Category: scrambles

Posted on

Teapot Mountain Trail, Taiwan

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

I’d heard good things about this short day hike —Teapot Mountain Trail — a final approach to the summit needing a fun scramble through a narrow passage in the teapot-shaped rock.

The hike begins with a steady ascent up a well-maintained stone staircase. With every step, breathtaking views of the Ocean and the rugged northern coastline improve. The path winds up the green, rolling hills that characterize this scenic area.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. You can see the scramble. It’s short, not difficult, BUT very narrow. I had to take off my day pack.

  • 3.2km out and back (though you can descend on different trails and extend the hike)
  • 283m elevation gain, mostly on good stone steps
  • slippery coming down in the rain. GOOD SHOES needed.
  • some road walking, depending on route
  • easy access by local bus from Jiufen, a super popular tourist trap.

I returned via the New Taipei City Gold Museum. Very interesting.

There are a number of tunnels still open for exploration.

Screenshot

Up and down there are many rest stations, shrines, and temples.

John Marvin Raganas had the trail almost to himself. (It was crowded to the point of being dangerous when I was there. I spent as little time on the summit as possible.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

For MORE in this area, check out Complete Guide of Mt. Teapot in Jiufen, Plus Mt. Canguanliao, Mt. Banping, and Mt. Nanzilin

Posted on

‘Coasteering’ = Hiking / Swimming Rocky Coastlines

Coasteering is movement along the intertidal zone of a rocky coastline on foot or by swimming, without the aid of boats, surf boards or other craft.

Coasteering allows a person to move in the “impact zone” between a body of water and the coast where waves, tides, wind, rocks, cliffs, gullies, and caves come together.

The term was first used by Edward C Pyatt as the combination of the words “mountaineering” and “coast” and was adopted by Andy Middleton in Wales in 1985, who then made it a business idea. …

The rocky cliff coasts of western Britain provide the world’s principal location for organised guided coasteering, where it is available from over 100 activity centres. …

Coasteering may be included as one of the disciplines for a stage of an adventure race. …

Read more – UKC – Coasteering: The Wildest Way to Explore the Coast


Posted on

BestHike loves Cortina, Italy

You can see weird and wild limestone spires right from town. Convenient, efficient public transport makes for easy access to trails for hikers of all levels of ability.

One of our top 10 hiking towns in the world.

Cortina d’Ampezzo (German: Hayden) is a town and commune in the southern (Dolomitic) Alps …

The city centre is located at an altitude of 1,224 m …

Cortina is situated more or less to the center of the Ampezzana valley, encircled nearly completely on four sides by the high Dolomites. …

Population (2008) was 6150.

Shop at La Cooperativa di Cortina for gear and trekking food.

More interesting photos tagged Cortina.

La Baita

Our favourite hike hikes in the Dolomites, to mention just a few, are:

• Bocca di Brenta to Molvena
• Over the Nuvolau
• Sciliar through the Catinaccio
• Tre Cime di Lavaredo Circuit

Check our Dolomites information page.

besthike editor Rick McCharles – Tre Cime

Best months for hiking are mid-June to early October.

Check our Dolomites information page.

Posted on

Top 10 Hiking Destinations ➙ Dolomites, Italy

High altitude adventure and colourful sunsets.

Wow!

At BestHike we rank all mountain vistas in the world against Paine in Chile, and Fitz Roy in Argentina.

The scenery in the Dolomites may be just as good. And there are far, far more stunning jagged peaks in Italy than in all of South America.

Seceda – Odle mountains.

Many, many Europeans get out hiking during the Summer. Trails are crowded everywhere throughout the Dolomites and the Alps. There’s a great shared sense of community here.

Instant gratification. You can ride chair lifts up to the very tops of some of these peaks. How convenient is that? Almost anyone can find a best hike for themselves in this range.

WW I history in the Dolomites is sobering. German, Austrian and Italian soldiers were stuck digging tunnels through these mountains through several winters. This was the “Front”. Needless to say, far more young men died from the elements and falls than by fire fights. There are reminders of the Great War everywhere.

Here is the home of via ferrata (Italian for “iron road”). (In fact, our next trip to the Dolomites will be dedicated to doing some of the best of those assisted climbing routes.)

photo by Away On The Road

Not everything is perfect in the Dolomites. We prefer the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, overall.

In the Sierras I can put up a tent anywhere I want. Fantastic.

Unfortunately, in the Dolomites you are required to sleep in alpine buildings called Refuges. (Refugios – Italian). Their locations are stunning. Many people love them. But – personally – I prefer my tent over sleeping on the floor. Or in bunk beds.

Happily you can reach almost any place in the Dolomites by day hike. Public transportation in the valleys below is good!

The two regions – the Sierras and the Dolomites – are similar in that everywhere is a best hike.

I do like the food and drink at Refugios. Prices are regulated.

The main reason I had not hiked in Europe in 30yrs is cost. Italy can be expensive.

