besthike.com

September 8, 2010September 6, 2010

Julie Blakley – top 10 hikes

Travel writer Julie Blakley posted her favourite hikes on BootsnAll:

• Tongariro Northern Circuit, North Island, New Zealand
• Zion Narrows, Utah, United States
• Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
• Inca Trail, Peru
• Tiger Leaping Gorge, China
• Mount Kiliminjaro, Tanzania
• Kalalau Trail, Kauai, Hawaii
• Torres del Paine Circuit, Chile
• Tour de Mont Blanc, France
• West Coast Trail, British Columbia, Canada

10 Best Hiking Trails in the World

A good list. They’re all on our list of the best hikes in the world. And 4 are on our top 10 hikes anywhere.

… You might be disappointed with Tiger Leaping Gorge and the Inca Trail, though. Over-rated.

September 7, 2010September 6, 2010

11 outdoor iPhone apps

… Tune in to bird songs by training yourself with this free app. Select your region to see the birds that are commonly heard there. You can sort the birds by name, how commonly they are seen, or their song style and listen to each bird’s unique tweets. The app also provides a picture of each bird to make spotting nearby tweeters easier.

Mashable – 12 iPhone Apps For Exploring the Great Outdoors

September 6, 2010September 1, 2010

warning – do not buy North Farce

You’ve heard it time and time again. Don’t risk buying the shoddy fake gear in Asia.

I ignored that sage advice last November, buying a bag looking somewhat like this one, the Ajungilak Sphere Spring. US$445 on the Marmot website.

My cost … US$76.

I bought it at the best department store in Kathmandu, BhatBhateni Super Store.

When I asked the clerk if it was “made in Nepal“, not in Romania as it claimed on the label, he vigorously denied it was a fake.

About 4 months later, the zipper started to fail. Weeks after that, the seams started to undo. Each morning I’d wake with plenty of goose down floating around my tent.

Finally I replaced it with this GoLite Adrenaline 40°F Down Sleeping Bag – Mummy, 800 Fill Power (For Women) bag from Sierra Trading Post.

I paid $162.50 for it, in store. Same price as on their website today.

I tried the Men’s version, as well. But the Women’s just felt better. And with a half zip it was 1oz lighter. (1 lb. 6 oz. Regular)

September 3, 2010August 30, 2010

climb Jackson Hole, ride down

At Jackson Hole ski resort in Wyoming it costs $25 to ride the Aerial Tram both ways. But it’s FREE to ride down … if you hike up.

Via the Summit Trail that’s 7.2mi (11.6km)

At the start, I was still super energetic.

I hope this isn’t an old Tram … that fell.

End of August, some of the wildflowers are still hanging on.

Finally, Top of the World:

Other hikers agreed that it’s MUCH more challenging than we expected. The 4,139ft (2600m) elevation gain is compounded by lack of oxygen. Top of the World is 10450ft (3185 m).

I saw no wildlife other than one marmot, and some pikas. A bear was spotted from the Tram earlier in the day.

more photos from this day hike

September 2, 2010September 1, 2010

hiking Naturalist Basin, Utah

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

… Naturalist Basin is a multi-tiered wonderland of lakes and alpine scenery. Nestled between two 12,000+ foot peaks (Agassiz 12,428′ and Spread Eagle 12,540′), in the western end of the main 100 mile Uinta spine, Naturalist Basin is one of the quicker routes to get into the wilderness experience of the Uinta Mountain Range. …

The High Uintas Wilderness near Salt Lake City is convenient for backcountry camping. And horse camping.

Perhaps too convenient:

… extremely popular, over-fishing, destructive camping and too many campfires have taken their toll on some of the purity in the area, but it remains an incredible treasure just the same. The Forest Service has now permanently banned campfires in Naturalist Basin, and has shut down many campsites, especially around the first meadow in Naturalist Basin. …

Utah Pictures

Of the 545 miles of trail, I decided on the Highline Trail trailhead near Butterfly Lake.

The approach was somewhat dull, actually, tree-locked. The creeks were the highlight.

