On his second attempt, The Adventure Blogger Kraig Becker did make it to Chile’s Atacama Desert. And back.
See his photos on Picassa.
That’s the finest outdoor scenery in the world, I reckon.
hiking Iceland …
I pick up my rent-a-car today. Seven days circle touring the island in search of the best day hikes.
I’m staying in hostels, en route.
On my return I’ll immediately head out to Landmannalaugar for 4-5 days back country.
Leave a comment if you’ve any advice on best hikes Iceland.
This is my first visit.
researching Iceland hiking
Buzz sent me a link to Andrew Skurka‘s 2008 adventures.
I’m no Skurka. My longest trip will be the 49-mile Laugavegur, in purple.
Preparing that itinerary, Skurka interviewed Jonathan Ley who did a huge trip in 2006.
From what I can see, it looks pretty easy to hike the established trails in June, the driest month. I’ll have a week in a rental car to reconnoiter and cache food, if necessary.
Leave a comment if you have any advice.
hiking Iceland in June
Last summer I again squandered my chance to get to Iceland for the first time. I felt even worse after following Alastair Humphreys’ adventures there.
It’s looking good for me to go June 2011.
The first week I’ll rent a vehicle and drive the island dayhiking.
Following that I’ll trek the hotsprings of Laugavegur. Possibly Fimmvörðuháls. And more in that region.
No eruptions this Spring, please.
Leave a comment if you’ve any advice for me.
climb Mt. Hallasan, Korea
#Jeju #JejuOlle
Hallasan National Park (Korean: 한라산국립공원, 漢拏山國立公園) is located in the provinces of Jeju-do, South Korea. ….
It features the highest mountain in South Korea, the shield volcano Hallasan on Jeju Island. It was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2002, and a World Heritage Site in 2007. …
At a stretch you could call Jeju the Maui of Asia. … A tourist island with palm trees, cactus, and a big central volcano.
There are 6 official hikes in the National Park:
Eorimok Trail (6.8Km 3hours)
Yeongsil Trail (5.8Km 2.5hours)
Seongpanak Trail (9.6Km 4.5hours)
Gwaneumsa Trail (8.7Km 5hours)
Donnaeko Trail (7Km 3.5hours)
Eoseungsaengak Trail (1.3Km 30minutes)
From what I’ve read, the most scenic route to the summit (1950m) is the Gwaneumsa Trail up, Seongpanak Trail down.
Gwaneumsa has a basic campground at the start, but no bus stop. (It’s about a 4km walk in.)
Seongpanak does have a bus stop on the exit.
I’m looking to get there November 2011.
Leave a comment if you know more about this mountain.
Jeju Olle hike, Korea day 2
#Jeju #JejuOlle
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | (routes 1→ 6 = 106km)
I did this section solo, starting very early morning. There wasn’t much of a sunrise over Sunrise Peak.
We’ve categorized this a coastal trail as it more often than not stays near the shoreline, moving inland to visit highlights.
Most walk in the normal direction, colour coded Blue. But if you wanted to meet more people, there’s no reason not to walk it backwards, following the Orange signage.
The world “Olle” comes from an old local dialect of Korean. It can be translated as “a very narrow path from house to the closest road”.
The philosophy of the trail builders was to find existing, sometimes disused, pathways less than 1m wide. And to rejuvenate them.
That’s the ideal. In reality, the need to keep the route close to buses and toilets results in paved surfaces perhaps 70% of the route. My feet were bruised and sore after 100km.
Still, there’s rarely much traffic. Jeju island is ideal for road biking though that’s not yet caught on. i did see perhaps a couple dozen recreational mountain bikers over the week I was there.
There’s no official policy regarding cycling the Jeju Olle. But organizers will try to discourage it. (They can’t ban bikes as most of the trail is on public roadways.)
Shout out to the many volunteers at the Walking Festival. It was a great pleasure to arrive at each tent to get my passport stamped, get water, and recharge my enthusiasm.
Traditional stone figures are common on Jeju. … Next time I’m going to learn the significance of each.
They are proud of their beautiful turnips on Jeju.
I didn’t research insects. One morning in wet grass I did see mosquitos. They did not pester.
