“Unbounded” shows the beauty, the cultural richness but also the challenges of this trail network. I highly recommend watching this work of art to all prospective hikers as part of their preparation.
— Jan Dudeck (creator of GPT)
Four young people who didn’t know each other at the start hiked 4 months on the Greater Patagonia Trail in Chile.
Only one had much experience hiking.
They made plenty of mistakes. Carried huge packs. At the start they could only manage about 7km / day.
The Greater Patagonia Trail is a route, not a trail. It’s unsigned. It’s wilderness. It’s very challenging.
Despite many, many problems, the documentary turned out to be quite entertaining. I recommend it.
I hid and locked my bike close to the trailhead. Transferred what I needed to my hiking pack — and headed up the railway tracks.
I missed the turn-off up mountain. It’s not obvious. On my return I flagged the start to make it more conspicuous.
Steep.
The strenuous 2km climb up to the telecommunications tower is called Wesley Tower Trail.
Many continue on to the first lake vista. It took me about 2 hours to get here. There are two benches, one named Forever Tuesday after the Tuesday Walkers Club in nearby Port Alberni.
Most turn back at this point. There’s no one path across the ridge from here.
I gave it a good try. You follow different (competing) sets of orange tape flags. Some lead to dead ends.
A bigger problem was scrambling hundreds of fallen trees. Not bringing long pants, I got quite scratched up. It was bushwhacking.
Another problem is water. I saw no flowing water — only remnant snow melt tarns.
With daylight failing, I finally decided to find myself a great tent site.
It doesn’t get much better than this. I had to HIDE in the tent at dusk, however, pestered by small non-biting flies.
From here I could see steam rising from Port Alberni.
Here’s where I stopped.
Good night.
Next morning, nearly out of water, I decided to hustle back the way I’d come. I’ll try the Ridge from the other end on some future trip.
The Kepler track is a 60km loop that takes you alongside glistening alpine lakes, through dense beech forest and up into a spectacular alpine environment.
This video takes you through the alpine section of this ‘Great Walk’ to help you prepare for the harsher conditions, particularly in exposed areas. …
Pacific Crest Trail Days (an event produced by Outdoor Viewfinder), is a 3-day summer festival that celebrates outdoor recreation, with a focus on hiking, camping, and backpacking.
Attendees are able to learn about outdoor products from exhibiting sponsors, participate in activities, games & presentations, win awesome gear at the raffle, watch a series of films, and get great deals at the Gear Expo….
GIVEAWAY: To celebrate 70 years as the original in adventure, we’re giving away 16 of these newly released limited edition anniversary 32oz Wide Mouth bottles, plus a pair of commemorative stickers for each winner. 🎉 #Nalgene70
India and Pakistan both dispute ownership of the Kashmir Valley, and political violence can flare up without warning. Because of ongoing security problems, many foreign governments advise against all travel, or all but essential travel, to areas outside of the cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and your travel insurance may be invalid if you ignore this advice.
Most who arrive at Roads End Ranger Station in Kings Canyon National Park end up doing the popular Rae Lakes loop, which in of itself, is an amazing Sierra Nevada trail.
For a more strenuous and less-traveled hike, head to the Copper Creek trailhead.
This is not a day-hike. You’ll put the effort in at the beginning to enjoy near solitude, granite crag, and alpine lakes at every turn. To start, the ascent is steep. You spend the first 7.5 miles climbing 6,000 feet, gaining great views of the valley below (including the Sphinx) until you reach the Lip. At that point, feel free to go off trail and find a campsite at a nearby lake (ex. Grouse Lake). You just did the hard part!
Now, you can use this as a basecamp, because you have several day hikes available. Spend some time at Granite Lake perched on its own plateau, or follow the ridge line along Goat Crest and across several glacial alpine lakes. Bring your favorite route-finding devices and skills as you can truly make your own adventure at 10,000+ feet. At this point, you may not see anyone, so soak your feet in a lake, go for a swim, or just enjoy the serene landscapes that the Sierras provide.
Should you want to make a loop of it, you can pick up basecamp and finish out Kennedy Canyon, where you’ll end up back at Cedar Grove Village. You’ll be several miles away from your car, so either be comfortable with hitchhiking, or have two cars available to shuttle yourself from trailhead to trailhead.
For the full story on how two intermediate hikers prepared for this hike and how they tackled this trail, listen to Broken Laces‘ episode 1 on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or you favorite podcast provider.
The 1,900-mile-long thru-hike winds through the southern Andes from Santiago to the climbing mecca of Mount Fitzroy. To complete it, adventurers need a lot more than physical stamina.
In late 2017, I contacted explorer and (Swiss) German engineer Jan Dudeck, who was just completing a decade-long quest to create a new long trail through South America. The Greater Patagonian Trail (GPT), as he named it, would come to be 1,900 miles, stretching through the southern Andes from Santiago to the Argentinean climbing mecca of Mount Fitzroy.
“This trail rewards the humble,” Dudeck replied in his e-mail to me, “and humiliates the proud.” …
I set out on my own GPT attempt in the summer of 2017. I quickly learned that Dudeck’s creation bears little resemblance to the famous thru-hikes of the U.S. …
It’s still a very rare occurrence to meet other GPT hikers. …
besthike.com 