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El Camino Del Rey, Spain restored?

Some say its the most dangerous hike in the world, El Camino Del Rey (also known as El Caminito Del Rey) is definitely the most thrilling hike I’ve ever done. …

The path was originally constructed in 1905 for workers of a hydro electric dam set up in the cliffs of El Choro. Since then, the path has deteriorated and is now only for the adventurous. …

read a trip report with many more scary photos

The Cheap Route:

…. I just discovered that this hike is not going to be around much longer, at least not in its current “adventurous” state. If it sounds appealing, you better hurry up and get to Spain.

El Caminito Del Rey To Be Restored – €9 million over 4 years to fund the restoration

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#whywehike

An exercise proposed by Tom Mangan:

Why we hike?

… something off-the-cuff, the first thing that pops into your head, so you don’t have time to over-think it. Give yourself 15 minutes to write it, five minutes to double-check your work, then post.

• health benefits
• relaxation of disconnecting from the world and internet
• beauty of the great outdoors
• hiking is relatively inexpensive
• it’s a fitness hobby I can do into my old age
• travel

I’ve been to 50 nations already. If I live long enough, I just might just get to 50 more.

… Much more eloquent than a bullet list are my hiking photos:

click thumbnails to see the photo set
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Win $5000 from Austin-Lehman Travel Adventure

This is a super easy contest to enter. There are no Facebook likes or posts necessary, no videos to make or tweeting to do. Simply click on the Austin-Lehman link here – provide your name, email address and the URL of the blog you came from – and that readers would be me – here at HikeBikeTravel (www.hikebiketravel.com/).

… You are probably too BUSY to bother with this contest.

Never mind.

But if I WIN, I’m leaning towards Peru …

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Black Diamond Z Pole Ultra Distance

I’ve long disparaged ‘hiking canes‘, … despite evidence to the contrary. Most of the best hikers in the world use them for longer trips.

Yet I’m ready (finally) to try a pair. Here’s why my Adventure Racing team is testing them:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Backpacker calls them the “best carbon poles we’ve ever tested“, awarding them the Editors’ Choice 2011 award.

$150 at REI. $136.00 CAD at MEC.

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5 ways to find USA hiking trails

Tom Mangan our online hiking guru. Here are 5 ways he researches best hikes:

1. State parks. (Google the one you want.)

2. AllTrails – http://alltrails.com– AllTrails allows you to search by zip code to find trails, post reviews, keep a journal of your hikes and scan for local events. …

3 EveryTrail – http://www.everytrail.com— EveryTrail's technology allows people to document their hikes via GPS, pictures, videos and smartphones. …

4. Local Hikes – http://www.localhikes.com– Local Hikes is an old-school online hiking site (if you can imagine such a thing): It's based on hikes near major metro areas, and includes topographic maps and reviews of each hike. …

5. TrailHeadFinder — http://www.trailheadfinder.com— The site is a bit bare-bones compared to the others …

read more on TravelCountry.com – Five ways to find hiking trails online

Conspicuously absent from that list is Trails.com, a database of 49,000 trails. It’s a walled garden, requiring a paid membership for a full membership. I don’t need it. And neither does Tom.

I’ve subscribed to Travel Country. Tom’s just one of their excellent bloggers.

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Gear Junkie: Water Purification Products

Stephen Regenold updates the options in 2011:

In the woods, I use multiple water-purification products, from tablets to pumps. Product weight, speed of purification, and filtration type are criteria I assess to choose the right weapon against the bacteria, viruses and protozoa that may exist in a particular place.

Drop-and-dissolve tablets, including Potable Aqua iodine ($7, www.potableaqua.com) and Katadyn’s chlorine-dioxide Micropur product ($12.95, http://www.katadyn.com), are my most common defense. They are relatively inexpensive, light weight, and easy to use — just add a tablet into your water and let it fade away and do its stuff.

But tablets have a few limitations. You often have to wait 30 minutes or so for the chemicals to take effect. There is an aftertaste, too, especially with iodine. And for cryptosporidium, a nasty contaminant found in some areas, tablets will take four hours or more to neutralize, making them nearly unusable except for overnight application. …

read more on The Outside Blog

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poem – The Morning

My breath still a mist
in the cold crops air.
My hands through my gloves are numb.

The axe that I hold
weather beaten and old
my sole companion this morn.

I walk all alone
down this road I have known
so very many mornings
before.

’til I come to my land
so majestic and grand
The place where I am reborn.

The song birds are singing
in the high tree tops
but the scampering squirrels
scold me.

I feel a slight morning breeze
and streaming down through the trees
the sun is just on its way.

On soft, spongy carpet
I walk through the woods
and I never have felt so
at peace.

So i throw down my axe
and lay down to relax …
I’ll not cut any wood today.

~ Rick McCharles

I wrote that in a 1973-74, a Language Arts option High School class.

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The Rockwall – Kootenay National Park

A classic hike in my part of the world, the Canadian Rockies.

It’s a 3 -5 day tough backpacking trip covering 55 kms (34 miles) one way. Start at the Floe Lake Trailhead and finish at the Paint Pots Trailhead.

The trailheads are about a 2 ½ hour drive from Calgary. …

Hitchhike back to your car at the end of the trip or arrange a car shuttle before you begin. The trailheads are only 13 kms (8 miles) apart. You do need to buy a back-country pass beforehand. …

read more on Leigh McAdam‘s site Hike Bike Travel – Backpacking The Rockwall Trail – Kootenay National Park, BC

Her site is my best recent blog discovery, by the way. Check it out – Hike Bike Travel

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smoking banned on hiking trails

I hate second hand smoke.

So this legislation sounds good to me.

The Recreation and Parks District board in Pleasant Hill, California is planning to ban smoking on hiking trails within the district, as well as other open spaces like parks. …

If the Pleasant Hill no-smoking ordinance is passed, it will not be the first in California of it’s kind. Districts like Hayward and Livermore already have similar ordinances in place. …

Daily Hiker – California district to ban smoking on hiking trails

It’s nice to see California politicians have enough free time to work on forward thinking proposals like this. 🙂