If you can live on “Mandarin oranges“, you need not carry any food in November. It’s harvest time. Every farmer wants you to try some of his.
One of the more lovely sections this day …
Read more about route 2 on the official website.
See the rest of my route 2 photos on flickr.
Tongariro Crossing in 3min
If you claim Tongariro is the WORLD’S BEST DAY HIKE, we won’t argue.
It’s awesome. And awesomely crowded.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
That comes via The Professional Hobo. Thanks.
Check our Tongariro Crossing information page 13km (8mi). If the hordes turn you off, no worries … Do the Tongariro Northern Circuit 34+km (19+mi), instead. It’s our #3 hike in the world.
vote Jeju – 7 Wonders of Nature
#Jeju #JejuOlle
I spent 4 days hiking the lovely Jeju Olle Trail in Korea. At the very start of the intended 339km (and growing) walking path is Sunrise Peak (Seongsan Ilchulbong).
Very weird. Unique in the world. I found it fascinating. See more interesting photos tagged Seongsan.
Jeju is a small, rural island. And a popular tourist destination in Asia. Yet it’s not well known outside Asia.
Let’s correct that by voting Jeju Island to the new list of 7 Wonders of Nature. The island is already listed a World Heritage Site: Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes.
Here’s an instructional video explaining how to vote for your top 7. (You need choose your 7 wonders first, before registering.)
related: Visit Korea – Jeju Olle
Discover Dominica in a Minute
A new video promoting the Caribbean island of Dominica makes me even keener to get there for hiking.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube
Dominica (pronounced Dom-in-ee-ka) is a spectacular green island of rugged mountains, lush rainforests and rushing rivers in the Eastern Caribbean, lying south of Guadeloupe and north of Martinique.
For more information about Dominica please call 0800 0121 467 or visit www.discoverdominica.com
2010 Jeju Olle Walking Festival, Korea
by site editor Rick McCharles
I’m booked to attend: November 9-13. Organizers are looking to add Jeju to the list of the best hikes in the world.
Here are the full details if you want to join us:
World trekking festival for all of you on the most beautiful trail, Jeju Olle
Jeju Olle Walking Festival is a trekking festival for all the citizens of the world on Jeju Olle Trail, the most beautiful trail in the world.
It is a global walking festival embroidered with nature, culture and human. The festival participants can feel the nature in Jeju throughout their whole bodies while walking on Jeju Olle Trail surrounded by oreum, seas and stone walls slowly and enjoying various types of food and cultural experiences. Each village that Jeju Olle Trail passes through will enlighten the festival participants, providing them with a number of performances using diverse food and traditional culture of Jeju.
The participants will taste diverse cultural experiences as they walk a course on Jeju Olle Trail each day.
From 2010, the Jeju Olle Walking Festival will take place every November.
Place: Jeju Olle Trail route 12,3,4 and 5 (The total of 92 km, one route/day)
Pre-Festival Ceremony: Jeju Folk Village Museum in Pyoseon at 4:00 PM on November 8, 2010
Fees: Prior Application – 10,000 WON/person, 8,000 WON/person (group rate for 20 or more participants)
On-site – 15,000 WON/personThis trail, that has been and is still being made in ‘Jeju Island,’ the most representative vacation spot in Korea, leads our steps into its spectacular scenery such as the sea, oreum (lateral volcano, a type of dormant volcano appeared as a small mountain or hill), stone walls piled up with black basalt, green fields in all seasons, wild flowers in full bloom on the roadside and tangerine fields loaded with orange-colored fruit.
Jeju Olle Trail, the most beautiful and peaceful trail in the world, gives peace, happiness and healing to those walking this trail. Since its first opening in September 2007, we have made 21 courses in 339km of routes available to the Jeju Olle travelers. We are still searching for the most beautiful trail that people can walk and travel along the Jeju coast.
Jeju Island, a Beautiful Volcanic Island in Korea
Jeju Island was the first site in Korea registered as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Harmonized with beautiful sea, falls, cliffs, caves, oreum(lateral volcano) and broad fields along with its mild weather, this island is an excellent place for walking travelers. Jeju Island has been long known for its ‘sammu (三無)’ in which there aren’t any beggars, thieves or gates. In other words, it is a safe area.
