Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Like every year, I’m still looking to find the right time to do Kili.
KILIMANJARO-EXPERIENCE leads 4 different routes: Marangu ‘Coca- Cola’, Machame, Lemosho, Rongai.
“More than 85% of our clients successfully reach Kilimanjaro’s summit.”
Click PLAY or watch a promo on YouTube.
I stumbled on to this old packing list from a hiking trip to South America in 2005. How embarrassing. Today I’d take less than half that stuff. And it would weigh about 1/3 as much. ____
Main pack (North Face) left back at the hostel for storage with items not taken on the hike, including:
I hiked Nepal a couple of years ago with Betsy and Brion After. They run Independence Run & Hike in Carbondale, Colorado.
Great news. Their store was chosen for a free makeover. 🙂
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
I’m hoping to get out Carbondale for some hiking myself this summer.
This Hiking Life:
Distance : 40 miles (64 km)
Avg.Time : 4 or 5 days
Start / Finish: Lake Sylvan car park / Routeburn shelter.
The Five Passes Route is a wilderness tramp (Kiwi speak for ‘hike’ or ‘trek’) that requires good route finding and map reading skills. If you are looking for a well marked, easy to follow trail, you may want to try the nearby Routeburn Track. …
There are no huts, except for the somewhat dilapidated Rock Burn Shelter, situated a few kilometres north of Lake Sylvan car park.
There are rock bivvies at Beans Burn, Olivine Ledge, Parks Pass and Theatre Flats. See Moir’s Guide for details of exact locations. The Beans Burn and Parks Pass bivvies are the pick of the bunch.
It is possible to spend all of your nights under the rock bivvies, however considering the challenging terrain and unpredictable nature of the weather, you would be wise to bring your own shelter.
A challenging trek for experienced hikers only. Scenically stunning from start to finish. …
The Hiking Life – Five Passes Route
I made a donation to Samaritan’s Purse. Looks like they are doing excellent work.
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
Here’s their donation link if you’d like to do the same.
(via Adventure Blog)
Best Hike editor Rick McCharles was interviewed for an article in the Costco Connection May/June 2015 newsletter. 🙂
1. Two people can fit in a 2 person tent.
2. You’ll sleep warmer if you sleep naked in a sleeping bag.
3. You need to wear hiking boots to go backpacking.
4. You need a backpack rain cover to hike in the rain.
5. You need a tent footprint to protect the floor of your tent.
6. Waterproof breathable rain jackets are breathable.
7. You need a 4 season tent to camp in winter.
8. Biodegradable soap is ok to wash with in streams and ponds.
9. Waterproof hiking boots will keep your feet dry.
10. You don’t need to carry maps and a compass because you have a GPS.
Yep. I agree with all 10.
I carry a 1-man 3-season tent. (Hubba). No pack cover. No footprint. No GPS.
I never sleep naked (in my 1-man tent). Wear approach shoes everywhere.
AND I’ve always called Gortex the “fabric of deceit”. 🙂
Vica Bugrimenko:
They’re optimistic, yet prepared for anything …
They’re minimalists …
They’re incredibly encouraging …
They’re carefree and bold …
The Climb: 4 Reasons Hikers Are The Best People You’ll Ever Meet
Arenal Volcano National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal) is a Costa Rican national park in the central part of the country …
The park encompasses the Arenal Volcano, which “was” the most active in the country, which had previously been believed to be dormant until a major eruption in 1968. …
The park also contains a second volcano, Chato, whose crater contains a lagoon. It is also called Cerro Chato (literally Mount Chato) as it has been inactive for around 3500 years …
Looks great. Unfortunately I got rained out May 9th, 2015. May is the start of the rainy season. 😦
The most popular trails are short day hikes. Perhaps 4 miles in total.
It’s been mostly inactive since 2010. Might remain dormant state for the next 600 or 800 years.
Independent hikers still manage to get lost.
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Chato Volcano, sometimes called “Cerro Chato” (Spanish for “Mount Chato”), is an inactive volcano in north-western Costa Rica …
It is southeast of the nearby Arenal Volcano …
A crater about 500 metres (1,600 ft) wide is filled with a lagoon, Laguna Cerro Chato. …
Since I hate taxis, I instead walked the 3.5km from La Fortuna town to Cerro Chato Eco Lodge.
Paid $12 for the hike. And $4 for two Diet Cokes. (One of the ’10 essentials’ of hiking.)
Many tourists feel prices are too high in the Arenal area. I agree.
The weather looked bad. Normal for the rainy season here.
Still, I was psyched. I love climbing volcanos.
There were some views.
You have to get lucky to see animals on popular trails here. I saw only birds.
And cows. There are plenty of cows.
It’s steep in parts. Muddy. You must scramble tree roots.
Everyone gets sweaty, regardless of their fitness. It’s hard work in a humid environment.
I stopped at the volcano rim, however, when two hikers told me they had given up on the steep, muddy descent to the water. ’Sketchy’, they warned.
We agreed that there was not much to be seen down there, in any case, as the summit was cloud covered.
After hiking down quickly, I ran some of the 3.5km downhill back to my hostel. A big day, all-in-all. My celebration meal was Calzone. I was hungry. 🙂
related – Trip Advisor – Cerro Chato
besthike.com 