Category: volcanoes

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Lake of Eternal Life, Iceland

HANK LEUKART:

Brian and I start by trekking two classic, connected Iceland treks: the Fimmvörðuháls and Laugavegur Trails, the first of which begins at a huge waterfall called Skógafoss on the southern coast.

We feel almost disappointed to be enveloped by the sublime, rolling, green hills and plethora of waterfalls, because it feels like we’re in the most beautiful place in Iceland already — we’re getting a fantastic payoff way too early in our trip. Soon enough, though, as we continue through the snow and glaciers near Fimmvörðuháls Hut, it becomes obvious that there’s no chance Iceland will ever disappoint us no matter where we go. …

Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.

In January 2014, the Icelandic government announced plans to revoke 30-year-old environmental protections, putting Mývatn Lake, the Þjórsá River, and the Highlands in danger of destruction so that new hydropower plants can be built. Three waterfalls on the Þjórsá River — Kjálkaversfoss, Dynkur, and Gljúfurleitarfoss — may be ruined. Now may be the last time in history that hikers can see all of Iceland’s natural, untouched beauty …

read more – Without Baggage – Mission Iceland: A Tale of Two Brothers

Two brothers search for eternal life in the Icelandic wilderness.

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Tongariro Circuit, New Zealand

Tongariro Northern Circuit is the best hike in the best trekking region in the world — New Zealand.

How can that be?

Why do we like the circuit better than the dozens of other awesome Kiwi walks?

These videos make it clear. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch a wonderful GreatWalks.co.nz promo on YouTube.

And another. Click PLAY or watch Dave and Tim on a snowy Circuit on YouTube.

We’ve updated and moved our Tongariro Circuit information page. Click through if you might want to organize your own Tongariro Circuit.

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Laugavegur trek, Iceland

James Handlon signed on with adventure travel company Arctic Adventures to finally trek Laugavegur.

After several hours of bumpy off-roading we finally arrived late in the day at the Landmannalaugar campsite, a weird mix of surreal landscape, Glastonbury Music Festival and refugee camp all thrown together creating the most bizarre of places to start a trek .…

Landmannalaugar campsite

Gorgeous.

weird landscape

Read his entire trip report following the links from the bottom of THE LAUGAVEGUR ICELANDIC TREK – DAY 1 page.

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climbing Mt Cameroon

camerounWest Africa’s highest mountain.

Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its native name Mongo ma Ndemi (“Mountain of Greatness”).

… The most recent eruptions occurred on February 3rd, 2012.

Mount Cameroon is one of Africa’s largest volcanoes, rising to 4,040 metres (13,255 ft) above the coast of west Cameroon. It rises from the coast through tropical rainforest to a bare summit which is cold, windy, and occasionally brushed with snow. …

There are several trails on the mountain. The oldest and steepest trail is the Guinness Trail. … Porters and guides are compulsory on this 2-3 day trek. Basic huts and camps can be found on the main trails. …

Go Africa

trip report from 2010

summit cloud

related – Mount Cameroon Race of Hope

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Colca Canyon, Peru

BBC and Lonely Planet posted an article on one of the best hikes in the world:

Most first-time visitors to Peru make a beeline for the ruins of Machu Picchu, without realizing that they are passing within a bus ride of the epic Colca Canyon.

Slicing through the High Andes like a giant fissure for more than 100km, Colca is the world’s second deepest canyon, approximately 3,400m at its deepest point — a shade shallower that the nearby Cotahuasi Canyon and nearly twice as deep as the US’ Grand Canyon. …

With a few days to spare and minimal planning, it is easy to shoehorn Colca Canyon into a wider Peruvian trip. The area is best accessed via Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city …

The Calera hot springs are an acclimatizing 3km walk up the valley to a scenic spot by the Colca River. Once there, recline in a simple alfresco pool as screaming zip-liners slide terrified across the canyon overhead. The zip-line stretches for 600mbetween the canyon walls simulating the flight path of an Andean Condor. …

read more – Exploring Peru’s epic Colca Canyon

Check our Colca Canyon information page.

Consider climbing 5822m (19,101ft) Misti Volcano on the same trip.

You need enough time for acclimatizing to altitude, of course.

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barefoot to Kilimanjaro

The barefoot movement is going too far with this project.

Ross on Science of Sport:

Only 3 days to go before I jet off to Kilimanjaro to tackle Africa’s highest summit, and the world’s highest free-standing mountain…barefoot…

My mission is to help get ONE person to the top barefoot, and to do it safely. …

The Barefoot Kilimanjaro Challenge

It’s an attention getter, that’s for sure. Funds raised go to the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in South Africa.

related – Killian Jornet record for summitting Kilimanjaro in light shoes – 7 hours 14 minutes return. (VIDEO)

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The Year in Volcanic Activity

The Atlantic:

Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes around the world, 50 or so erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and lava. In 2011, active volcanoes included Chile’s Puyehue, Japan’s Shinmoedake, Indonesia’s Lokon, Iceland’s Grímsvötn, Italy’s Etna, and recently Nyamulagira in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Hawaii, Kilauea continues to send lava flowing toward the sea, and the ocean floor has been erupting near the Canary Islands.

Indonesian worshipers descend from the crater of Mount Bromo in East Java province on January 28, 2011. The worshipers gave offerings to the god of the mountain, praying for the safety of local people. (Aman Rahman/AFP/Getty Images)

See all 36 photos – The Year in Volcanic Activity

I have friends hiking the Tongariro volcano in New Zealand right now.

(via kottke)

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top travel destination is … ICELAND

According to Lonely Planet Best in Travel Readers’ Choice Awards.

… ‘Incredibly friendly, amazingly beautiful and one hell of a good time. Bars followed by geothermal hot springs.’

‘Iceland is the place to be in 2012 to see incredible displays of nature! The country of Iceland is currently experiencing two “maximum cycles”: One to do with increased volcano activity and another to do with the increased aurora activity for 2012.’ …

… ‘The wonders and creativity of nature at its best – untouched by humans…to this point. Geothermally heated pools to refresh the soul, literally seeing the rift valley between the American and European geological plates, visiting glaciers, seeing a real volcano, walking on terrain that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world…AND who wouldn’t want to see a puffin!!’ …

details on Lonely Planet

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Marines climb Mt Etna

… On the morning of Oct. 25, about 20 Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 12 scaled its slopes.

… SCTT-2 is one of four specialized Marine teams in Italy as part of a newly formed unit tasked with mentoring African militaries dealing with regional terror threats. Their time spent in between missions, leaders have stressed, doesn’t have to go to waste.

The hike was designed to teach the Marines a lesson in the rigors of operating in a mountainous environment. …

read more on dvids

Some packs were as heavy as 40kg (88lbs)

_____

This is all good. But I can’t think of the American military in Italy without fuming (again) over the Cavalese cable car disaster of 1998.

… The disaster, which led to the death of 20 people, occurred when a U.S. military plane cut a cable supporting a gondola of an aerial tramway. …

The victims’ families got money but not much else. Another sorry episode in American military history.

It’s also known as the Strage del Cermis (“Massacre of Cermis”).