Jeju presents its unique and brilliant color in each season. In spring fields are filled with bright yellow-colored flowers whereas golden beaches and mystic and ever-changing seas in different colors are presented in summer. In autumn coffee-colored silver grass in full bloom on the field rolls gently in the wind and white snow on the branches are beautifully coming out on the Mt.Halla-san in winter.
The pastoral scenery in Jeju arouse exclamation in people. Fields surrounded by short stone walls, seas in emerald color and oreum are unique views that people can see only in Jeju. Such exquisite views have mysterious power to heal people’s spirit that see them.
Jeju Island is an epicurean paradise with the local delicacies including Jeju tangerine, tile fish soup, broiled tile fish, abalone porridge, pheasant cuisine, hairtail soup and pork rib barbecue. Cows and pigs raised on clean grass, various seafood from jade-colored ocean and a number of different types of fruit in the clear sun are produced in Jeju .
Jeju Olle Trail , the Most Beautiful and the Slowest Walking Paths
‘Olle’ comes from the old Jeju dialect, which implies a very narrow alley or path from a street to a gate of a house. It is the first route that Jeju residents take to communicate with the world in their lives. ‘Jeju Olle’ meaning trail paths(olle) in Jeju serves as a trekking route to connect Jeju to the world and the world to Jeju.
Trail Initiated by a Female Ex-reporter and Completed by Numerous Volunteers
Suh, Myung Sook, the founder and president of Jeju Olle Foundation, used to an editor of a weekly newsmagazine. Leaving her post as a reporter after 20 years of her service, she went on her own pilgrimage of 800 km known as Camino de Santiago from France to Spain. Towards the end of her pilgrimage, she met a woman from England and made a promise together to share their peace and happiness on the road with their home countries.
When she came back to her hometown, Jeju, she was determined to make a trekking route that would be widely loved by all the walking travelers all over the world. Some volunteers and she began to find and restore hidden paths, small routes inaccessible by cars and forgotten tracks. As a result, they have made new trails for the walking travelers to explore.
Jeju Olle Trail is the most beautiful and peaceful trail in the world and the slowest route in the world while keeping beautiful scenery in your heart and eyes. Those walking on this trail can unburden their mind and go back to their homes with peace, happiness and healing. Jeju Olle is the trail that provides travelers with a true sense of relaxation to their spirit since they have taken their journey of life at high speed.
Trail signs
Ganse
Jeju pony, which people can see in the green grassland on Jeju often, is smaller than a horse, but it is robust and brave. Ganse is the name of Jeju pony, the symbol of Jeju Olle Trail, and it comes from the old Jeju dialect, ‘gansedari’ meaning a slow lazybones.In order to enjoy the Jeju Olle, you had best walk along the trail as slowly as possible like Jeju pony that strolls in the green grassland on Jeju.
Ganse is made of corn, an environment-friendly special material. It is strong enough to endure rain and winds of Jeju while it is biodegradable upon disposal.
Arrows
Blue arrows on the ground, stone wall and utility poles are the most elementary directional sign to display the directions of the Jeju Olle Trail.Orange arrows guide people onto the reverse path of the trail. If you decide to take the trail from the end of the route to the starting point, follow the orange arrows.
Ribbons
Blue and orange ribbons are usually intertwined and hung on twigs. You may find them on mountain paths where it is hard to mark arrows. They are hung a bit higher than eye level.
