Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
(via Smoky Mountain Hiking)
Alpenwild – Swiss Alps Haute Route
Our #1 trek in the Swiss Alps is the Haute Route Chamonis – Zermatt.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Alpenwild is by far the largest tour operator leading the classic trek
They’ll have at least 11 guided groups summer 2013 and assist hundreds of self-guided clients.
They offer three different guided itineraries.
A typical price for a self-guided Haute Route in 2013 will be about $1800. The increase is largely due to the drop in the US$ against the Swiss Franc since 2009.
That’s a life changer. I did it independently in 2009. That’s tricky. With the self-guided option all transportation and accommodation is organized for you.
Lost City trek, Colombia
Things have really improved at Colombia’s most legendary hike.
Check this detailed 5-day trip report.
The Tayrona people built La Ciudad Perdida over 1000 years ago. They called it Teyuna. The Spanish invasion pushed the natives high into the Sierra Nevada until they were so dispersed that their numbers dwindled and their cities were abandoned. The jungle reclaimed the Lost City…until tombraiders found gold there.
That’s on La Ciudad Perdida, the best starting point for organizing a trek.
Guides are still mandatory. It’s remote and still slightly dangerous territory, close to the border with Venezuela.
best Adventure Racing video ever
Kraig Becker linked to another fantastic video.
Full screen.
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
What is the limit for what you can do?
NEW Scottish National Trail
Gore-Tex Scottish National Trail Launches
New Scotland End to End route is unveiled with accompanying book and BBC TV programme.
… a new long distance route linking Kirk Yetholm in the borders with Cape Wrath in the north west of the country linking various existing long distance trails to form a single 470-mile walk.
The trail is the brainchild of longstanding walking writer and broadcaster, Cameron McNeish, and, in parlour game parlance, is both a newly published book, authored by McNeish and a television programme produced by BBC Scotland and set to be broadcast over the Christmas / New Year period. …
Thus far the new route has no waymarking of its own, bar new plaques to be sited at Kirk Yetholm and Cape Wrath along with one at the Water of Leith Visitor Centre in Edinburgh and the Cape Wrath Trail stretch isn’t signposted at all.
In other words, for now at least, it’s mostly a line on a map …
… The GORE-TEX® Scottish National Trail will also have its own website showing the route and GORE-TEX® Footwear plans to link key sections of the route with local and regional outdoor shops to help drive footfall into local retailing outlets. …
BEWARE midges.
(via Hiking in Finland)
bike, hike, raft – Cataract Canyon
3 days, 75mi+
Mike:
I had a funny idea a few months ago: Colorado and Utah are at the low (we hope) ebb of a 10-year drought cycle, meaning our trails are desiccated and our rivers low.
… it occurred to me that this would be an *ideal* time to use fatbikes to access Cataract Canyon, taking advantage of the low flows therein to float it with packrafts.
Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.
☺
Here’s another VIDEO edit from the same trip.
(via Hiking in Finland)
cycling to the South Pole
Polar adventurer Eric Larsen next month will saddle up on the snow and pedal south. Way south. The goal of his solo expedition, which starts in December, is the geographic South Pole and a world record as the first man to do the trip on two wheels.
New gear in the world of bikes, namely fat tires and the frames to support them, allow riders to make tracks easier on snow. Larsen picked the Surly Moonlander bike, which has 5-inch-wide tires and can haul copious gear on racks and panniers. …
Click PLAY or check the bike on YouTube
World’s 100 Best Walks
I’m just digging into a terrific site posted by William Mackesy. In fact, William’s done about 40% of his top 100 already.
I like it so much that I’m including a dedicated link in the right hand navigation under RECOMMENDED SITES.
Walkopedia – World’s 100 Best Walks
One quibble …
#2 are the “Inca Trails” of Peru: Inca Trail, Silque Valley, Mollepata/Salkantay, …
Normally I discount any list including the Inca Trail. It’s much maligned by serious hikers. That choice is marked “* provisional”, however. Having been there twice, I’ll recommend to William that he downrate.
Choquequirao is mentioned, however. Choquequirao to Machu Picchu is the “best” hike to Machu Picchu, I reckon.
completing the best hikes in the world
If I live for another 55yrs, I just might be able to walk all of the best hikes in the world.
more best hike photos
Wish me luck. 🙂
MSR Hubba tent
Hendrik Morkel posted a detail review of my current tent:
If you are on the look out for a new solo tent which is 4-season worthy, quick and easy to set up, and of course light, then the MSR Hubba HP might just be what you’re looking for. The green fly allows you to go stealth camping and it is a friendly colour to wake up to, the features are well-thought out and the inner and fly set up allows you to be variable – take only the inner when its warm and sunny and you need rest from the bugs, take only the fly when you’re with a friend, and take both in winter. You will feel comfortable and safe, in rain, wind and sunshine …
Hiking in Finland – MSR Hubba HP 2010 Review
Actually, I’m on my 3rd Hubba.
Like Hendrik, I replaced the bulky stuff sacks with two separate waterproof stuff sacks — one for the fly, one for the tent. And I almost never carry any tent pegs, using natural “alternatives” — most often stones — to secure my tent from the wind.
besthike.com 