Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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. 🙂
Funny.
Hunting bears has long been a rite of passage in almost all civilized societies. In Greek times, bear hunting was part of the Olympics and they were naked.
Unfortunately, many of today’s young men have never known the sportsmanlike glory of sneaking up behind a majestic ursine creature and shooting it in the back while nude. Here’s how you can help keep this grand tradition alive. …
read the SECRETS on The Content Farm – How to Hunt a Bear
That site spoofs articles from “content mill” or “content farm“ sites, low quality crap customized to gain a high Google ranking. Monetized by ads.
related – Read Write Web – Content Farms: Why Media, Blogs & Google Should Be Worried
The Hiking Boots blog has a contest right now where you can win a Hi-Tec Men’s Salt Creek Shirt.
In order to win you need share that post on Facebook. Best comment:
… telling us where you will sport this shirt and why
WINS.
Dennis Janssen on Quora recommended:
Lofoten, Norway (above polar circle). After climbing Mount Reinebriggen for an hour and a half, you get this view over Reine. One of many amazing day hikes in this region…
How do you get there?
more interesting photos tagged Reinebriggen
… one day I’ll get a backpack full of Krone and head for Norway.
Adjacent to the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island B.C. is the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail.
I’ve done the WCT three times, the Juan de Fuca once.The Juan de Fuca is a nice alternative for hikers who don’t have enough time or experience.
But now some West Coasters are up-in-arms:
Warning!
West Vancouver developer Ender Ilkay is planning a big new resort along Juan de Fuca Marine Trail Park.
The latest version of the plan calls for 263 cabins, three lodges, paved roads, and septic fields on the steep Pacific slope. Over the next 12 years, blasting and bulldozing within meters of the park would damage up to 16 kilometers of the Juan de Fuca trail between China Beach and Sombrio. …
details on Forest Action
I’ll be following this head butting.
besthike.com 