Jeju Olle Trail Route Information (September 2010)
Route 1 Siheung to Gwangchigi 15.6km
Route 1-1 U-do(Island) 15.9km
Route 2 Gwangchigi to Onpyeong 18.1km
Route 3 Onpyeong to Pyoseon 20.7km
Route 4 Pyoseon to Namwon 22.9km
Route 5 Namwon to Soesokkak 14.7km
Route 6 Soesokkak to Oedolgae 14.4km
Route 7 Oedolgae to Wolpyeong 13.8km
Route 7-1 World Cup Stadium to Oedolgae 15.1km
Route 8 Wolpyeong to Daepyeong 15.2km
Route 9 Daepyeong to Hwasun 8.2km
Route 10 Hwasun to Moseulpo 14.8km
Route 10-1 Gapa-do(Island) 5km
Route 11 Moseulpo to Mureung 18km
Route 12 Mureung to Yongsu 17.5km
Route 13 Yongsu to Jeoji 16.4km
Route 14 Jeoji to Hallim 19.3km
Route 14-1 Jeoji to Mureung 18.8km
Route 15 Hallim to Gonae 19km
Route 16 Gonae to Gwangryeong 17.8km
Route 18-1 Chuja-do(Island) 17.7kmResume of President Suh, Myung Sook
Name Ms. Suh, Myung Sook1957 Born in Jeju Island, Korea
1980 BA in Education, Korea University, Seoul, KoreaCurrent The President of Jeju Olle Trail (Non-profit foundation)
19 routes, 320km long in total has been developed since 2007
2007 Returned to hometown Seogwipo-si, Jeju Island
2006 Travelled routes of Santiago de Compostella (France~Sapin, 800km)
2005-2006 Editor in Chief in
1989-2003 Political reporter/Political desk/ Editor in chief in
weekly news magazine
1987-1989 Reporter monthly magazine
1985 Reporter monthly magazine
1980-83 Editor in Christian social research center, KoreaPublication
2005
2007Awards- Jeju Olle Trail & Suh, Myung Sook
08 Jul 2010 The star of Korean tour industry events/ Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism
& Korea Tourism Organization
11 Feb. 2010 Jaeam Cultural Award (Suh, Myung Sook) / Jaeam Cultural Foundation
15 Jan. 2010 The no. 1 place where people want to visit for family holiday/ Korea Tourism Organization
11. Nov. 2009 7 events of 2010~2012 Visiting Korea years / Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism
16 Dec. 2009 10 Hit products of the year in Korea / Samsung Economic Research Institute
09. Oct. 2009 Grand Prize for Urban reclamation / Ministry of Land,Transport and Maritime Affairs
05 Oct. 2009 Prize for Nature conservation movement of Ministry of Environment/ Ministry of Environment
29 Sep.2009 National Presidential Award of the promotion of the tourist industry
/Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
2009 Jeju Olle Trail The most beautiful and ecological trail 20/ Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism & Ministry of Environment
11 Dec. 2007 Suh, Myung Sook 100 people who help the world better to live /
Korea Green FoundationHow to participate….
1. Prior On-line Registration on the Jeju Olle Walking Festival Website (www.ollewalking.co.kr)
▷ You may visit the “Jeju Olle Walking Festival Website” and apply on-line by October 24, 2010.
▷ Upon completing your on-line registration, you will make a payment to Jeju Olle at your designated route on the day of your arrival in Jeju.
▷ Even after the on-line registration period, you may apply to participate in the festival on-site at the beginning points of the Jeju Olle Trail routes 1-5.2. Jeju Olle Walking Festival Route Assignment
▷ In order to prevent the participants from flocking to one specific route and preserve each Olle routes, each participant must walk on his/her designated route.
▷ Each participant will receive his/her route assignment via e-mail by October 30, 2010.
▷ For example, if you are assigned to start from the route 3, you may enjoy the walking festival in the order of “route 3→route 4→route 5→route 1→route 2.”3. Transportation to the Festival in Jeju Island
▷ Once your participation is confirmed, you need to reserve a plane or ferry ticket prior to the festival.
▷ When you arrive in Jeju, you may take either the festival shuttle buses or public transportation to your designated route.
▷ At your designated route (starting point), you will pick up souvenirs for the festival and start your walking festival. You can pick up souvenirs only at your designated route.4. Jeju Olle Walking Festival
Enjoy the Festival!
▷ You may participate in the Jeju Olle Walking Festival at any time during the festival period(November 9~13)
▷ You may get the festival routes stamps from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM on the festival passport.
▷ You may enjoy the festival while walking on routes in the order of your designated route.
▷ We recommend you visit villages in each route. You may enjoy various programs prepared by local residents such as performances, food, specialty marketplace and harvest.
▷ You must complete each route in the order of your designated route. For example, you will receive a stamp for the third route in your fourth route. (Upon the completion of your third route, a stamp will not be issued if you go back to your first route.) ▷ If you complete all five routes during the festival and receive all 15 stamps, Jeju Olle will issue you a “2010 Jeju Olle Walking Festival Certificate.”
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