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28 days on the John Muir Trail 1993

Almost Somewhere: Twenty-Eight Days on the John Muir Trail by Suzanne Roberts was published 2012.

It’s the author’s recollection of her 1993 hike with two friends.

They were hiking rookies. Woefully incompetent. Suzanne’s pack weighed 60lbs to start.

I recommend this book, especially for female hikers.

Her story of a month in the backcountry—confronting bears, snowy passes, broken equipment, injuries, and strange men—is as much about finding a woman’s way into outdoor experience as it is about the natural world she so eloquently describes.

Candid and funny and, finally, wise, Almost Somewhere is not just the whimsical coming-of-age story of a young woman ill-prepared for a month in the mountains but also the reflection of a distinctly feminine view of nature.

GoodReads

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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hiking Glacier National Park, Montana

My favourite National Park in North America is Waterton Glacier International Peace Park.

Parks Canada: Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada

United States National Park Service: Glacier National Park

One of our top 10 hikes in the world makes an international circuit of the two parks.

Glacier North Circle

  • 7 days, 6 nights recommended
  • 65miles (104km) plus side trips
  • best months July-Sept
yellow marks the Highline Trail / Ptarmigan Tunnel, North Circle
red arrows point to our recommended campgrounds

That’s your best hike in the area.

If you would rather day hike the best resource online is …

Hiking in Glacier

by Recovering Vagabond

by Recovering Vagabond

Considerations

For a quick overview of that site check out

Glacier National Park: A Day Hikers Overview

Both Waterton and Glacier are very busy during the short high season. That’s one good reason to choose some of the less popular trails.

It’s all great. You can’t lose.

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‘Otter Voice Notes’ app on the Trail

I’m trying this free audio transcription app. Highly rated, it seems to work well.

I’ll take voice notes on the trail. And later — back connected to the internet — those will be transcribed to text for possible use in my trip report.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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NEW – Phulara Ridge Trek, India

Best months: March to May, September to mid-November.

This trail starts off from Sankri, which is in western Uttarakhand, almost touching Himachal. If you are familiar with Kedarkantha, it has the same base camp, Sankri. However, the trail to Phulara ridge heads in a different direction.

From Sankri, over two days and two camps, you climb up to the Phulara ridge. That’s when the fun begins. You traverse this ridge for a long time — it’s almost an entire day’s trek. …

India Hikes – Phulara Ridge

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

India Hikes covers over 200 trails. Check out indiahikes.com

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trek Cerro Castillo in Patagonia

Adventure Alan:

Highlights – Iconic view at the base of Cerro Castillo competes with the best in Patagonia (e.g. Torres Del Paine). High mountains, glaciers, rain forest, deep mountain valleys, grasslands and an amazing variety of terrain and ecosystems.

Duration – 3 to 4 Days. Moderately fit hikers can easily do this in 3 days.

Distance – 34 miles (54 km) classic route [with a shorter option for 25 miles (40 km)]

Level of Difficulty – Moderate

Route Finding – Easy. Almost entirely on trail. Well signed. Only a few sections over rock where you need to pay attention.

 

our Cerro Castillo 2004 trek

CERRO CASTILLO TREK GUIDE

related – our Cerro Castillo information page

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Republican Senator wants to sell off Federal Public Lands

The GOP in the USA — in general — want the richest corporations and donors to get even richer. They have very little interest in protecting the environment nor encouraging outdoor recreation.

For example, Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah.

Senator Wants to Eliminate Federal Public Lands

If you love the outdoors campaign against Republicans.

Utah can blame Rob Bishop (R) and Jason Chaffetz (R)

In 2017, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed a resolution urging the Trump administration to rescind the Bears Ears National Monument. The resolution served as a flashpoint that ultimately reduced the size of both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante national monuments significantly.

It also triggered a backlash from the outdoor industry. The Outdoor Retailer convention pulled out of Utah in protest, moving the show to Denver.

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INDIA – 13 best treks

India Hikes recommendations:

1. Rupin Pass
2. Roopkund
3. Kashmir Great Lakes
4. Buran Ghati
5. Pin Bhaba Pass
6. Tarsar Marsar
7. Kedarkantha Trek
8. Kuari Pass
… see our Kauri INFO page
9. Gaumukh Tapovan
10. Goechala
11. Hampta Pass
12. Sandakphu Phalut
13. Brahmatal

Brahmatal

The trekking is GREAT in India. But logistics are often troublesome.

Next time I get to the subcontinent I plan to try a guided trip with India Hikes.

However, their list is certainly not definitive. Markha Valley is our favourite trek in India. It’s not included.

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51 great books for hikers

Adventure Junkies posted their list.

It did inspire me to buy a few more.


The World’s Great Adventure Treks Hardcover – March 1, 2005
by Jack Jackson (Editor)

Walking Distance: Extraordinary Hikes for Ordinary People Paperback – December 15, 2012 by Robert E. Manning

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free offline maps for hiking

In South America early 2018 I quickly learned that most every tourist was using the free maps.me app every day.

I was using Google Maps offline.

Google has the best map data in the world.

Maps.me uses Open Street Map data.

Soon I was using both apps and comparing the results. Google Maps offline might be better but it’s far more complicated. You must define the exact square area you want to download. Files sizes are huge.

Maps.me does only one thing. And it does it well.

Opening the app in a new geographical area while on wifi results in one prompt asking if you want to download the maps for your current area. It’s dead easy.

Offline it uses GPS to pinpoint your location.

Surprisingly some hiking trails are included in the Open Street Map data.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

If interested, download the free Maps.me app to your mobile device. Browse the Maps.me support – Getting started.

 

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Washington State – Ape Cave Trail

This fascinating hike includes a trek through the 2.5 mile Ape Cave, the longest continuous lava tube in the continental United States. …

You’ll want to bring sweatshirts and plenty of outerwear, head lamps or lanterns, flashlights and spare batteries. …

Ape Cave was formed about 2,000 years ago from lava streaming down Mount Saint Helens.

Skamania County’s Ape Cave Trail