Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Weighing over 200 pounds in College, Heather Anderson is today one of the world’s greatest thru hikers.
Heather Anderson just crushed the record for the fastest known unsupported Appalachian Trail thru-hike. That makes her the biggest badass you’ve never heard of.
Click PLAY or watch her TED talk on YouTube.
A local favourite.
WILL MCGOUGH:
Jasper National Park can be reached via Calgary or Edmonton. Both are four- to five-hour drives. The journey from Calgary is much more scenic, though, winding its way through Banff National Park and the Icefields Parkway.
The Skyline Trail is 27 miles in length with more than half above treeline. In good weather, it can be completed comfortably in as little as three days, two nights. …
The trail passes through six campsites, each positioned in scenic locations below treeline near or next to flowing water. …
If you’re tackling it in a standard weekend, plan to stay at Tekarra and Snow Bowl. For me, they were the most scenic, combining pine forests, rivers and landscape views. …
You can start the Skyline Trail from either the Signal or Maligne Lake trailheads. I recommend starting from Signal because you get the most boring part of the trail, a fire road with no views, out of the way in the beginning as opposed to letting it be an anticlimactic end.
The Skyline Trail is best enjoyed between late June and early September. …
Travel Pulse – What You Need to Know About Hiking the Skyline Trail in Jasper
Adventure blog linked to a video profile of Jasper National Park.
Click PLAY or watch Into the Canadian Rockies on Vimeo.
(via Meandrathals)
I hiked the Colorado Trail (CT) during the first two weeks of September.
No crowds, monsoon season practically over, the Aspens changing from green to flaming gold.
A wonderful time to be outside in the Rockies.
Coming in at around 490 miles (789 km) in length, the CT represented the longest hike (in regards to distance, rather than time) that I had done since 2012. However, in many respects it was also the easiest. Well maintained pathway, loads of resupply options, regular water sources and simple navigation.
And you know what? It was just what I needed. …
related – world hiker Cam “Swami” Honan
A Swiss hiking buddy told me their Army hates sand. It gets in EVERYTHING. Ruins zippers.
Personally, I love sculpting the perfect sand platform and setting up with a water view.
Outbound – 21 Beautiful Beach Campsites
Andrew Skurka :
Ten- or fifteen-thousand miles ago I believed fervently that “light is right” and “lighter is better.” I proudly considered myself a “lightweight,” “ultralight” or “super ultralight” backpacker, and I believed that the weight of my pack was linearly correlated with the quality of my experience — the lighter my pack got, the better the hiking became.
But in my blind pursuit to shed weight, I made decisions that compromised my efficiency, thus negatively impacting my trips. In other words, in an effort to “go light” I ended up going “stupid light.” (Special thanks to Phil Barton and Pat Starich for sharing this expression with me.)
I went “stupid light” by:
Not taking gear and supplies that were necessary given the conditions, and …
Taking gear and supplies that were too light.read more – “Stupid light”: Why light is not necessarily right, and why lighter is not necessarily better
… Cam “Swami” Honan has trekked more than 53,000 miles (85,295 km) in some 55 countries around the globe since the early 1990’s.
Hailing from Australia, Cam’s longest hiking journey took place in North America. Between July 2, 2011 and December 28, 2012, he completed an incredible trip which was called the “12 Long Walks.” Consisting of a dozen consecutive long distance hikes and totalling more than 14,300 miles (23,014 km), Cam passed through 29 US States, 4 Canadian provinces and destroyed a whopping 28 pairs of trail running shoes!
Along the way he set records for the completion of a calendar year Triple Crown (Pacific Crest, Appalachian and Continental Divide Trails – 236 days), distance covered in a calendar year and the one of which he is most proud, dehydrated beans consumed in an 18 month period (123.7 lbs / 56.1 kg)! …
exclusive interview
besthike – What attracts you to any specific hike?
I don’t really have any specific criteria that I look for. Sometimes I’m drawn to remote wilderness areas. On other occasions I look for a combination of elements such as historical, cultural, culinary and even libational (e.g. country pubs in the UK/Ireland or Italy’s wine growing regions)!
besthike – What were your favourite short (week or less) hikes all time?
I get asked this question quite a lot and the answer has always been the same…….I don’t have any favourites. That being said, certain regions such as the Karakorum, Tibet, Lapland, Gobi desert, Alaska/Yukon, High Sierra, SW Tasmania, Patagonia, Colorado Plateau and Canadian Rockies come to mind.
besthike – Do you know of anyone else who’s hiked as extensively around the world as you have?
No one that I’m aware of. That being said, it’s not a question I’ve given any thought to.
besthike – How do you afford to travel so much?
Once the plane fares and all the equipment have been taken care of, hiking trips are generally very affordable. Accommodation is usually free, food often equates to $10 a day or less and your own feet take care of things on the transportation front.
besthike – Where would you most like to hike in the future?
There are quite a few different places I’m yet to explore. A couple that come immediately to mind are the Kimberley region of Western Australia and sub-Saharan Africa.
In more recent times, Cam has completed historic traverses of Mexico’s Copper Canyon region (2013 – together with fellow Montbell athlete, Justin Lichter) and Peru’s Cordillera Blanca (2014). When not wandering the wild regions of the planet, he can be found splitting his time between Australia, the US and his adopted homeland of Mexico.
His excellent website is called (appropriately) The Hiking Life. 🙂
The Dinaric Alps have 8,000-foot stegosaurus spines, fairy-tale meadows, and stone guesthouses. Decades of conflict made them tough to experience, but the area is amping up its tourist offerings, and access is improving on the new Via Dinarica.
… Hire a guide and take three days to walk the 40 miles from Bosnia’s 6,900-foot Prenj Massif to Vran Mountain …
Heindrik Morkel‘s trip report:
30°C Sunshine, 3.000 m of ascent and 30 km of ridge walking – a good day on the Via Dinarica!
related – Interview with Hendrik Morkel
I was in Spain recently, one of my main goals to hike the newly reopened Camino del Rey.
Unfortunately you can only access the trail after booking through the official portal page.
The portal shows up 3 months in advance. But it’s ALWAYS booked. 😦
I couldn’t get a reservation.
Update: It turns out that the Garganta Hotel, near the train station in Alora, will sell you an expensive lunch for 25 euro … with a “free” ticket for the hike. Other restaurants may do the same.
Here’s a May 2015 trip report (tickets from Garganta Hotel).
I wished I’d known. The official website does not mention this option.
El Caminito del Rey (English: The King’s little pathway) is a walkway, pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Ardales in the province of Málaga, Spain. The name is often shortened to Camino del Rey.
The walkway had fallen into disrepair and was partially closed for over a decade. After four years of extensive repairs and renovations, the walkway re-opened in 2015. It has been known in the past as the “world’s most dangerous walkway” following five deaths in 1999 and 2000. …
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
The night had been calm and MUCH warmer than the previous two. I actually got some sleep.
Josh was reading Into the Wild.
Civilization was in sight. We were confident of being able to catch the bus back to Granada, a day later than we had originally planned.
Once we no longer needed trail navigation, there were dozens of signs.
The promised clean water was finally available.
We were already starting to forget about the cold and wind.
In fact, sun and wind burn were our main concerns. We were back in southern Spain. 🙂
It was a treat to get to Lanjarón village.
Nearly out of food, we loaded up with treats. And enjoyed coffee at a pleasant restaurant until the bus arrived to return us to Granada.
Instead of the anticipated 45km / 3 day hike … ours was 65km over 4 days. We cursed Lonely Planet loudly.
Sadly, we never saw a single Ibex.
besthike.com 