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HIKE the Dragon’s Back, Hong Kong

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles (2011)

The Dragon’s Back is more than a hike, it’s a “tourist attraction”.

The Dragon’s Back (Traditional Chinese: 龍脊) is a ridge in southeastern Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, between Wan Cham Shan and Shek O Peak. It lies within the Shek O Country Park. In 2004 the Dragon’s Back Trail was selected by TIMEasia as the best urban hiking trail.

See reviews on Trip Adviser.

trail signboard

Despite all that popularity, I loved it.

Who wouldn’t love a ridge walk on a tropical island?

Many start up the Hong Kong tram and hike down to Big Wave Bay, but I followed the longer and more difficult 8.5km route recommended in The Inside Guide to Hikes and Walks in Hong Kong, a free publication from Hong Kong Tourism.

If you get to Hong Kong, the Dragon’s Back is a must hike.

Friends, loved ones and unloved who don’t want to go can wait at the finish, Big Wave Bay Beach.

see more photos from my day hike

related – Hiking the World trip report  (2016)

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best hiking gear on the PCT 2019

Mac posted his 7th annual survey — this year 846 Pacific Crest Trail hikers were interviewed.

The Altra Lone Peak was the most popular shoe on the PCT this year – used by nearly a third of PCT hikers. It’s a zero-drop shoe and, on average, hikers who completed the trail used 4.65 pairs – nearly $600 in shoes (at full retail price).

On the other hand, there were plenty of complaints about Lone Peaks.

Personally, I prefer sturdier Merrell Moabs.

FAVORITE PCT GEAR

MOST COMMON PCT GEAR

Read more:

The Pacific Crest Trail Gear Guide: Class of 2019 Survey

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GUEST POSTS on BestHike.com

By site editor Rick McCharles

Every week I decline requests for sponsored posts. Those are mostly advertisements that look like a regular post.

But we do post guest articles.

So, if you’d like to summit something to this site, here are our guidelines for submissions:

What Content Do We Want?

  • Information of interest to independent hikers.
  • Things that are NEW. DIFFERENT. ORIGINAL.
  • Insider information not available elsewhere.
  • Hikes in parts of the world not well covered on the internet now: Africa, China, Russia, etc.
  • Technology / Apps being used by hikers

The more succinct, the better. But include visuals: graphics, photos, videos.

Send an email to RickMcCharles (a) gmail.

Include the following:

Your hiking history. Any links you’d like included.

If your post is simply to sell some hiking gear, it’s not likely it will be posted on this site.

There’s no payment or remuneration of any kind. This site now runs ad free.

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Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2020

I attended the 3rd Annual (Gainesville FL hosted) Wild & Scenic Film Festival (WSFF).

It was hosted by The Florida Trail Association.  Good people.

For this outdoor screening, we chose a unique program of environmental and adventure films that illustrate the Earth’s beauty. They also show the challenges facing our planet and the communities working to protect it.

It was clear to me too that diversity was important in the selection of the 14 films.

Hillary Van Dyke & Angie Riviere of Outdoor Afro were there, for example.

Hilarious stories of how African Americans are greeted on the trail.  😀

 Please white folks: “Just say HI.”  

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

The 1400+ mile Florida Trail is mostly maintained and improved by volunteers. YOU could join a work crew. Sign up here:

floridatrail.org/volunteer/

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hiking Kamchatka, Russia

There are certainly fantastic treks and volcano climbs on Kamchatka Peninsula.

Climbing Koryaksky (3456m) close to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is quite doable, for example.

You can find a number of trekking guides with Google.

But are they reliable?

It’s possible to hike Kamchatka independently.

But we’ve not yet talked to anyone who’s hiked there. (Leave a comment below this post if you have more information on Kamchatka.)

In the meantime, check some photos from Dark Roast Blend:

Wilderness without bounds, in a typical Russian style.

There is a place in the world so remote and so wildly beautiful, that very few decide to go there and those who do, carry the enchantment for the rest of their lives. Land of towering volcanos and magnificient Pacific coastline, as boundless and pristine as the Canadian North, but far less known and definitely less travelled. Life is harsh there, and ghosts of communist past are never too far behind.

With the exclusive permission of “Kamtravel” – Kamchatka photography site, we give you some examples of its exhilarating terrain:

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski lies in the shadow of Avacha volcano

more photos – Dark Roasted Blend: Kamchatka – Magnificient Russian Far East

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Trek the 8000m peak base camps

Emma and Trevor — from New Zealand & Australia — conceived ProjectBase8000.

Great idea!

The objective is to be the first non-mountaineering trekkers to hike to all the base camps of the world’s 14 highest mountains by 2020.

They are all over 8,000m, located in the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges – Nepal, Pakistan and Tibet, China.

They want to help raise funds & awareness for the Australian Himalayan Foundation.

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plan a trip to the Dolomites

One of our top 10 hiking regions of the world.

The Dolomites are a mountain range located in north-eastern Italy. A tourist mecca, the Dolomites are famous for skiing in the winter months, mountain climbing, hiking and climbing in the summer.

map-of-DolomitesAT A GLANCE

  • a wonderful region mostly in Italy
  • Italian: Dolomiti; German: Dolomiten
  • limestone geology results in fascinating shapes and colour
  • named a UNESCO World Heritage site
  • highest peak Marmolada 3,343m
  • convenient airports include Venice, Munich, Milan, Innsbruck, Verona
  • easy access to trails of all all levels of ability and experience
  • very good tourist infrastructure
  • convenient, efficient public transport. Buses & trains run on time.
  • best weather for hiking mid-June to early October
3 Peaks (Tre Cime, Drei Zinnen)
3 Peaks (Tre Cime, Drei Zinnen)

Check our Dolomites information page.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Adventure Blog)

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WHY am I not in Patagonia?

by BestHike editor Rick McCharles 

Reality Check – You can’t thru hike  the Route of Parks in Chile. Matador and many other normally responsible sites are wrong about this.

For 3 of the past 4 years I’ve been in Patagonia in January. It’s paradise for the outdoor enthusiast.

Much of the international press coverage in recent years promotes the Ruta de los Parques de la Patagonia (Route of Parks),

A chain of 17 National Parks. Fantastic.

Many are connected by the Carretera Austral highway , ideal for cycling. Not great for walking.

Some Parks are quite inaccessible.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

If you are looking for a long thru hike in Patagonia, check the Greater Patagonian Trail route.

It does not connect in any way with the Route of Parks because that’s a road. 😀

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EVERYONE should support planting more TREES

No matter what your opinion on CO2 levels higher than they  been for at least the past three million years, you can support planting more trees.

Trees are good in MANY ways, including pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere.

Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, some guy who got popular on YouTube, started a campaign that raised enough money for more than 20 million trees to be planted across the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Haiti, Indonesia, Ireland, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, and the United Kingdom.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Secondly, we should STOP subsidizing fossil fuel industries. One study calculated $5 trillion / year in subsidy worldwide.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Greta Thunberg has inspired millions of students to become environmental activists for climate change.

I love to see how some previously unknown teenager scares so many of the rich and powerful worldwide.

She’s the youngest individual Time Person of the Year.

Thunberg was also nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.