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The Year in Volcanic Activity

The Atlantic:

Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes around the world, 50 or so erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and lava. In 2011, active volcanoes included Chile’s Puyehue, Japan’s Shinmoedake, Indonesia’s Lokon, Iceland’s Grímsvötn, Italy’s Etna, and recently Nyamulagira in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Hawaii, Kilauea continues to send lava flowing toward the sea, and the ocean floor has been erupting near the Canary Islands.

Indonesian worshipers descend from the crater of Mount Bromo in East Java province on January 28, 2011. The worshipers gave offerings to the god of the mountain, praying for the safety of local people. (Aman Rahman/AFP/Getty Images)

See all 36 photos – The Year in Volcanic Activity

I have friends hiking the Tongariro volcano in New Zealand right now.

(via kottke)

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trek the High Tatras, Slovakia

High Tatras or High Tatra (Slovak and Czech: Vysoké Tatry, Polish: Tatry Wysokie) are a mountain range on the borders between Slovakia and Poland. …

travelslovakia.sk guides long adventures across the peaks. And also day hikes.

For the independent hiker, they also have recommendations for self-guided-tours.

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hiking alone in grizzly country – or not

John Flinn in SFGate:

… Everyone I talked to in Jasper agreed that the trail I would be walking was one of the most reliable places around for coming face-to-face with a grizzly. Someone pointed me to a YouTube video, shot two weeks earlier, of an enormous mother and two cubs lumbering alongside the path.

My courage needed some serious bucking-up, so the night before the hike I went to a lecture on bear safety. The naturalist began with a scary story about a close call she’d once had with a grizzly – on the very same trail I’d be walking, naturally – and stressed that the safest thing hikers could do was travel in a group of four or more. …

Hiking in grizzly country – or not

Click through to see if John overcame his fears and made it the 14mi to the backcountry lodge.

(via Meaderthals)

Having grown up close to the Canadian Rockies I’m pretty blase about Griz. In fact, I’ve only seen two over the years.

It’s true that a lot of Grizzlies live close to Jasper. I’ve heard stories.

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hike the Haute Route, Switzerland

The Chamonix-Zermatt Haute Route is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.

Greg Witt of Alpenwild:

Like you, I love the Haute Route. I have a popular video series on the Haute Route and my company, Alpenwild, is the leading US tour operator doing hiking and walking tours in the Swiss Alps. It’s our specialty. That’s really all we do.

Last year we did the Haute Route 7 times with guided groups and had self-guided clients on the trail every day between June 28 and September 20. Our 2012 season is already well ahead of last year. In addition to our guided and self-guided tours, with Chamonix or Verbier starts, we are also offering a Deluxe Haute Route for 2012—a kinder, gentler itinerary for those who want the scenery but less elevation gain and without the huts. …

Check their guided tours for 2012.

Alpenwild plans to publish Best Hikes in the Swiss Alps: An Alpenwild Guide to Hiking in Switzerland as an e-book by year end. That will be a terrific resource.

If you lack language skills (French, German, Italian) the self-guided option is worth considering. All of the fun of independent hiking, but none of the hassle of finding a place to sleep each night.

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Pacific Crest Trail Journal

Kolby Kirk is some kind of Da Vinci of the trail. Check this sample page from his 2011 PCT journal.

I saw JEFF THROPE link to that on Adventure Journal:

… After being laid off from his job in April 2011, Kolby Kirk (The Hike Guy) decided he would attempt to complete as much as he could of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail.

Starting at the Mexican border near Campo, California, he walked for 159 days and nearly 1,700 miles. In that time, Kolby wrote 850 pages in his journals, a few of which he has started to scan …

Kolby is now working on a book …

Declination: Pacific Crest Trail Journals

More samples and links to Kolby via that post.

Adventure Journal was ranked #1 Adventure Blog by Ouside, by the way.