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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.

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Trump is dismantling U.S. National Parks

… the Trump administration has filled the parks department with anti-public land sycophants …

… The change began within 24 hours of the inauguration when Donald Trump complained that the NPS was reporting smaller crowds on the National Mall than Obama had drawn. Perhaps this is when the NPS wound up on the list of transgressors. Soon the interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, attempted to double the entrance fees, rescinded climate policies and moved seasoned senior national park superintendents around to force their retirements. …

… if you want to drill, mine and exploit the public estate for the benefit of the industry, the last thing you want is a popular and respected agency’s voice raising alarms on behalf of conservation and historic preservation. …

It is clear that this administration cannot be trusted with the keys to the vault of our most precious places that define us as a nation, such as Mount Rushmore or Yosemite national park. …

When this nightmare ends, and we begin to rebuild, we suggest it is time for Congress to consider making the National Park Service an independent institution, more akin to the Smithsonian, and no longer subject to the vicissitudes of a hostile political agenda

The great dismantling of America’s national parks is under way

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Cam Honan’s Wanderlust hiking books

The world’s most travelled hiker, Cam Honan, has 3 coffee table books in the series.

Ideal inspiration for future hikes, click through to check them out:

Wanderlust: A Hiker’s Companion (2017)

The Hidden Tracks: Wanderlust – Hiking Adventures off the Beaten Path (2018)

Wanderlust USA (2019)

Click PLAY or watch a TV feature featuring Cam on YouTube.

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Darn Tough socks – a review

Over the years I hadn’t found a favourite hiking sock.

Halfway Anywhere loves Darn Tough getting about 700 miles out of each pair.

I finally bought a pair online and wore them 5 days in a row in fairly dry alpine conditions hiking near Whistler B.C.

  • 65% Merino Wool, 31% Nylon, 4% Lycra Spandex

They’re my new hiking sock. Felt great. Held up very well. And only smelled a bit after 5 days.

I got two new pair for Christmas 2019.

related – Halfway Anywhere review

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10 Best Hikes in the World – Adventure Brothers

Hank and Brian Leukart pick their favourites including:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Paul Magnanti – BEST HIKES of the decade

Paul Magnanti has hiked the Triple Crown (AT, PCT, CDT).

Here are his favourite outdoor adventures of the past 10 years:

2010 – Pawnee Buttes

2011 – High and Lonesome Loop, Indian Peaks Wildnerness

2012 – Wind River Range

2013 – Betty Bear Hut

2014 – Hovenweep National Monument

2015 – Wild Rivers Recreation Area

2016 – The Badlands in winter

2017 – Walking Across Southern Utah

2018 – A New Home in Moab

2019 – Northern New Mexico Loop

New Mexico
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Cam Honan – fave HIKES of the decade

There’s nobody I link to more than Cam Honan of TheHikingLIfe.com.

So far as I know, he’s the most travelled hiker in the world.

Cam “Swami” Honan:

Over the past ten years my journeys taken me from the snow-capped peaks of Peru to the Aurora Borealis of Arctic Norway, and from the pristine wilderness of Southwest Tasmania to the longest journey of my hiking life, an 18 month, 14,342 mile (23,081 km) peregrination through the backcountry of North America.

… Without further ado, here are some of my hiking highlights from 2010 to 2019 (in no particular order):

1.  Southwest Tasmania Traverse (Australia, 2016)

2.  Cordillera Blanca Traverse (Peru, 2014)

3.   Copper Canyon Traverse (Mexico, 2013)

4.   Long Crossing of the Lofoten Islands (Norway, 2018)

5.   Sangre de Cristo Traverse (USA, 2016)

6.   Cocuy Circuit (Colombia, 2015)

7.   Altiplano Traverse (Bolivia, 2017)

8.  Badlands Traverse (USA, 2016)

9.   Cordillera Real Traverse (Bolivia, 2017)

10.  12 Long Walks (USA & Canada, 2011/12)

2015

Here are some of my other favourite rambles from the past decade:

Click through for details on This Hiking Life.

My 10 Favourite Hikes of the 2010’s