scrambles – Page 8 – besthike.com

July 17, 2015July 18, 2015

climbing Mount Sopris, CO

trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

I’m arrived Colorado. 🙂 Only my second hiking trip to this fantastic State.

As a warm-up leg stretcher, on Saturday I attempted Sopris, the imposing peak above Carbondale. Elevation 12,953 feet.

Sopris

We were up at 6am. My host, Brion, owner of Independence Run and Hike, wished it had been 5am. The Colorado Rockies are famous for mid-day lightning storms.

At the trailhead Brion took off for a training run. I turned the opposite direction to start up Sopris.

Brion warned me of aggressive cows and possibly even bulls. They weren’t aggressive with us. But they were a bit of a pain.

I met Matt – recently moved to Colorado from the East coast – at the start. He and I walked together to the top.

We took no breaks up to the Thomas lakes. Happy with the speed of ascent, we decided to carry on and have our first break above the treeline.

Lunch on the ridge was terrific. Big vistas down both sides.

Above the treeline the scramble up Sopris begins. The trail disappears at times up unstable boulders.

Our goal was the first summit. It looked an easy hour from our lunch vantage.

Up on the scree ridge footing gets easier leading to the false summit. Many stop here as the views are just about as good as on the summit. But Matt and I felt good. Wanted to go all the way.

And the weather was holding. Check this blue sky. 🙂

Sadly, in the other direction big scary clouds were rushing up the valley. When we saw the first lightning bolts, we turned back. 🙂

I planned to hurry down to the lakes. And cool my feet in cold alpine waters.

It’s far more dangerous going down than climbing up. Be careful.

A real highlight this time of year is wild flowers.

As the weather worsened, I increased my pace. But still got caught in a downpour the last 20 minutes to the parking lot.

I hid from the rain at the pit toilet, changing clothes for the long mountain bike ride back to Carbondale.

I always carry empty dry bags in my pack just for this kind of soaking rain.

It was a fun, muddy roll down the mountain. The best part of the day.

more photos

related – Hiking in Colorado – Mount Sopris

April 13, 2015April 12, 2015

NEW – Kings Canyon High Basin Route

Andrew Skurka:

Seven years ago I thru-hiked with Buzz Burrell the Sierra High Route, which parallels the crest of the High Sierra between Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park. Its 200 miles represents less than 1 percent of the total miles that I have hiked, yet the experience proved to be one of the most influential: it revealed to me the grander sense of adventure when off-trail. …

A few months ago in “Short is the new long,” I wrote vaguely about my future backpacking plans. Rather than single expeditions lasting multiple months and covering thousands of miles, my emerging interest is shorter routes that showcase a single topographic feature like a mountain range, watershed, or canyon system. Not only are such routes more practical for a husband and home-owner, but they can sustain a higher level of overall awesomeness than longer trails or routes, which invariably include mind-numbingly boring “transition” miles between worthy sections.

Today I’m thrilled to introduce my first original project, which I stitched together over two summers. The 124-mile Kings Canyon High Basin Route circumnavigates the upper watershed of California’s Kings River and is encompassed entirely within Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. It’s an instant classic, and I believe it’s at least on par with the original, Roper’s Sierra High Route, for being the finest route in the High Sierra. …

Two-thirds of the Kings Canyon High Basin Route — specifically, 82 of its 124 miles — is officially off-trail. Five of these segments are longer than 10 miles, and one extends for 21! Save for the very beginning, very end, and 11 miles on the High Sierra Highway (aka John Muir Trail) in the middle, its on-trail miles are typically on lightly traveled pathways deep in the backcountry. …

Finest route in the High Sierra? Introducing the Kings Canyon High Basin Route.

If interested, here are the best links:

Kings Canyon High Basin Route and Kings Canyon High Basin Route Guide – Download $25.00

April 9, 2015April 6, 2015

Zebra Canyon and Tunnel Slot, Escalante

Utah Canyons STORE & COFFEE SHOP should be your first stop on arriving in Escalante, Utah.

