Kilian Jornet Burgada is the most dominating endurance athlete of his generation. …
… He has run across entire landmasses (Corsica) and mountain ranges (the Pyrenees), nearly without pause. He regularly runs all day eating only wild berries and drinking only from streams. …
A few years ago Jornet ran the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail and stopped just twice to sleep on the ground for a total of about 90 minutes. In the middle of the night he took a wrong turn, which added perhaps six miles to his run. He still finished in 38 hours 32 minutes, beating the record of Tim Twietmeyer, a legend in the world of ultrarunning, by more than seven hours. When he reached the finish line, he looked as if he’d just won the local turkey trot. …
So what’s next when you’re 25 and every one of the races on the wish list you drew up as a youngster has been won and crossed out? You dream up a new challenge. Last year Jornet began what he calls the Summits of My Life project, a four-year effort to set speed records climbing and descending some of the world’s most well known peaks, from the Matterhorn this summer to Mount Everest in 2015. …
Loggers Lake – Whistler, BC, Canada
On a trail run/hike out of my residence, Whistler’s Athletes Lodge, I passed this pretty volcanic crater lake.
You can’t lose hiking near Whistler B.C.
It’s all good.
One of the easier Whistler, BC, Canada lakes to access by walking a short distance. But, be aware, the distance to the lake may be short but the steep climb to the lake is not easy. … mainly loose rocks following a deactivated road, now hiking and mountain biking trail, for 350 metres.
Loggers Lake – Whistler, BC, CanadaLogger’s Lake, considered a watershed, is a small lake surrounded by trees and rock formations located in the Whistler Interpretive Forest. …
Rattlesnake Ledge, WA
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Though I’d rushed through Snoqualmie Pass dozens of times over the years – to or from Seattle – this was the first time I’d ever stopped to hike.
4.0 miles, roundtrip
Gain: 1160ft
Highest Point: 2078ftNo pass or permit required. And, no, there are no rattlesnakes.
This is a fine hike on a well maintained, albeit busy trail through the forest with views of the Cedar River watershed, Mount Si, Mount Washington, Rattlesnake Lake and Chester Morse Lake.
As soon as you arrive in the parking lot you have a view of Rattlesnake Ledge’s sheer rock face across Rattlesnake Lake. At this point it seems amazing to think you will be up there by the end of your hike, but a look at a trail map will reveal some well-engineered switchbacks …
WTA – Rattlesnake Ledge
It’s super popular. Hikers. Dog walkers. I saw many trail runners. (I walked up. Ran down, myself.)
Careful. In 2009 two different hikers fell to their deaths.
related – A lookout of legendary proportions
‘String Bean’ crushes the PCT
A 23-year-old Seattle man has smashed the speed record for hiking the full length of the Pacific Crest Trail. Recent college grad Joe McConaughy crossed into Canada on Sunday, exactly 53 days, 6 hours and 37 minutes after leaving the Mexican border on the storied trail. McConaughy says he felt elation and disbelief at the finish of the 2,660 mile journey. …
There is no official time keeper for long distance trail records. McConaughy had a support team and a satellite tracking beacon to verify his time. He says he ran the downhill and flat sections and generally hiked the uphills.
Even McConaughy sounds astonished by the pace he maintained. “I can’t believe that I averaged 50 whole miles a day over some of the toughest mountains in the West …
Seattle Runner Smashes Speed Record For Full Length Of Pacific Crest Trail
Click PLAY or watch an interview en route, near Bend, Oregon.
The long distance hiking fraternity recognizes a separate record for trekking border to border alone, without an accompanying support team. Heather ‘Anish’ Anderson of Bellingham continues to own that record of 60 days, 17 hours.
(via Fedak)
NO jogging Dungeness Spit, Washington
Dungeness Spit is one of the world’s longest natural sand spits, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) long and very narrow. A lighthouse, the New Dungeness Light, built in 1857, is located near the end of the spit. …
I jogged from a distant parking lot to the entrance, only to be told:
To ensure that wildlife continue to have a place to rest and feed, some recreational activities such as jogging, swimming, and other beach activities are allowed only in selected areas during certain times of the year. …
No jogging. 😦
Instead I ran on west of the Park. There’s a very popular trail on top of the bluffs.
The beach far below looks good too.
