Karna Shakya
Meet The Man Who Put Nepal On The Tourist Map
Last year I tried to get space in one of the Kathmandu Guest House inexpensive legacy rooms. It seemed impossible in November. They are constantly full.
Big Agnes mtnGLO™tents
A review by Casey Schreiner, the Modern Hiker:
New for 2015, the Big Agnes Rattlesnake SL2 is a relatively lightweight three-season tent that features an easy, two-piece hub-pole setup and plenty of headroom for one person—or two people who don’t mind getting cozy. More interestingly, it also has a series of LED lights woven into the tent’s interior fabric—a feature Big Agnes calls mtnGLO. …
Sufferfest 2: Desert Alpine
Cedar Wright and Alex Honnold
This time, a month riding their bikes and climbing desert towers in the American Southwest should be a piece of cake for these fast friends. Or will it? …
Click PLAY or watch a clip on YouTube.
Radical Reels Night People’s Choice Award at the BMFF Festival – sponsored by Deuter.
That was our favourite of 8 short films in the Best of the Banff Mountain Film Festival program – night 2.
off trail in Iceland
Hank Leukart:
Two brothers search for eternal life in the Icelandic wilderness during what may be the last time in history anyone is able to see all of Iceland’s natural, untouched beauty.
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo. (17min)
Because my brother and I live so far apart (he’s in New York; I’m in Los Angeles), we have agreed to reunite once every year, somewhere in the wilderness. We’ve been to Alaska’s Denali, Chilean Patagonia, and even Everest Base Camp, but, for our most recent trip, we set our sights on a hard-to-reach lake in the Icelandic wilderness called Eilísvötn, which, in Icelandic, means “Lake of Eternal Life.” …
Brian and I start by trekking two classic, connected Iceland treks: the Fimmvörðuháls and Laugavegur Trails, the first of which begins at a huge waterfall called Skógafoss on the southern coast.
We feel almost disappointed to be enveloped by the sublime, rolling, green hills and plethora of waterfalls, because it feels like we’re in the most beautiful place in Iceland already — we’re getting a fantastic payoff way too early in our trip. Soon enough, though, as we continue through the snow and glaciers near Fimmvörðuháls Hut, it becomes obvious that there’s no chance Iceland will ever disappoint us no matter where we go. …
Without Baggage – Mission Iceland: A Tale of Two Brothers
I’m researching a possible Aug/Sept 2015 hike. Laugavegur is very, very high on the list of treks I want to do next. 🙂
habits and rituals of thru hikers
Thru hiker Carlie Gentry, who works at REI, put together a funny photo essay on the habits and rituals of her kind on the trail – A Scientific Explanation of Hiker Trash (in 25 Images) 🙂
researching Fish River Canyon, Namibia
The Fish River Canyon 5 day trek is one of the best in the world.
But it’s very difficult to get a reservation, even a year in advance. I’ve been turned down for all dates in June 2015. 😦
But I may try to show up at the trailhead anyway. Hang out. And look to substitute for a hiker missing from a booked group. (You must have a minimum of 3 people to register, in any case.)
Wish me luck.
I’ve put up a draft information page on the Fish River Canyon trek with what I was able to find out online.
Leave a comment if you have any advice.
hiking Assiniboine, Sunshine, Rockwall
Ross, Jon and Guillermo get together every year for an outdoor adventure. Something they call the annual Pollard Memorial Trip.
For 2014 it was Mt. Shark trailhead near Canmore, Alberta to Assiniboine, Sunshine meadows, Egypt lake, Ball pass, Flow lake, Rockwall and finally the Ottertail river trail to exit near Field, BC.
Check Ross’s trip report and photos – the shultz gambit – Spray lakes to Field with a leaky tent
Guillermo posted a trip report as well:
The GDT runs as close as possible to the continental Divide (the BC/Alberta border) from the US border adjoining Waterton Park to Kakwa Lake some 1200 km north. …
For this trip we chose to hike a popular and well-travelled section in the middle running through two provincial parks and three national parks. …
I had identified this route as a possible solo hike option, but when both Jon and Ross expressed interest, we attempted it in 2013.That summer saw many trails destroyed by spring flooding and later some portions of the Rockwall were closed due to fires and bear problems. In addition, a worrying knee problem which I misdiagnosed as a torn meniscus forced us to abort our hike on the first day. Our 2014 attempt went much more smoothly …
—guillermobarron – The Great Divide Trail: 150 km from Shark Mtn. to Highway 1
Finally, here are Jon’s black and white photos.
(via Hiking in Finland)
Theodore Solomons Trail, California
socalhiker:
The Theodore Solomons Trail was designed as an alternative to the more heavily traveled John Muir Trail. Sadly, the trail seems to have largely fallen off the map (so to speak). The last guidebook to the TST was published in 1992, and some of the trails appear to be no longer maintained and difficult to follow.
I’m collecting research on the trail to potentially come up with a viable route …
If you’ve got feedback on the route or suggestions for improving it, leave a comment. If I can come up with a good plan, I may organize a thru-hike in 2016.
Looks like a terrific long circuit, to me. 🙂
U.S. long-distance hiking trails
Hiking has gone Hollywood with the film adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling backpacking memoir Wild – and the Pacific Crest Trail is its real star. If the film inspires you, here are 10 trails that explore the stunning US wilderness
Pacific Crest Trail: California, Oregon and Washington, 2,663 miles
John Muir Trail: California, 210 miles
Continental Divide Trail: New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, 3,100 miles
Appalachian Trail: 14 states from Georgia to Maine, 2,185 miles
The Long Trail: Vermont, 272 miles
The Hayduke Trail: Arizona and Utah, 812 miles
The Grand Enchantment Trail: Arizona and New Mexico, 770 miles
The Ozark Highlands Trail: Arkansas, 218 miles
The Ice Age Trail: Wisconsin, 1,200 miles
The Superior Hiking Trail: Minnesota, 296 miles
Guardian – Top 10 long-distance hiking trails in the US
Click through for a brief summary, links and shorter highlights of each.
Towers of Paine, Chile in winter
Guardian:
Patagonia off season: winter hiking in Torres del Paine
Tourists flock to the Torres del Paine in the southern summer, but our writer finds hiking there in winter brings a different set of snowy rewards
Andrew Gilchrist:
It’s minus five outside. Not great conditions for roughing it. The previous night, in an unheated, near-deserted refuge covered in snow, we had bedded down in extreme-weather sleeping bags, complete with hoods. But tonight, after a thrilling 20-mile hike through some of the finest scenery on the planet, we are warm, dry and, frankly, ecstatic beneath polar blankets in a chic ecodome that feels more penthouse than campsite. Steam rises from our boots as they dry by the log-burning stove and, through the round windows in the curved ceiling, I can pick out what seems like every star in the southern sky.
“This is sublime,” I think, as I ease myself off my furry headboard and pour another glass of velvety Chilean red. “Where is everyone?” …
Check our Paine Circuit information page.
