Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
(via Adventure Blog)
cycling Port Alberni to Victoria on the NEW Spine Trail
A signature recreation destination in Canada, the Vancouver Island Spine Trail will span more than 700 kilometres from Victoria to Cape Scott. Traversing wild coasts, ancient and working forests and joining island communities, the trail will be a month-long journey in its entirety. …
It’s not finished. But I plan to cycle — and hike a bike — a section in 2017. I’ll start in Port Alberni … and see how far south I can get.
hiking Big Bend National Park, Texas
I’m planning to hike Big Bend for the first time. In January.
The Parks Service recommends:
• Desert Hikes
• Mountain Hikes
• River Hikes
As usual I’ll check with Rangers before deciding which hikes. Local information is critical in the desert. Backcountry Use Permits are required.
I’ll be mostly doing day hikes and one night tenting trips. Water is an issue, I understand, even in winter.
Unless you are walking the Rio Grande, of course.
50 Awesome Hiking Blogs
Mitch Stevens of Southwest Discoveries posted 50 sites they like.
Though most of the 50 are focused on the S.W. USA, we are honoured to be included. 🙂
www.besthike.com
Besthike.com, founded by intrepid adventurer Rick McCharles, is one of the best hiking blogs on the web. It is a comprehensive listing of the world’s best hikes. Rick not only catalogs the planet’s best life changing hikes but provide descriptions. It is no surprise that Rick includes hikes in the southwest as some of the best hikes in the world. Most of the hikes he recommends are challenging multi-day adventures, such as the Zion Narrows for instance. Rick is continuing to research the best hikes on earth, calling his website a “work in progress.”
I’m planning a trip to Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico right now. This list is a great resource.
West Coast Trail reservations start Jan 9, 2017
Our #1 hike in the world is the West Coast Trail.
AT A GLANCE
75 km (47 mi), 5-7 days traditional route- 3-5 day routes possible via Nitinat
- southwestern edge of Vancouver Island
- Pacific Rim National Park
- Permits required May 1 –
September 16September 30 - extremely rugged, requires a high level of fitness
- 6,000+ backpackers / year
- permits limited and in high demand — WCT Trail reservations
- The reservation system opens 8am PST on January 9, 2017, for example.
- … most expensive hiking permit in Canada
how DAD puts up the tent
Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook. 🙂
Thanks Bede.
commercializing Everest’s North Face
A few weeks ago, a Beijing newspaper announced that the Chinese government was building a new mountaineering center and hotel near the north side of Everest. …
The mountaineering center will be located in Old Tingri, a town 40 miles northwest of Everest, and will house much of the infrastructure we currently associate with the French Alps: a heli base for rescue operations on the mountain, a mountaineering school for high altitude workers, and a fully stocked hotel. …
The mountaineering center is scheduled to be completed by 2019, three years ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
I hiked Tingri (Dingri) to Everest in 1998. Dingri was one crappy town at that time. Seems it’s not improved much in the years since.
As always, there will be pros and cons in commercializing Everest in Tibet.
hiking Ferry Reach Park, Bermuda
Close to the airport and St. George, I quite enjoyed wandering these trails.
This 64 acres park area is the second largest in Bermuda and has wonderful walking trails, forest areas with endemic plantation, a nice lake, a bay with a lovely beach, and a few historic forts. Other than the sounds of airplanes flying overhead at times, this place has remained as a serene and peaceful parkland over the years. …
Bermuda Railway Trail passes through the park and goes along the western coast line. …
At the western most tip … Ferry Island which can be accessed from the park on a small wooden bridge. It was in Ferry Island where the ferry dock was built way back in 1600s. Ferries transported people across to the other side known as Coney Island which connects to the main island of Bermuda. For over 250 years, ferry was the only transport that connected St. George with the main island.
It ceased to operate once the Causeway was built in 1871. …In 1823, Martello Tower came up on the high ground behind the two forts where soldiers could survey the surrounding coastline and the land area. …
A friend told me they had some terrific drinking parties at Martello Tower back in his misspent youth. It’s all locked up now.
Sherpa – directed by Jennifer Peedom
… charting the disastrous Everest season of 2014. The director aimed to get a Sherpa’s point of view on climbing Everest after the famous flareup of 2013, and instead was on the ground to document the appalling loss of life and resulting Sherpa strike the following year. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
besthike.com 