We have fuel, custom annotated topographic maps, guidebooks and “desert tested” gear to help you fully enjoy your remote day-hike, canyoneering adventure or epic backpacking trip. …

Get local information on what hikes are best while you are there.

There are plenty of fantastic overnight and day hikes in the area.

Zebra Canyon and Tunnel Slot looks perfect to me.

… we decided to stop and check out the beautiful Zebra Canyon. The added bonus to this route was tunnel Slot, a very dark tunnel through the sandstone, filled with ice cold water. Visiting these two locations took us 3.5 hours.

We went as far as we could up Zebra first then turned around and hiked out then up the sandstone to the top of this canyon to look down it. Up top we found tons of moqui marbles in all various sizes. …

After this canyon we hiked straight towards Tunnel Slot by taking the obvious cut in the terrain connecting the two canyons. Arriving at the top of Tunnel we found that it was full of water whose depth was hard to determine and ended up being about thigh deep. Tunnel Slot is a very short oddity of a canyon due to its shape but was fun to visit. It also had the coldest water I think I’ve ever felt in my life. The short stint in the water, maybe 75 feet made my feet and legs feel like they suddenly belonged to someone else. …

trip report from 2012

February 7, 2015February 5, 2015

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.

September 14, 2014September 14, 2014

lost on the Heart Mountain Horseshoe

Heart Mountain is west of Calgary, Alberta …

The 2,149 m (6,020 ft) mountain is easily distinguishable by its heart-shaped summit …

At the base of the mountain a left turn onto the flat, good quality, Quaite Creek trail delivers us past a pristine swamp with mirror surface water and back to the car. The 11 KM (7 mile) loop …

Hiking with Barry

Barry makes it sound easy. 🙂

Local hiking Guru Kelly Mock recommended that loop, due to an early winter snowfall, but in reverse. Finishing coming down the Hart Mountain trail. We parked at the the Heart Creek trailhead.

Steve had done the loop before, but in the normal direction. We set off looking to ascend on the Quaite Creek trail.

Only Sept 13th, there was much more snow than we anticipated. But we hoped the snow would have been blown off the ridges, once we got up there.

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We tried bushwhacking through deep snow between trees to get up on the windswept ridge.

We tried.

If was tough going, postholing non-stop. For hours. Off trail. 😦

Here’s the highpoint reached.

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Sadly slipping on that snowfield up to the ridge was a death drop. We turned back, the sun warm, the sky blue, the wet snow … turning to slush.

steep Heart Mtn

Yes. It was steep.

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We scrambled off trail down a different route, eventually getting back to the regulation track after 8 hours.

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Phoning Kelly Mock to curse his bad advice, it turned out Kelly had started the Horseshoe in the normal direction, hoping to surprise us half way round.

After a half hour Kelly quit. You’d have to be an idiot to try Heart in these snow conditions. 🙂

Oh well. It was a terrific quad workout.

more of Steve’s and my photos

September 1, 2014August 9, 2018

Lake Lovely Water Trail, B.C.

The Tantalus Range is easily viewed from the “Sea to Sky Highway” that travels from Vancouver to Squamish and Whistler.

Tantalus

Lake Lovely Water is a Mountaineer’s and Scrambler’s Paradise. But it’s not for the inexperienced nor ill-prepared.

There is a 6.5 km (4-6 hour) hike to Lake Lovely Water. The trail is very rugged and steep. Good route finding skills and proper equipment and clothing are required. Weather can change quickly, causing limited visibility.

There are steep and rugged established trails leading from the cabin towards Niobe Meadows (approximately 2.5km one-way) and Lambda Lake Meadows (approximately 3.5km one-way).

BC Parks

Access to the Lake Lovely Water trail requires crossing the Squamish River. Jetboat service may be available out of Brackendale. Or you could chopper out of Squamish Airport direct to a hut. Contact Omega Aviation 604-898-1067 or Black Tusk Helicopters 604-898-4800.

I’ve heard of hikers canoeing across.

