Category: volcanoes

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Loowit Trail, Mt St. Helens NOT recommended

The Ultralighter does this trail as an annual pilgrimage.

The summary of his 2009 trip report:

You probably don’t want to try the Loowit Trail now. Maybe 2011 or later, if the Forest Service does a bunch of work. Even Lava Canyon is impassable, unless you are very, very bold. So for now it’s the north half of the mountain or the Smith Creek valley, rewarding in their own ways.

map
map

He survived his most recent 33mi circuit. But barely.

This trip is no longer an adventure. It is an ordeal.

read the entire trip report

You can still climb Mt St. Helens.

But don’t plan on doing the Circuit until the damaged trail has been improved.

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Trail on Kilimanjaro – part 2

Entertaining!

Its day three of Trail Magazine’s attempt on Mt Kilimanjaro via the Machame route, and things are starting to get tough. The mountain is getting seriously spectacular but the air is getting thin and exhaustion is kicking in. As midnight on the last day approaches, will it be a glorious dawn on Africas Highest mountain or a whopper of a disappointment? Join Trail Magazines Simon Ingram to find out…

Click PLAY or watch Part 2 on YouTube.


official website of TRAIL and Country Walking magazines – Live for the Outdoors

To see a 6min highlights clip of Day 1 and Day 2 of the Machame Route, click through to The Adventure Blog.

best hike – Kilimanjaro information page

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Kilimanjaro climbing video

It’s the world’s highest free-standing mountain, one of the seven summits and the highest peak in Africa. While a host of celebrities gear up to set foot on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, TRAIL magazine – the UK’s best-selling hill-walking magazine – has just got home from the mountain.

Click PLAY or watch the promo video for the climb on YouTube.


official website of TRAIL and Country Walking magazines – Live for the Outdoors

To see a 6min highlights clip of Day 1 and Day 2 of the Machame Route, click through to The Adventure Blog.

best hike – Kilimanjaro information page

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Incredible Crater Lakes

Another amazing photo article from Environmental Graffiti – 12 Most Incredible Crater Lakes On Earth

… While popular belief is that crater lakes are formed after water fills up meteorite impact craters, very few such lakes actually exist. Most of them are formed in volcanic craters – but all offer spectacular sights for sore eyes!

Fascinating, spectacular, stunning and at times deadly, this is a trip into the extraordinary world of crater lakes. …

Mount Katmai, Alaska
Mount Katmai, Alaska
Crater Lake, Oregon
Crater Lake, Oregon

see the rest – 12 Most Incredible Crater Lakes On Earth

related post – hiking Earth Impact craters

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Best treks in Africa

Anouk Zijlma on About.com posted a terrific list of the Best Hikes and Treks in Africa.

… Africa’s most popular trekking destination is Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the continent. Lesser known ranges like Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains offer an incredible array of snow-capped peaks right next to the equator.

Other fantastic hikes in Africa that don’t necessarily involve great heights include the Wild Coast (South Africa) and the Fish River Canyon (Namibia). …

Others on the list:


Mount Kenya

Simien Mountains, Ethiopia

The Drakensberg, South Africa

Mount Meru, Tanzania

Mount Elgon, Uganda and Kenya

Mount Cameroon, Cameroon

Mulanje Mountain, Malawi

Click through for more information, links and recommended guides – About.com Best treks in Africa

Most foreign trekkers prefer to go with a guiding company to ensure their safety.

mountstanleyMt. Stanley – Sylwia Duda/Creative Commons

mulanjeMulanje Mountain, Malawi – larger original – flickr – fffriendly

Compare this About.com list with our own Best Hikes in Africa

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climbing Mt Shasta, California


Friends tell me this is the best climb in CA. May – July.

summit-shasta
larger version – flickr – Darcy McCarty

And that it’s quite doable for a non-mountaineer.

The The Mozmonkey Blog is planning for summer 2009, as well:

… Typically the climb and decent will take two days, although, some people do it in one.

Day 1 starts with a 4 – 6 hour hike from the parking lot up to Helen Lake (which is really just a glacier) where you setup base camp. The rest of the day is spent admiring the view, making food (yay, dehydrated meals!) and preparing your day pack for the next morning.

