Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles.
Mary prepared a lovely dinner for Derek and myself.
Some of us drank a little too much wine. Those who didn’t headed — next morning — up to Coeur d’Alene Idaho’s most popular local hiking area, Mt Canfield.
A gorgeous winter day, we were surprised not to see any other hikers. Nor even dog walkers.
Did they ALL drink too much wine the previous evening?
Thanks Mary. 🙂
Megan Michelson:
On January 20, 2003, seven people were killed in a class 3 avalanche on a peak called La Traviata near Selkirk Mountain Experience, a backcountry hut and guiding operation outside Revelstoke, BC. The guide that day was SME owner and lead guide, Ruedi Beglinger, a Switzerland native with the highest level of mountain guiding certification and decades of experience. Until that day in 2003, SME had never had a serious injury or death during its then 18 years in business. …
… a new feature-length documentary called ”A Life Ascending” about the life and family of guide Ruedi Beglinger has been released on the film festival circuit. It recently won the audience choice award at Colorado’s Docuwest Film Festival …
The DVD goes on sale Feb. 28th.
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.
social media – Facebook | @alifeascending
I’ve subscribed to the blog, too.
RIP Rob and Mark Glaser, friends of mine killed by avalanche in 2011.
By Enrique Pacheco. It includes yet more Northern Lights.
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
via Adventure Journal – Iceland, Raw and Wild
via Walking Home From Mongolia on Facebook
… Rob Lilwall and Leon McCarron on a 5,000 km winter expedition …
They emerged from the Mongolian Gobi and crossed the border back into bleak, freezing China.
It sounds horrible.
Shout out for this adventure sport company based out of Niseko, Japan.
They offer back country ski tours, shoeshoe treks, “snow rafting”, kayak trips and much more.
Even though I wasn’t a client, Lion Adventures helped me organize my transport to Mt Yotei when there was nobody else in town who could have helped.
Niseko is composed of six ski areas. It was in 2008 voted into the world’s top 10 ski resorts for the first time.
… Niseko was named as the world’s #2 snowiest resort in December 2007 with annual average snow fall of 595 inches (15.11 m) First place went to the Mt. Baker Ski Area in Washington State with 641 inches (16,300 mm). …
Though still very undeveloped, Niseko has been discovered. Property values are going up.
… I shouldn’t have been surprised that the girl at the desk had lived in the ski resort of Banff, Canada and had worked at my favourite restaurant. (Coyote Deli)
trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
My alarm went off at 4:40am.
Yet it was 12:30pm before I started up the trailhead to climb Mount Yōtei out of Niseko, the most popular ski resort in Japan.
… often referred to as the “Mt. Fuji of Hokkaido” …
Here’s how the volcano looked when I came knocking.
Lonely Planet Hiking in Japan:
One of the toughest day hikes around with a 1500m climb up to a perfectly shaped volcano …
My guidebook called it 8-10hrs round trip. Signage said it took longer than that. There was no way I could make it this day.
… I started up.
Footing was good. Weather excellent (so far).
About half way up I met a savvy Japanese hiker already coming down. He was concerned at where I was on the mountain relative to the time. I assured him I’d be turning around quite soon.
… But you know, guys like me, Rob Hall & Gary Ball — we can push the turnaround time later than most.
And the weather actually got better instead of worse as I gained elevation.
When I saw the mountain hut I knew I’d make the top.
Normally manned by a warden, it had been locked up for weeks. Almost nobody hikes this late in the season.
I only stayed on the crater rim for about 3min as it was already 4pm. … And it gets dark starting about 4:30pm.
The second time on the crater rim I was furious. I’d dropped my camera in the snow when starting to RUN down the mountain. And then hustle back up. It’s now 4:20pm.
The welcome lights of the trailhead campground toilet. It’s 6:30pm.
The campground had been long closed. Yet incredibly the washrooms were left open and powered on. Thank-you Japan.
