Crazy? … Crazy good inspiration for song writing.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
That’s his sister Esther.
biggest backpack in the world
Here’s the challenge. Can you lift this pack?
I saw it outside a gear shop in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
world’s highest climbing wall
It’s frustrating to be a Dutch mountain climber.
So they built this …
That’s Klimcentrum Bjoeks in Groningen, the north of Netherlands.
Learn more about it on a 2009 UK Climbing article.
(via The Adventure Blog)
… Stone Works wall in Carrollton in Texas claims that they’re actually the world’s highest.
win Hi-Tec boots
All you need to do is leave a comment over on the HikingBoots.com blog.
Where will your new Hi-Tec boots take you and why?
… winner will be announced Wednesday, November 3, 2010.
This contest is open to the U.S. and Canada only. If the winner’s size is out of stock, Hi-Tec will replace with another style of equal of lesser value.
huayhuash.com – Peru trekking
The Cordillera Blanca (White Mountains) in Peru are one of the best trekking destinations in the world. The jumping off point is the town of Huaraz.
There are some interesting Google Earth routes shown on this site, including this one of the nearby Huayhuash range.
The best months of the year for hiking this region are May through August. Check our Central Andes information page for best hikes there.
Huayhuash.com is part of PEAKS PERU SAC, the mayor Tour Operator in The Peruvian Andes, specialized in organizing Trekking, mountaineering tours and all kind of adventure travels …
Thanks Geoff.
bear in the birdfeeder, again
Yosemite Grand Traverse
A terrific trip report by one terrific hiker, author Peter Potterfield.
This time Peter is checking out a new itinerary invented by Ian Elman, founder of Southern Yosemite Mountain guides, which won National Geographic Adventure magazine’s trip-of-the-year honours in 2008:
… a sixty mile backcountry journey that takes the hiker through the Ansel Adams Wilderness, over Post Peak Pass and into Yosemite National Park, and along the unique drainage of the Merced River before reaching, eventually, the dramatic high country of Tuolumne Meadows. A side trip to the summit of Half Dome via the cable route is a standard feature of the journey. …
I’ve always considered this region (#4 ranked in the world) hiking heaven.
Click through to Great Outdoors for the full trip report with annotated photos
hiking the Cinque Terre, Italy
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Though Buzz of the Adventure Running blog disparaged the Cinque Terre as a … “girlfriend hike”, I loved it. As does almost everyone.
… Alas, I had no lass.
I walked the Cinque Terre, solo.
Since it was my first time there, I did the classic Sentiero Azzurro (Trail #2) route. (Or Blue Path or Azure Path or Light Blue Path)
12km (7.5mi)
Riomaggiore to Monterosso al Mare
easy with difficult sections, some exposure
Lonely Planet Hiking in Italy:
There’s a reason why the Sentiero Azzurro is one of Italy’s most crowded trails, and the only one you’ll have to pay cash to enter. …
… the route follows an ancient network of walking paths that has linked the five Cinque Terre villages together for over a millennium.
Studded with panoramic vistas, it traverses windswept olive groves and seemingly impregnable vineyards, before dipping serendipitously into each of the flavourful maritime villages …
It starts with a jolt. Check out the first village, Riomaggiore.
I picked up some wonderful fresh bread in a bakery here.
Next up, Via dell’ Amore … Does that translate to Way of Love?
Lonely Planet should have encouraged me to bring a love lock and some spray paint for tagging. 🙂
I did meet one goddess on the trail.
Wow. The scenery was stunning, even on an overcast day.
Vernazza was my favourite of the five towns. Gorgeous.
Check how narrow the footpath is at this point. (And it’s a long drop if you misstep.)
It was much later in the afternoon than I expected when finally arriving in the last village, Monterosso al Mare.
But I’d highly recommend you continue through town to check out a truly interesting building / statue – The Giant.
You can’t miss it.
Though the Cinque Terre is crowded, everyone loves this walk. (But you’ll love it more if you bring someone special along.)