Expedition Idaho Adventure Race
7-days of continuous physical and mental challenge, almost no sleep, bad food, questionable water. Who invented this sport? 🙂
To stagger the start of Expedition Idaho, Race Director Dave Adlard, set a unique prologue.
Teams had to climb the toughest waterslide, starting over if anyone slipped.
If successful, they then took a victory lap … running the Lazy River. Backwards. 🙂
This is even tougher than it looks.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Good luck.
Mt Townsend Trail, Washington
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
8.2 miles round trip
In 1792, as Captain George Vancouver was exploring the Puget Sound, he named a large, protected bay Port Townshend. The h was eventually dropped.
One of the most hiked summits in the Olympics, and it’s easy to see why this peak is so popular. Easy access, a long hiking season, and unparalleled views of Puget Sound and the eastern half of the Olympics give Mount Townsend quite an edge. Of the three trails leading to its summit, Trail No. 839 is the route most taken. …
Most hikers intent on reaching the 6280-foot open summit opt to begin their journey from the upper trailhead. This saves 1.2 miles and 600 feet of elevation gain, but at the expense of missing a beautiful old-growth forest and Sink Lake, a small body of water that causes tumbling Townsend Creek to disappear. …
I did start from the upper trailhead. 4 miles at an angle of about 20 degrees was challenging enough.
Perfect weather, the only surprise were solo tent caterpillars dangling down across the trail at lower elevations.
It took longer than expected to clear the tress and get to the gorgeous views.
Up top, late in the afternoon, it was just me and these guys. 🙂
I decided to go for a scramble down this ridge, eventually having to retrace my steps.
Somewhere on that ridge, I left a Summit Stone.
I didn’t get back to the parking lot until 7:30pm, much later than I had expected. My trail running down hill was not all that speedy.
• map
• another trip report – Mount Townsend Trail #839
running the Drakensberg Grand Traverse
“Travailen” follows Ryan Sandes and Ryno Griesel on their attempt of the Drakensberg Grand Traverse (DGT) in South Africa.
Travailen – Official Trailer
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
related – National Geographic – North Drakensberg Traverse, South Africa/Lesotho, uKhahlamba/ Drakensberg Park
(via Outside)
Belvedere Hike, South Africa
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
While visiting the must see tourist attraction of Bourke’s Luck Potholes in Blyde Canyon, I checked details on the not-so-popular Belevedere hike.
You must register at Bourke’s Luck. Pay a trail fee of about $5 in addition to the parking fee of $5. Start the hike before Noon and be back by 4pm.
I talked them into letting me start well past 1pm, promising to do a trail run to make up the time. I ended up checking out at about 4:30pm.
The trail down into Blyde River canyon is easy to navigate.
Promoted as “strenuous”, I’d more call it “overgrown” and “non-maintained“. Only the most agile will be able to avoid all the spider webs.
It is pretty, though.
Not many tourists get down off the rim into the canyon. I saw nobody else on the trail this day.
The now defunct Belevedere hydro-electric power station is 400m below the Bourke’s Luck Potholes. Built in 1911, it was once the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
It’s about 10km to here and back up.
This abandoned hiking shelter has a fabulous location. I wish it would be restored.
day hiking the Fanie Botha
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
I would have loved to trek famed multi-day Fanie Botha Trail in South Africa.
But the best I could do was to day hike sections:
• Lone Creek Falls
• Bridal Veil Falls
• Mac Mac Falls
• Mac Mac Pools
Lone Creek Falls, a National monument, is yet another of the dozens of impressive waterfalls close to Graskop, South Africa.
Nearby are the equally impressive, but much more popular, Bridal Veil Falls.
I parked at Ceylon Hut on the Fanie Botha, then ran to Bridal Veil. The trail here is signed for mountain bikes, as well.
From the base of the falls, there’s a rough scramble up the escarpment. Scenic and challenging.
Mac Mac Falls is another National monument. I’d been warned the weather here is often misty and/or rainy. But this was the only day I got the typical slogging in the fog.
Parking at Mac Mac Falls, I hiked both directions on the Fanie Botha. Towards President Burger Hut (… yep, that’s the real name) is was mellow forest trail.
Towards Graskop Hut you walk the top of a cliff. It must be very scenic, when the clouds are not so low.
I’m assuming those are the Mac-Mac Pools. 🙂
I obviously did not hike far enough to reach the best of them.
besthike.com 