly recommend Capitol Reef.

See the rest of my photos from this day hike.

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USA hikes with Gorgeous Finales

A good list from divine caroline by Vicki Santillano:

Kalalau Trail, Hawaii
Half Dome, California
Conundrum Creek Trail, Colorado
Bright Angel Trail, Arizona
The Hollywood Trail, California
Mount Riga State Park Trail, Connecticut
OldRag Mountain Hike, Virginia
Raven Cliff Falls Trail, Georgia
Mount Whitney Trail, California

… The ends of these popular hikes can replenish the most tired and weary of walkers and instill an invigorating sense of accomplishment in them. … the more motivation you’ll have to keep walking when the trails get tough …

click through for details and photos of each – Nine U.S. Hikes with Gorgeous Finales

(via Chris Weiss on uncooped who adds Angel’s Landing, Utah)

I’m liking Conundrum Hot Springs.

… located at a staggering 11,200′ within the famous Maroon Bells in the Snowmass wilderness. These steamy pools are 8.5 miles up the Conundrum Creek trail just outside of Aspen. …

click photo for details
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Boy Scout Tree Trail, California

trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

One thing I love about Tom Stienstra‘s Moon Hiking California guidebook is his list of “best ____ hikes”.

Why doesn’t every hiking guidebook have a list of best hikes?

I wanted a recommendation for a giant Redwood hike and was impressed to find that Tom picked the Boy Scout Tree Trail over the more famous Stout Grove Trail, next door.

hiking Boy Scout Tree Trail, California

Tom Stienstra:

“This is the kind of place where a nature lover can find religion; where the beauty is pure and untouched. The trail is a soft dirt path — often sprinkled with redwood needles — that allows hikers to penetrate deep into an old-grouth redwood forest, complete with a giant fern understory and high-limbed canopy.”

hiking Boy Scout Tree Trail, California

“… The trail feels wonderfully remote and is one of the most pristine old-growth trails in existence. There are only about three other trails in the world where you can walk through old-growth redwoods for five miles or more without hearing traffic noise or seeing any sign of development. …”

Redwood Hikes

hiking Boy Scout Tree Trail, California

hiking Boy Scout Tree Trail, California

I was happy to meet a father and his young daughter who were on a “big tree” hiking holiday from Washington State. Dad told me that Boy Scout would be their toughest hike, so they did it first.

Here’s the Boy Scout Tree … too huge to capture in a photo.

hiking Boy Scout Tree Trail, California

My best photos, so far this trip, I reckon. Click through to see the rest.

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hike Waterton National Park in Canada

Continuous with Glacier National Park in Montana, Waterton in Alberta is one of our favourite hiking destinations.

It’s home to our #6 best hike in the world, Glacier North Circle.

Rachel Tynan from Waterton Park Inns and Resorts recommends the ExperienceWaterton.com hiking page:

Waterton Lakes National Park boasts world class hiking trails with unparalled scenery and the opportunity for many wildlife encounters. There are 255 km (191 miles) of managed trails in Waterton Lakes National Park. Ranging in difficulty from short jaunts to steep advanced treks that can take days. …

read more

Our other favorite hikes in that park:

• Tamarack Trail
• Crypt Lake
• Carthew/Alderson

Besthike world headquarters is Calgary, Canada. We’ve been hiking Waterton for decades. Like Glacier, it’s one of the very best places in the world to see wildlife. (One day we saw 6 bears!)

more Waterton photos