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BestHike – Ausangate Circuit, Peru

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

Click PLAY or watch a 1 minute introduction on YouTube.

Ausangate Circuit

Our favourite hike in the high Andes. Doing it independently only recommended for confident, self-sufficient hikers experienced at high altitude. It’s remote.

alpacas

AT A GLANCE

Peru
Peru
  • circle sacred Ausangate massif (6372m, 20,905ft), the highest peak in southern Peru
  • 4 high passes between 4757m – 5165m
  • 70km (43.5mi) plus sidetrips
  • almost everyone does Ausangate with a guide, but it’s quite doable independently if you are acclimated 
  • many options to extend this trek
  • best months are the May-September dry season
  • Tinqui is 5-8 hours now only about 3.5hrs by bus on a new road, about 100km S.E. of Cusco
  • sidetrip to the “rainbow mountains” of Vinicunca

Read more on our Ausangate Circuit information page.

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Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy

Gran Paradiso National Park (Italian: Parco nazionale del Gran Paradiso, French: Parc national du Grand-Paradis) is an Italian national park in the Graian Alps, between the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions. The park is named after Gran Paradiso mountain, which is located in the park.  …

The land the park encompasses was initially protected in order to protect the Alpine ibex, but now also protects other species. …

Cicerone has some good hiking guidebooks.

Click PLAY or watch a promo on YouTube.

(via Trekking Alps – Hiking holidays in the Italian Alps)

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Top 10 Hiking Destinations ➙ The Alps

Many North American hikers pooh-pooh hiking in Europe as “too civilized and too expensive“. The ones who have never hiked there.

Harder Ridge, Switzerland

With advanced planning you can get to some of the best wild scenery in the world and not go bankrupt in Europe.

Iconic peaks reflected in tranquil mountain lakes, sweeping hillsides blanketed in wild flowers and dramatic, sprawling glaciers characterize the Alps. Discover why this mighty range, the birthplace of modern mountain walking, has enthralled walkers for centuries. – LP

The culture and history of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovenian and Switzerland are an added bonus.

Travel is easy in Europe, of course, but the hiking window is short. You want to be there Jun-Sept, the same high season as North America.

More information on our new Alps information page.

Our favourite trip in the Alps was the Tour of Mont Blanc. But after besthike editor found the TMB crowded with hordes of tour groups the summer of 2009, we changed our “favourite hike in Europe” to the more challenging Walker’s Haute Route, Chamonix to Zermatt.

Both long hikes are in the same region, sharing sections of trail near Chamonix. Both are great, truth be told.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Consider both these adventure:

• Tour of Mont Blanc Information page

• Haute Route information page

Check out, too, the 2009 Haute Route trip report (Mt Blanc to Matterhorn) by besthike editor Rick McCharles.

Leave a comment if you have your own favourite hike in the Alps.

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Alice Ford’s BEST HIKES USA

A great list. Diverse Scenery.

01:25 Clouds Rest to Half Dome
02:40 John Muir Trail
03:38 Avalanche Lake
04:34 Laughton Glacier Alaska
07:32 Sahale Glacier – Washington
08:48 Big Pine Lakes
09:51 Beehive Trail – Maine
11:00 False Kiva
12:07 Cloudland Canyon Waterfall Trail
13;16 Kings Peak
15:35 Rattlesnake Arches
16:30 Double O Arch
17:35 Havasu Falls
18:40 Kalalau Trail
19:53 Franconia Ridge Loop
20:42 Longs Peak
22:07 Lost Coast Trail
23:00 Teton Crest Trail

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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How Hiking TRANSFORMS Your Body

Heart, lungs, cardiovascular benefits — for sure.

After 17 days on the John Muir Trail I felt fantastic. Lean and fit.

But there are some risks with long slow distance exercise over many, many days.

  • Perhaps 5000 calories burn rate fuelled by junk food, in many cases
  • reproductive system may be affected
  • possible bone density loss — but it should be restored after a few months

Of course there’s a risk of injury. Especially chronic injury.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Great Hikes in British Columbia

Leigh McAdam recommends:

Berg Lake

Elfin Lakes, Garibaldi Provincial Park

Elk Lakes – Petain Basin

Eva Lake, Mount Revelstoke National Park

Frosty Mountain, Manning Provincial Park

Garibaldi Lake, Garibaldi Provincial Park

Gwillim Lakes, Valhalla Provincial Park

Howe Sound Crest Trail near Vancouver

Hermit Trail, (Canadian) Glacier National Park

Iceline Trail – Yoho Valley Loop

Juan de Fuca Marine Trail

Kaslo Lake or Kokanee Glacier Cabin, Kokanee Glacier Park

Mount Assiniboine

Nootka Island Trail

North Coast Trail

Rainbow Range Trail, Tweedsmuir Provincial Park

Rockwall Trail

Sunshine Coast Trail

Takkakaw Falls – Laughing Falls – Twin Falls – Whaleback Ridge Loop 

West Coast Trail

Details from Leigh Adams on Hike Bike Travel – 21 Backpacking Trips in BC That Will Blow You Away

Eva Lake in Mount Revelstoke National Park


Having done most of those adventures myself, of that list I’d first recommend:

West Coast Trail

Mount Assiniboine

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Appalachian Trail ➙ Heartwood by Amity Gaige

Amity Gaige had a hit with this novel.

Personally, I felt the storytelling average. Sometimes pretentious.

What kept me going was the plot ➙ story of the search for Valerie Gillis, a 42-year-old hiker known as “Sparrow,” who vanishes while navigating the challenging Appalachian Trail.

After weeks experience on the A.T., Sparrow makes many dumb mistakes.

The book was slightly inspired by the story of Geraldine Largay who went missing in 2013 and survived for 26 days.

Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.

At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. …

… The mystery inspires larger questions about the many ways in which we get lost, and how we are found. …

Amazon

The ending of the book did tie up things well.

And some of the philosophical musings were interesting to me.

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Farewell Rathtrevor Beach, Vancouver Island

Over the years, I’ve taken thousands of photos Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park close to Nanaimo, Vancouver Island.

Most of those near dawn. I’d enjoy my first coffee of the day on the beach.

BUT summer 2025 I’m relocating back to my home town ➙ Calgary, Alberta.

I’ll miss those Rathtrevor mornings.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. Montage of some of my favourite photos.

See more of my favourite Rathtrevor pics on Flickr.

Of course I’ve made many VIDEOS on Rathtrevor, as well.

My favourite of those is Vancouver Island at Dawn — 4 Seasons 🎵.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

When I first got into serious VIDEO editing — during COVID — this 2020 edit is another favourite. 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.