Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
A good use of besthike.com is to get planning advice.
Start on our world map home page. Then narrow down your search geographically. Do you want a great hike close to home? Or are you willing to travel far?
You might click through to the Chilkoot Trail in Yukon / Alaska, for example.
On that page you’ll find specifics on how and when to organize a hike. Check first the “best months” to hike to see if you are available.
Søren Viit Nielsen hosts a wonderful website documenting his many trekking adventures. (Danish and English)
In 2002 Søren hiked to both south and north basecamps of Kachenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. (map)
He used Cicerone: Kangchenjunga: A Trekker’s Guide by Kev Reynolds.
Even if your Danish is rusty, the gorgeous pictures tell the story.
Søren returned in 2004 to guide 10 Danish clients and a Nepalese staff of about 30 people (guide, cook, sherpas, kitchen staff, and porters). But this time he chose a new route, just opened because new suspension bridges were built in 2003-04 across the Tamur River. None of his group had been this way before. (map)
Tibetan culture and interactions with mountain peoples were big highlights.
BlueDandelion.net – Søren Viit Nielsen
I am testing links to a new affiliate: InfoHub.com
InfoHub aggregates hiking and trekking vacation packages. It’s a good place to compare competitive packages for specific destinations.
So far I am very impressed.
InfoHub offers good, free information for hikers. And we get a small payment for anyone who downloads a brochure after clicking through from this site. No need to buy.
Emma Nicholas and Brendan Fletcher saw our post warning people off hiking the Great Wall of China.
That must have been somewhat amusing to them as they are in the middle of a 5-6 month trek along the Wall. (Walls, actually, as we learned.)
In 2002 the couple hiked the John Muir Trail, getting engaged on the summit of Mt. Whitney.
Though Brendan had hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 1992, China is an entirely different kind of challenge.
Starting at the remote western end, their website and blog are filled with fantastic photos and insights into fascinating China.
Check it out: Walking the Wall
UPDATE:
Brendan is aware of 3 other groups travelling the Great Wall:
I’ve long been a fan of Bhutan-Trails.org.
I asked editor Rogier Gruys when Bhutan would open to “independent hikers”. Not soon, he says.
As for trekking in Bhutan … you do have to go through a local travel agency. They are not likely to change that …
… you can go with one or two people, and set up exactly the itinerary you want with the agency. The only thing is that you pay US$230/day (for less than 4 people in a group). … But that does include all meals, all local transport, hotel/tent etc. So compared to a typical trip to NY city it is not all that bad!
If I could afford $200 / day I would be booking my next holiday to Bhutan, for sure.
The most famous hikes in Bhutan are the Snowman Trek and Jhomolhari-Laya-Gasa, but Rogier points out there are other great hikes that you can do year round.
Even the hikes out of the capital Thimphu are excellent. In particular, Rogier recommends walking to Tango/Drolay goempas. Or radiotower to Phajoding. “Great views, and a beautiful monastery along the way.”
Jan de Jong recommended the very professional wandelnet.nl website (in Dutch) for a comprehensive list of hikes 100km or longer. It includes guidebook recommendations.
To translate to English, I used the Babel Fish website. It works quite well, though only one page at a time.
The best part is the interactive map. (screen shot below) On the website version you can hover over the map and click on the routes.
If it ain’t Dutch, it ain’t much. Thanks Jan.
Stichting Wandelplatform-LAW – Lange-Afstandroutes : LAW’s (long routes page)
Browsing the superb tramper.co.nz website, I was reminded me of my own trip to the Coromandel Peninsula.
The go-to hike there is The Pinnacles Track, one of our best hikes in the world.
If The Pinnacles were in any other country, it would be a huge destination. In New Zealand, though, it tends to be overshadowed by many far more famous treks.
I loved learning about the history of logging Kauri trees. Unbelievably, loggers toppled them over cliffs — and picked up the pieces below. Eventually they built an outrageous rail track to try to lower the massive logs from the Pinnacles. You see all this on the hike.
Most people are even more impressed by the Pinnacles alpine hut. It is astonishing! The best in New Zealand and one of the most impressive in the world. We spent a lot of time watching possums from the expansive balcony.
The Pinnacles is ideal as a weekend trip with one night at the top.
. . . stone steps, wide enough for packhorses, dominate most of the track, crossing the river three times as it rises steeply to logging / power camp at the ‘near’ top. I warn you now – the stone stairs are great to look at but hard on the legs …
Once at the hut, you can leave your pack and climb the Pinnacles proper.
Whilst not dangerous, it isn’t for the faint hearted. It’ll only take 45 minutes to get to the top, but you go up some steep rock faces, and several ladders before negotiating a large boulder, to get to the narrow ledge at the top. From the top, you can see both sides of the Coromandel – Tairua / Pauanui on one side, The firth of Thames and Hauraki Plains on the other. The view is breathtaking.
The Pinnacles Track – tramper.co.nz
Pinnacles photos on flickr – BruceandRobyn – waiting for the clouds to clear
Serious adventurer Jeffrey Poznanovic likes a new site called MyOutdoors.net.
“Map your outdoor activities. Journal your progress. Attach Photos. Share it all with friends and family.”
The map-based interface is not all that intuitive. Using a mash-up of Google Maps is touchy. Most people make mistakes using that AJAX technology.
But if you take the time to figure out how it works, MyOutdoors has some very cool features including: mileage distances, elevation profile, GPS waypoints, linked photos, and more that I do not understand.
No doubt about it, sites like this are the future of hiking. We’ll be linked by satellite on the trail, uploading video and photo directly to MyOutdoors in real time. (The rescue helicopter will have exact coordinates and visuals by which to confirm location!)
They need to simplify the interface. Or, at minimum, put up a friendly video tutorial to show me how to best use the site.
Want to try it out yourself? Check the Wind River Backpacking entry in Wyoming.
screenshot
Wind River Backpacking – MyOutdoors.net
For more information – Cirque of the Towers – besthike.com
Steve Sergeant is producer, host and is the voice of Wildebeat, a most professional audio podcast.
He combines a wealth of experience as a backpacker, backcountry skier, rock climber, and mountaineer with experience in the professional audio and broadcast industry.
Their mission:
The WildeBeat is an audio journal — like a radio news magazine — presenting news and features to help you explore the Earth’s remaining wild places. Each week, we publish a 10 minute documentary piece catered to the needs of people who enjoy wilderness recreation.
A typical outdoor recreation publication focuses on extraordinarily fit and highly-skilled people taking spectacular risks in distant or exotic places. Or they focus on the latest high-priced gear proffered by their supporting advertisers. Perhaps they sensationalize the brutality of wildlife and nature. Or they preach about environmental politics, and forget the enjoyment of natural settings in the process.
We show you that you don’t need to do extreme sports to enjoy nature and being outdoors; anyone can enjoy backcountry activities, such as camping, hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, rafting, kayaking, canoeing, climbing, skiing, or snowshoeing. Listen to The WildeBeat to get enthused about exploring new places, learn safe and responsible skills, and get ready to get into the wilderness!
I subscribe to Wildebeat via iTunes, but check it out first on wildebeat.net.
UPDATE: Besthike.com got a post on the the Geared Up blog.
This is the perhaps the best laid out multi-contributor hiking blog on the web. Excellent design. I love the prominent tag cloud navigation.
There is a ton of great content. I have subscribed to their RSS feed and will certainly be linking more in future.
Geared Up Blog – home page
besthike.com 