Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
I’ve often doubted the effectiveness of expensive sun block.
Here’s a product even I will pay big bucks for ….
Sierra Summits High Altitude Adventure Sunscreen, a zinc oxide mineral blocker for face and body. Oil free and Fragrance free, SPF 40, won’t burn eyes, has light elegant feel on skin. Formulated for sensitive skin types to perform and protect at altitude, on water, and closer to the equator, where UV rays are more intense.
For shipping only, they will send you a free sample.
Rick Smith on National Parks Traveler is compiling a list of the World’s best National Parks. He kickstarted the conversation:
Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Kruger National Park, South Africa
Tikal National Park, Guatemala
Kaieteur National Park, Guyana
Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary, Peru
OK, there are five of my favorites. Can you help us fill in five more blanks? If you have a great photo, send it along via email to kurt@nationalparkstraveler.com and we’ll see about posting it.
One that jumps to mind for me is Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. Home of the Paine Circuit trek.
larger original – flickr – dagpeak
All the National Parks in the Sierra Nevada, California are fantastic. I can’t choose one over the others along the John Muir Trail.
larger original – flickr
The Himalayas are fantastic. If I had to choose only one park, it would be the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) home of the Annapurna Circuit.
larger original – flickr – Mahatma4711
Thorung La – larger original – flickr – Lucy Crabapple
But there are a dozen others I could name, just as easily.
The world is a wonderful place.
Check Rick’s original post to add to his list – The World’s Top Ten National Parks
New website for our big Adventure Race in Idaho – AdventureSportsWeek.com
From June 5—14, 2009, Farragut State Park, located just north of beautiful Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, will host 24 different races and contests for outdoor enthusiasts and athletes of all ages and abilities!
With activities ranging from 4 & 8 hour mountain bike races to an orienteering meet, the official XTERRA Northwest Cup race, a Duathlon, 6 trail runs ranging in distance from 6k to 50 miles, five different adventure races (including one especially for kids!), a distance swim, a paddling event and many more, we’ve got something to satisfy the whole family!
Over 1000 athletes are expected to participate, and we want you to be a part of one of the USA’s largest outdoor festivals!
BestHike.com will be there.
official website – AdventureSportsWeek.com
Just bought 6 pairs of underwear, $12 each.
Mountain Equipment Co-op – MEC Seamless Classic Briefs (Men’s)
These are perfect.
Quick dry. Extremely comfortable.
Just as good as the $29.00 a pair Patagonia Active Briefs (Men’s).
The best site by far for hikers who EAT FOOD is Trail Cooking & The Outdoors.
Subscribe to that blog, for sure.
Sarah posted a good overview article: The Many Methods Of Trail Cooking. The main categories:
Freezer Bag Cooking™ (FBC style) One pot meals No Cook Method Insulated mug method
If you like one pot meals you should check out the recently announced Jetboil Flash PCS.
will come in four colors—black, gold, purple, and blue …
thermochromic technology (the decorative wave on the outside of the cup changes colors as contents inside heat up) …
translucent lid to track cooking progress …
The Flash PCS canister stove will be available for fall 2009 and will retail for $99.95.
I’ll be updating my current JetBoil. These are good improvements.
Click PLAY or watch a demo on YouTube.
Still … the entire system is dangerously unstable. (The centre of gravity too high for the small base of support.) I never use it without stabilizing the unit by burying the base in the sand, or bracing it with rocks.
Camping Blogger has a series of excellent posts for those planning future adventures in the USA.
The Internet has been a real boon for people trying to find campgrounds with open campsites available. Online reservations sites, like Reserve America and
Reservations.GovRecreation.gov, allow you to find a campground by proximity to a city, town, or popular attraction. Let’s see what we can find around Monterey, California – one of the more popular destinations in Northern California, in the next two weeks. …read the rest of this post – How to Reserve a Campsite Online
New to me was the use of Google Maps to check the exact location of specific campsites.
Good idea.
Related Camping Blogger posts:
J.P. recommends a new volume by Ben Gadd called “The Canadian Hiker’s and Backpacker’s Handbook” (publisher, Whitecap, 2008).
The book is slanted towards Canadian terrain and weather, so the gear and other recommendations are for those types of conditions. As a result super lightweight backpacking options aren’t emphasized in this book. Gear and hiking decision making is based with hypothermia- risky weather condtions always being a factor in much of Canada.
On the trail in the Canadian Rockies we call our local legend Ben God.
His Handbook of the Canadian Rockies
… I’m gone to log in to my local library website to put a request in for Gadd’s latest book.
Thanks J.P.
The best walk in Australia — our #10 best trek in the World — is Tasmania’s Overland Track.
John & Monica Chapman self-publish the best guidebook for the OT. (Chapman’s guidebooks are the best in the world, in fact.)
But personally I prefer the just released Overland Track eBook (PDF format) by Frank & Sue Wall.
.
What hiking gear you will need?
What food to take?
How to organise your meals?
How to get the start of the walk and home again?
What are the best transport options?
What first aid kit you need?
Can you walk the Overland Track solo?
How hard is the Overland Track?
What is the best way to get to Cradle Mountain?
Why is an eBook better than a hard copy guidebook?
easy for the authors to update links to web pages and email addresses downloads instantly I can carry it on my iTouch
And DIRT CHEAP at A$7 for 18,000+ words and heaps of photographs
Check out a couple of sample graphics:
Beautiful.
Brilliant.
This is exactly the kind of information I need when planning a major hike.
Thanks to Frank in Oz for putting this together based on his past 10 OT tramps.
Download a free sample of the eBook from this page: Hiking the Overland Track – the downloadable book
I’m looking at options for recording adventure racing events.
This would work.
VholdR Wearable Camcorder (Black) ($330)
Leave a comment if you have any other recommendations.
“Waterproof” (or water resistance) is a big selling point. Here is the VholdR being used on a Jetski.
My buddy Dave Adlard is a master organizer of big events.
He’s putting together the biggest new Adventure Race anywhere!
Adventure Week is schedule to take place June 5th – 14th, 2009 at Farragut State Park, just 30 miles outside of Coeur d’Alene. The jam-packed schedule will include a number of amazing races, including triathlons, mountain biking, and adventure races. There will also be orienteering competitions, mountain treks, and even disc golf tournaments. And endurance athletes are not going to want to miss “The Crux and The Crucible“, two demanding and rewarding adventure races that will push teams to the limits.
There’s truly something for everyone. Beginners. Children. Recreational outdoors enthusiasts. Even World Class endurance athletes.
Details on the official website: Adventure Week 2009. (I’m the editor.)
Or download the detailed brochure in PDF format.
Put the dates on your calendar now. It’s going to be FANTASTIC.
besthike.com 