I tented here all alone, hoping to see one of the infamous pesky foxes. They’d long given up on the campground too.
See all my photos from this day hike.
I know what you’re thinking — this scramble was a “success” ?!
Success is relative on this trip. 🙂
I saw this on TrailsNet.com.
… It is like a ski – snowboard – skateboard version of the Ridekick. Whereas the Ridekick is a self-propulsion system for bikes, the Skizee does the same thing for skis. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
details and links – name
… I’d find some way to run over myself. 🙂
CONGRATS to Tim Park and Jim Maidment from (nearby) Kimberley, B.C. on bringing this fun product.
Jökulsárlón (lit. “Glacier Lagoon”) is the largest glacier lagoon or lake in Iceland.
… it evolved into a lagoon after the glacier started receding from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The lake has grown since then at varying rates because of melting of the Icelandic glaciers. The lagoon now stands 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) away from the ocean’s edge and covers an area of about 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi). …
The size of the lagoon has increased fourfold since the 1970s. It is considered as one of the natural wonders of Iceland.
Some are ash covered, from recent eruption.
… The Jökulsárlón lagoon provides outstanding views of the Ice Cap, which is a vast dome of ice that rises to a height of 3,000 feet (910 m). It spills to the lagoon 12 miles (19 km) away from the jagged glacier hill to the edge of the water line. …
Iceland is a photographer’s dream. And this lagoon may just be the single most photogenic site on the island.
I do love icebergs.
Don’t miss the ocean shoreline, the other side of the bridge, far less visited than the lagoon.
See more photos of this incredible place.
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Kjós (‘Dell’)
Distance: 24 km
Walking time: 8 hrs.
Skaftafell, is part of Vatnajökull, the largest National Park in Europe.
Skaftafell Visitor Centre is the most popular access. Indeed, this is the most popular campground in Iceland.
… OK, it’s EARLY in the season (June 13-14). The hordes have not yet arrived. It was closed 4 days not so long ago due to eruption of the Grímsvötn volcano, a fairly frequent occurrence, actually.
There are plenty of hiking & glacier walk options from this trailhead. Most are headed to Svartifoss.
The only backcountry tenting allowed out of Skaftafell Visitor Centre is Kjos (see map below), at the start of an unusual glacial flood plain valley called Morsárdalur.
One of the bridges had been washed out, so I needed to go in-and-out to Kjos via the same ‘route’ (It’s not signed all the way.)
Here I’m taking the easiest Morsá river crossing.
Water crossings are the biggest challenge when hiking this island. I can see why Alastair Humphreys took a packraft on his crossing of Iceland, unsupported.
Aside from the route finding, Kjos is a pretty easy walk without much elevation gain.
There’s the campsite, just coming into view.
I set up here instead, under a rock overhang.
Instead of scrambling adjacent peaks, I relaxed in the tent. The weather was a continuous drizzle. Visibility was poor, anyway.
I was quite content listening to my audio book, The Girl Who Played with Fire.
This hike reminded me of similar walks towards glaciers in the Yukon. But a big difference here are the big, black desolate areas of volcanic ash. Stark and photogenic.
I’d love to do a long walk over the ash black wasteland one day. It would be like crossing salt flats.
See more photos from this hike on flickr.
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Svartifoss (Black Fall) is a waterfall in Skaftafell … Iceland, and is one of the most popular sights in the park.
It is surrounded by dark lava columns, which give rise to its name. The hexagonal columns were formed inside a lava flow which cooled extremely slowly, giving rise to crystallization. Similar well-known lava formations are seen at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, and on the island of Staffa in Scotland. …
After seeing the unique falls, I continued on to the Skaftafellsjökull glacier overlook.
I left a Summit Stone at the base of this sign.
From there you can walk up and alongside the big ice.
It was a tad bit windy, as you may be able to tell from this photo. (I might have been able to BASE jump using just my jacket.)
besthike.com 