By reservation only, you could stay at either Tantalus Hut on the Lake (3850ft) or Jim Haberl Hut (6800ft).

related – Tantalust, Part V: Epilogue (heli hiking)

August 8, 2014August 6, 2014

Roof of Yosemite Loop

Leor Pantilat seems to have invented his own high Sierra route:

The Roof of Yosemite Loop travels to the highest point in Yosemite National Park on 13,114 ft Mount Lyell and also includes ascents of 12,900 ft Mount Maclure (5th highest in the park) and 12,561 ft Mount Florence (9th highest in the park). …

The Roof of Yosemite Loop combines many of the highlights of this region into an aesthetic and highly scenic loop. …

Leor Pantilat’s Adventures – The Roof of Yosemite Loop

That looks one wild and challenging adventure. 🙂

I believe I saw this linked from Hiking in Finland.

August 6, 2014August 6, 2014

Villarrica Volcano, Chile

Villarrica is one of Chile’s most active volcanoes, rising above the lake and town of the same name. …

Villarrica is one of the world’s most climbed stratovolcanoes. Guided hikes to the crater are offered from the town of Pucón by several enterprises, but ascent might be suspended due to cloudiness and in periods of seismic or increased volcanic activity. Helicopter sightseeing services offer flights over the crater as well. In the winter (July–September) a ski resort operates on the northern slopes. In 2007 a service guided helicopter began to offer flights over the crater. …

Check a trip report by DAMIAN HALL posted on the Merrell blog.

Turning up at the guide company office at 7 a.m. for the third morning in a row, my travel buddy Elizabeth and I had quietly given up on ever climbing the 9,340 foot Volcán Villarrica. …

The weather was calmer. We got the green light to climb the volcano. Gulp. …

It’s hard work climbing up the volcano, but the rewards are great. After a couple of hours of climbing, we gaped at the rich woodlands, discreet villages, vast lakes and hills worthy of hobbit habitation below. Indeed, the climb was about to go a bit Mt Doom …

read more – Epic Trails – VOLCAN VILLARRICA – A HOT HIKE IN THE CHILEAN LAKE DISTRICT

I once traveled to Pucón to climb this beast. My trip was canceled due to weather. It happens a lot.

May 26, 2014May 25, 2014

EEOR – East End of Rundle hike

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Canmore, Alberta in the Canadian Rockies

Elevation (feet): 8500
Elevation (meters): 2530

Difficulty: Scramble

Kelly lives in Canmore. Ray and Mark from nearby Calgary often join him for hikes.

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Sue, Steve and myself rendezvoused at the trailhead. May 24th, this was the first really good weekend for hiking out of Canmore.

Steep and longer than I expected, the only major difficulty comes at the very top.

Kelly, our fearless leader, decided to post hole us up this snow chute.

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On top we got a good view of Canmore in the Bow River valley. It started to snow.

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Spray Lakes Road.

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We opted to descend on the precarious looking ridge.

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It’s not nearly as exposed as it looks.

Some snow. We were happy to have brought gators.

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Our over ambitious original plan was to run up adjacent Ha Ling Peak from the same parking lot. … Instead we headed for the pub. FREE glass with a pint of beer. 🙂

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more photos

Getting There …

… You are almost guaranteed mountain sheep on the Spray Lakes Road. … There are restrooms at the Goats Creek Trail head parking area.

Red Tape- There are no permit requirements to enter, climb and/or park in Banff National Park or Kananaskis Provincial Park. This is active grizzly country however. Take bear spray. …

Peakware

May 17, 2014May 14, 2014

10 very scary hiking trails

Matador posted this list of thrilling walks.

1. Hua Shan (Shaanxi, China)

2. Caminito del Rey (Málaga, Spain)

3. Huayna Picchu (Machupicchu District, Peru) *

4. Half Dome (Yosemite National Park, California) *

5. Angel’s Landing (Zion National Park, Utah) *

6. Tianmen Mountain Walkway (Zhangjiajie, China)

7. Liathach (Torridon, Scotland)

Liathach

8. Crib Goch (Snowdonia National Park, Wales)

9. Pu’u Manamana (Oahu, Hawaii)

10. Amphiteatre (Northern Drakensberg, South Africa) *

10 DEATH-DEFYING TRAILS YOU’LL STILL WANT TO HIKE [PICS]