The summit ascent begins somewhere between 12 AM – 3 AM the next morning. You’ll want to start super early while the snow is still firm and solid and get to red banks before the sun starts making it soft and slushy.

When you reach the summit stop to enjoy the view, regain your energy and prepare for the best part of the journey — glissading down the mountain! This literally means you will sit on your butt in the groove created by the people before you and slide down the entire mountain; stopping briefly at base camp to collect the rest of your gear. Not to worry, you will have an ice axe with you as a safety device that will help you regulate your speed down the mountain.

So that’s it, 2 days to get to the top and and 3 – 4 hours down. …

Climbing Mount Shasta

more photos tagged Shasta on flickr

Sounds something like our climb of Mt Adams, Oregon last year.

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Ruapehu Around-the-mountain, New Zealand


Tongariro Northern Circuit is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.

Just next door is the much less tramped Ruapehu Around-the-mountain track.

ruapehu
flickr – larger version – Rich Childs

Maple Kiwi just completed the adventur during the New Zealand summer:

… As you may deduce from the name, the track loops around Mt Ruapehu, an active volcano in the centre of New Zealand’s North Island. Ruapehu hasn’t had any serious indigestion since 1996, but knowing what bubbles beneath does add a bit of excitement to the tramp.

I’m not sure what possessed us to do a six-day tramp after nothing more than day hikes all spring. Luckily we made it through without too much pain.

We began the walk at Whakapapa Village …

read more – Love in a Tent – Ruapehu Round-the-mountain Part 1

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climb Indonesian volcanoes


RING OF FIRE ADVENTURE ZONE is a fairly new site.

The editor has since 1994 hiked up more than 20 volcano’s peaks around Indonesia archipelago, mostly in Java Island. And now has set up this blog to share his knowledge.

Indonesia
Indonesia

He recommends:

SUMATRA ISLAND
1) Volcano Kerinci
2) Volcano Tujuh
3) Volcano Sibayak

JAVA ISLAND
1) Volcano Merapi
2) Volcano Bromo-Semeru-Ijen

LOMBOK ISLAND
Volcano Rinjani

BALI ISLAND
Volcano Agung

… Others interested volcanoes in Indonesia are Tambora and Krakatau. Tambora was recorded as volcano which has biggest eruption in the history of world volcano eruption. Now, Tambora is already quite and frequently visited by volcano trekkers to admire it’s natural uniqueness, that impossible to be witnessed in others places. …

Intro To Indonesia Mountains

Personally I’d love to visit Krakatau, East of Java. A mythic destination that’s been in my mind since I was a small child.

An early 19th century illustration of Krakatoa
An early 19th century illustration of Krakatoa

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trek to Mt Tronador, Argentina

As usual, the best trip report was posted by Photodiary of a Nomad.

Their 3 day traverse of Nahuel Huapi National Park in Argentina — on an unusual route — without meeting any other hikers on the trail, appeals to me. (They did have a dog or two tag along.)

… it was hard to decide the highlight – was it the glinting granite slabs of Cerro de las Cristales, the amazing blue of Laguna Azul, the perfect form of the green-clad glacial valleys, the richness of the wetlands, the great vistas of Tronador glistening in the sun – was today better than yesterday? – did it really matter? – tonight we would have some very pleasant dreams.

Personally, I want to see Mt Tronador.

tronador.jpg
larger version – flickr – fainmen

Check the trip report for yourself: Nahuel Huapi Traverse

Our besthike Nahuel Huapi Traverse information page.

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trek Easter Island

Easter Island truly is in the middle of nowhere.

orthographic_projection_centred_over_easter_island.png

Everyone has heard of the monolithic human figures carved from rock called Moai.

easter-island.jpg
larger version

But I also want to hike Rano Kau in Rapa Nui National Park world heritage site.

500-osterinsel_krater-rano_kao.jpg
larger version

David Stanley, author of Moon Handbooks South Pacific (Moon Handbooks), says Easter Island is the Pacific Island that “offers most to the hiker“. That’s surprising since the island is only 11km wide, 23km long!

I will get there. Sooner or later.