There are other great trails, too. Next time I’ll go for either the Sentierro Rosso (38km) or, even better, the Promotario de Portofino Circuit (18km). I’ll stay in one of the two hostels on the coast, booking weeks in advance to be sure of space.
_____
… Wait a minute. I did have a girlfriend in nearby La Spezia. Her name is Hotel Diana.
Expensive at 60EU / night, the most I paid for it in Italy.
See the rest of my photos from this hike.
Asulkan Valley Trail, Canada
Rating – Expert
Distance – Approximately 13 kilometers one-way
Elevation Gain – 975 meters!
Duration – 10 hours round trip
When to Go – Mid-July to Mid-September. Any earlier, there’s avalanche risks.
How to get there – 4 hours from Calgary, 7 hours from Vancouver.
Another great hiking trip report from Scenic Travel Canada. This time Barry Taylor tells of his tough day hike near the Rogers Pass, in the Rockies.
It sounds spectacular.
One excerpt:
… Hoary marmots are basking in the sun on top of large boulders as they monitor my progress. Huge waterfalls are roaring straight down from the steep slopes of Abbott ridge on the other side of Asulkan Brook. The sound echoes and amplifies in the massive rock falls. I cross a removable wooden bridge over Asulkan Brook and the trail soon takes me past the junction for the Glacier Crest Trail.
As I break out of the forest again, the Asulkan Glacier comes into view far in the distance. The farther I hike, the more spectacular the views become. Roaring, rushing, milky water is everywhere. The sun is dancing on water and shadows shorten as the sun begins to fill the valley. I am feeling excited now and committed to completing the hike. …
click through to read the rest and see VIDEO – Hiking the Asulkan Valley Trail in Glacier National Park (Rogers Pass, BC)
Barry loved it. But bugs were still a problem there on Aug. 18th on a hot, hot day.
That’s the Canadian Glacier National Park, not that other one in Montana.
🙂
Who claimed the name first? … The Canadians established theirs in 1886. The Americans in 1910.
Tuscany: hike or bike?
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
In Rome I bought Lonely Planet Hiking in Italy, difficult to find, actually.
(… later I wished I’d bought Lonely Planet Cycling in Italy, instead.)
Of the Tuscany hikes listed in LP, I chose the Tuscan Hill Crests out of gorgeous San Gimignano.
loop, 7hrs, easy, 20km (12.4mi)
Sounded great:
Low rolling hills, fields full of barley, elegant cypresses and silvery green olives, vines ripening in the late summer sun, an old ruined monastery, a priest careering downhill in a rusty Fiat 500, potted geraniums, cyclists in multi-coloured jerseys, a rustic farmhouse reborn as an agriturismo …
Not my usual wilderness adventure, … but any excuse to travel to Tuscany. Right?
Departing Porta San Giovanni:
This is a “hike”?
I love Lonely Planet trail descriptions: terse. But in a populated region like Tuscany, landmarks change often. By about half way round the circuit — entirely on roads — I was lost.
I relaxed snacking on both white and red grapes fresh off the vine …
October is grape harvest.
… I pondered my options. Should I backtrack?
Never.
Happily I stumbled upon this monk:
He’s the icon of the Via Francigena, a pilgrims path from Canterbury, UK to Rome.
… one of three great medieval pilgrims’ routes (the others were the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain and the long route East to Jerusalem) …
The good monk led me back to San Gimignano on small footpaths over private property. This is the kind of hiking I wanted in Tuscany.
I soothed my disappointment in not finishing my intended hike with a Gorgonzola gelato in the Piazza Duomo.
Next day I rented a bike (5EU cheap) and rode about 70km on mostly paved roads between Sienna and Gaiole in Chianti, a much better way to see the gorgeous countryside.
… But I’ll do a little more research on the Via Francigena. Sections of that might certainly be one of the best hikes in Europe.
besthike.com 