Stok Kangri is one of our top 10 trekking peaks in the world. Easy access from Leh.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Read the full trip report:
I don’t use hiking poles …
… but if I did get some, I’d buy the comparatively expensive Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z.
Click PLAY or watch a review on YouTube.
That’s based on the best review of hiking poles I’ve ever seen:
LIGHTWEIGHT TREKKING POLES: GEAR GUIDE
At age-61 I still prefer to keep my hands free on the trail. But someday I’ll start using poles.
Patagonia donates Trump tax cut to ENVIRONMENTAL groups
Outdoor retailer Patagonia announced Wednesday that it plans to donate the $10 million it is saving from President Trump’s corporate tax cuts this year to environmental groups.
“Based on last year’s irresponsible tax cut, Patagonia will owe less in taxes this year — $10 million less, in fact,” CEO Rose Marcario wrote in a LinkedIn post Wednesday afternoon.
“Instead of putting the money back into our business, we’re responding by putting $10 million back into the planet. Our home planet needs it more than we do.” …
SUPPORT Patagonia if you love the outdoors.
related – Patagonia closing stores nationwide on Election Day
interview with Rick McCharles of BestHike.com
That’s me. 🙂
Read the interview on Reviews Outdoors:
Rick McCharles of BestHike.com Tells Us about His Next Big Adventure
Cape Wrath Trail, Scotland
Cam Honan
The Cape Wrath Trail is often referred to as Britain’s toughest long distance walk. Stretching approximately 230 miles (370 km) from the Highland hub of Fort William to the remote lighthouse of Cape Wrath, it is an unmarked and sometimes trailless route that passes through the wild and spectacular landscapes of northwestern Scotland. Due to the unpredictable weather and challenging terrain, it is a hike that is best suited to experienced ramblers who possess a good level of fitness, navigation skill, and a stoic disregard of having wet feet.
I hiked the Cape Wrath Trail in the summer of 2018. …
Isobel Glover 1st to hike Vancouver Island end-to-end
Glover wanted to use her The Island in My Backyard expedition to show people how readily accessible — and relatively cheap — such a journey can be for those who live here. No flights or ferries to go on this trip. She didn’t even have to get in a car.
“I just went out my front door and started walking.” …
… The Vancouver Island Trail — also known as the Spine Trail — is only 80 per cent complete, and even then “trail” can mean anything from a dead flat, three-metre-wide, groomed path to a never-trodden forest route only discernible by occasional markings on the trees.
Then there were the gaps where forging ahead meant bushwhacking down 45-degree slopes.
Glover planned meticulously, preparing dried food and figuring out routes that would allow her to camp close to water sources, but even then there’s nothing quite like the reality of forest so dense that it’s all but impossible to cover the 20 metres from tent to lake. …
She had some funding from the Alpine Club of Canada for this adventure.
The Vancouver Island Trail is a multi-use (foot, cycle, equestrian) non-motorized trail, that links communities and ecosystems along a 765 km long, north-south transect of Vancouver Island. It uses both new and existing trails and inactive and active logging roads. At the start of 2018, it is still a work in progress with approximately 86% of it now complete.
For more details on the history of the trail, the organization’s Mission and Vision statements, recent newsletters and trail progress, and to become involved, please visit our website: vispine.ca
There’s an online hiking guidebook in the works.
Heather Anderson’s Calendar-Year Triple Crown
Only five others—all men—have completed the thru-hiker’s Holy Grail in fewer than 365 days
The Triple Crown is often considered the pinnacle of the thru-hiking world. To complete the feat, a person must hike the 2,190-mile Appalachian, 2,650-mile Pacific Crest, and 3,100-mile Continental Divide trails …
But for a select few, there is an even more impressive Triple Crown to be had: Hiking all three trails in a single year, a challenge that’s dubbed the Calendar-Year Triple Crown …
Before this trip, she’d already Triple Crowned twice, setting the overall self-supported Fastest Known Time (FKT) for the Pacific Crest Trail and the self-supported FKT for the Appalachian Trail. (A new FKT for the Appalachian Trail was set by Karel Sabbe in August, but Anderson still holds the women’s record.) After this season, Anderson is now the fastest woman to ever Triple Crown and the first woman to triple Triple Crown. …
modest National Park proposals
In the era where Trump and his appointee Zinke are happy to sell off protected public lands, these proposals from Backpacker magazine might not seem modest to all.
Casey Lyons – Make More National Parks
M. John Fayhee – Let the National Parks Go Wild
Rachel Zurer – Make the National Parks Free
Hansjörg Wyss – $1 billion for conservation
Wyss Foundation is launching a $1 billion campaign, called the Wyss Campaign for Nature.
The campaign’s goal is to help conserve 30% of the planet in a natural state by the year 2030 by creating and expanding protected areas, establishing more ambitious international conservation targets, investing in science, and inspiring conservation action around the world.
Only by dramatically increasing the capacity of communities, indigenous peoples, and nations to conserve lands, waters, and wildlife can we hope to safeguard the natural world upon which we all depend. …
For example, the Wyss Foundation is providing up to $22 million to help Fundación Flora y Fauna acquire lands to formally establish the Aconquija National Park in Argentina’s Tucumán Province.
Born in Bern, Switzerland, Hansjörg Wyss lives in Wilson, Wyoming.
related – Wyoming billionaire pledges to protect 30% of the planet by 2030
Sandakphu Phalut Trek, West Bengal
I’ve hiked many sections of the Himalaya, but never out of West Bengal.
The route of this trek lies along the border of India and Nepal. In fact, one constantly moves in and out of Nepal during the trek. The mighty mountains, of course, know no boundaries. They stretch through Nepal, India, Bhutan and further.
This trek can be done almost throughout the year save for monsoon months. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Guided it costs only about 10,000 Indian Rupees (less than $150) for 6 days.
besthike.com 