It’s possible to hike on the cheap. Putting up my tent in a campground in Cortina only cost 9€ (US$12.80) / night in 2009.  Ryan tells us it’s up to 44€ / night summer 2023!

Bread, chocolate, soft cheese and wine are inexpensive. What more do you need?

Dan & Janine Patitucci relocated from California to the Dolomites. A good site in English for inspiration. A partner offers Dolomite hiking and biking tours.

For specific information on how to hike these limestone mountains, check our Dolomites Information page.

Leave a comment if you have your own favourite hike in the Dolomites.

Posted on

Hiking Wonderwall & Wonderland, UAE

If you get to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, consider heading out to the Western Hajar Mountains, which run alongside the border with Oman.

Perhaps the BEST hike / scramble is Wonderwall & Wonderland.

Others include:

  • White Wadi
  • Jabal Jais southside
  • Leopard Canyon

Add on abseiling, if you sign on with Adventurati guides.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Posted on

TOP 10 Hiking Towns ➙ Cortina, Italy

You can see weird and wild limestone spires right from town. Convenient, efficient public transport makes for easy access to trails for hikers of all levels of ability.

One of our top 10 hiking towns in the world.

Cortina d’Ampezzo (German: Hayden) is a town and commune in the southern (Dolomitic) Alps …

The city center is located at an altitude of 1,224 m …

Cortina is situated more or less to the center of the Ampezzana valley, encircled nearly completely on four sides by the high Dolomites. …

Population (2008) was 6150.

Shop at La Cooperativa di Cortina for gear and trekking food.

More interesting photos tagged Cortina.

La Baita

Our favourite hike hikes in the Dolomites, to mention just a few, are:

• Bocca di Brenta to Molvena
• Over the Nuvolau
• Sciliar through the Catinaccio
• Tre Cime di Lavaredo Circuit

Check our Dolomites information page.

besthike editor Rick McCharles – Tre Cime

Best months for hiking are mid-June to early October.

Start on our Dolomites information page.

Posted on

Hike the Malerweg (Painter’s Way) in Germany

I met a young German hiker who had just completed the (approximately) 116 km adventure on the eastern border of Germany near Dresden.

He really enjoyed it.

It’s not well known outside Germany. Within Deutschland, some consider it the most beautiful hike in the nation.

Highlights include:

Schrammsteine

The official guide spits the trail to 8 stages / days. This is a very easy-going pace which allows for lots of options for side trips or drinking delicious German beer (or both for the ones who dare). I found 4-5 days just enough for a fully-loaded hiker who wants to enjoy hiking, not rush too much but also not sit in pubs for too long either.

Get in

It’s fairly easy to get to the trail or to any of its sections. There are many train connections from Dresden or Prague and public buses or trams operate within the area itself in some sections.

Eating & drinking

Resupplying food is not easy. The trail goes through very touristic places with many pubs and cafes but there aren’t any groceries. … The only food stores we found were a tiny bio bakery in Schmilka (very pricey – but great – pastries and bread) and a small grocery shop in Kroppen …. It’s not hard to make a bus trip to a nearby town to visit a supermarket ….

Navigation

Navigation is easy. Even though the trail is well marked with painted Ms, there were still some crossroads where we weren’t sure which way to go. Not having GPS or printed maps, we used only the mobile app Mapy.cz – it’s free and it has a tourist offline map of Germany with great resolution and precise, visible trails. …

Hiking is Good
Bastei Bridge

Details on the hike.

Click PLAY or watch Lennart Schoors‘ hike on YouTube.

Posted on

Hiking Schrammsteine, Germany

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

I’ll bet you’ve never heard of the Schrammsteine rock formation close to Dresden.

Located in Saxon Switzerland National Park on the eastern German border.

Click PLAY or get a glimpse on YouTube.

Though it’s a long, strung-out, jagged rock formation, most hikers head up to this view point at a height of 417.2 m.

To get there, I followed signs saying “Schrammsteinaussicht” (Schrammstein view) until close to the top when they switched to “Wildschützensteg“.

There are many ways up, however. I doubt you could easily get lost.

Be psyched for many ladders and some scrambling. No exposure, however. Typically you are wedged into the rock.

I came to this National Park for the much more famous, nearby Bastei Bridge hike. But I’d say Schrammsteine is equally good.

And I had the view point to myself while nearby Bastei is thronged with tourists.

Posted on

Hiking Segla & Hesten, Arctic Norway

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

Click PLAY or watch get a glimpse on YouTube.

I climbed famed Segla in 2022.

In 2023, returned and climbed Hesten. Set up my tent.

 5.3-km out-and-back.

Wait on the weather. You want the summit of Segla to be visible.

The best views of Segla are from Hesten.

Hikers on Heston looking over to Segla

There are a couple of trails up and down Heston. Some require scrambling.

Best months are June through September.

Ximonic (Simo Räsänen) 

The views are spectacular. This is definitely one of the very best hikes in Norway.

Looks good?

First you need to get to Senja Island in remote Arctic Norway. 😀

More photos.