Here’s why we like it. High alpine meadows.

There are a number of pretty lakes, high up. My map wasn’t detailed enough to name them.

That one might be Blue Lake.

End of August, the summer was clearly dying.

This was as high as I could get without scrambling to one of the summits.

more photos from this day hike

September 1, 2010

Sugarloaf Path, East Coast Trail NFLD

Candice Walsh posted a nice write-up on Go Nomad:

… The trail starts out with overhead views of Quidi Vidi Village and the surrounding cliffs. If you wander close enough to the edge, you can practically dangle your feet down onto tiny, brightly painted fishing sheds huddle against the rock face. The first leg is difficult and almost entirely uphill: steep hills to climb, stairways rising straight upwards, and often high winds to prevent you from moving forward quickly.

But the view at the top? Completely worth it. …

Check it out – Rediscovering Newfoundland and the East Coast Trail

official home page – East Coast Trail

related post – my July 2010 day hike trip report

September 1, 2010August 29, 2010

review – National Geographic Trails Software

She likes.

In the Sierra Nevada the Hiking Lady compared USGS topo with Tom Harrison maps and the new National Geographic Trails Software.

… On the trail, I found I much preferred the National Geographic and Tom Harrison maps to the USGS maps. They are well labeled and trail distances are clearly marked. The National Geographic map definitely proved to the best.

Here’s why. After we set up camp near Garnet Lake, the next day we decided to take a look around and head to Thousand Island Lake. Using just the USGS and Tom Harrison maps, we plotted a route up to the saddle to take a look at Thousand Island Lake. However, as you can see in the maps below, the National Geographic map has the additional detail that shows that there is a trail from Garnet Lake to Thousand Island Lake! …

USGS – Garnet Lake Topo

Tom Harrison Map – nice shaded relief, but no trail!

National Geographic Map – the only one that includes the trail!

Additionally, the shading on the map gave me a good perspective on elevation, so I didn’t need to spend so much time counting contour lines!

I am quite impressed with the software program. The cost is $49.95 for the entire Sierra Nevada range (10 map regions), so it is definitely more cost effective than buying each map individually.

Bottom line: The National Geographic Trails Software impressed me, and I will be purchasing it for other region where I hike.

read the review

August 31, 2010August 31, 2010

Rocky Mountain lows …

My hiking buddy, Stanley, dragged his non-hiking wife along this year to wonderous Lake O’Hara in the Canadian Rockies.

In her weekly column, Kate bemoans the prospect:

… for many years, Stanley and a bunch of his old buddies met once every summer in the Rockies for long, full days of tromping uphill in flannel shirts, with gigantic backpacks pulling them in the opposite direction. The highlights, such as they were, seemed to consist of glacier-side “boil-ups” of Sapporo Ichiban and beef jerky washed down with Tang around noon.

Night-time in the mountains apparently fell about 6 p.m., at which point they’d mix some Crystal Lite with rotgut vodka, sit around a campfire, and break wind while tallying up the day’s marmot sightings. …

Funny. Read the rest on Kate of Late – Nobody sings about the Rocky Mountain lows
… How did the trip go?

Kate looks … happy.

August 31, 2010August 29, 2010

seen the visor buff … ??

Hate hats?

But need to shade your eyes …

What about a Bandana with a visor?

Perfect solution.

Watch a video.

I carry a regular buff but rarely seem to use it. For one thing, it’s shoddy in that only one side is “finished”. … This I might actually use.

(via v-g Backpacking in Britain)

August 30, 2010August 29, 2010

decided – I’ll thru hike Continental Divide Trail, Colorado

by site editor Rick McCharles

I’ve done enough investigation this summer.

My first thru hike will be this:

… The CDT passes through many of the highest and wildest mountain regions of Colorado, such as the San Juan Mountains and the Sawatch Range. …

It is concurrent with the Colorado Trail for approximately 200 miles. The Continental Divide itself in Colorado meanders some 650 miles. There are many stretches of the Continental Divide in Colorado that have no distinct marked or named trail. …

Continental Divide Trail, Colorado