besthike.com

August 18, 2010August 12, 2010

best hikes Rocky Mountain National Park

Lonely Planet Hiking in the USA recommends:

• Odessa Lake
• Flattop Mountain
• Glacier Gorge & Loch Vale
• Longs Peak

All those are easily accessible out of Estes Park, Colorado.

Buzz recommends making a loop from Bear Lake over the Divide to Grand Lake, returning by a second trail. Or making a loop over Stormy and Mummy passes.

There are many options. The real attraction of Rocky Mountain National Park is that it is so high:

… The park is split by the Continental Divide, which gives the eastern and western portions of the park a different character. The east side of the park tends to be drier, with heavily glaciated peaks and cirques. The west side of the park is wetter and more lush, with deep forests dominating.

The park contains 359 miles (578 km) of trails, 150 lakes, and 450 miles (720 km) of streams. The park contains over 60 named peaks higher than 12,000 feet (3,700 m), and over one fourth of the park resides above tree line. …

I started the short Tundra Communities Trail at 12,050ft (3672m). That’s off the scenic summer Trail Ridge Road the highest continuous highway in the USA.

Longs-Peak — Chapel On The Rock w/ Longs Peak

more interesting photos tagged Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado

August 17, 2010August 12, 2010

climbing Longs Peak, Colorado

People get hit by lightning here all the time. Brendan Baker was struck Aug. 4th.

13.6mi (21.9km) – Longs Peak ranger station trailhead

Longs Peak is the most climbed 14,000er in the Rockies. … I’m surprised to hear that. The ascent of almost 5000ft (1500m) is tougher than expected.

Recommended is a 4AM start with headlamp. The goal is to flee the summit by Noon, as afternoon lightning storms are frequent. … I did not start until after 6AM. …

It took me 5hrs to get to the top moving as quickly as I could. Weather was perfect.

Here’s the first view of the summit from the trail:

There are a few backcountry campgrounds en route, but they’re heavily booked. Most people do it as a long day hike, as I did.

If you’ve a weak bladder, know that there are many pit toilets en route. Here’s the Goblin’s campsite toilet throne:

And modern solar composting toilets higher up:

Many hikers turn back at the Keyhole.

They vist the Agnes Vaille Memorial Hut there.

After you climb through the Keyhole it gets tough. Here’s the view into Glacier Gorge, still cold as the sun has not yet reached the trail.

It gets hairy, quickly. Exposure. Potential rockfall. … Many have been killed on this mountain.

I slipped badly on black ice here, the rock still frozen.

The Narrows. The Homestretch. All challenging.

I never did find the register book. This photo is all the evidence I have that I was there.

I left a Summit Stone in this cairn.

Climbing Longs Peak is only recommended for hardy adventurers, agile with no fear of heights.

see all my photos from this scramble

August 16, 2010August 12, 2010

Cirque of the Towers, Wyoming

trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

First off, I declare this the second best hike I’ve done in the American Rockies. (Only the North Circle in Glacier National Park ranks higher.)

The Cirque of the Towers is located in the Wind River Range Wyoming …

… the cirque is a very popular destination for technical rock climbers. Climber Orrin Bonney gave the area its current name in 1941 after his survey of the cirque. Prior to this, few if any visitors had ventured into the cirque due to the remote location. The cirque is an almost circular hole or valley carved by a glacier that retreated over 8,000 years ago. As is true with the rest of the Winds, the mountains are composed almost entirely of granite. The Continental Divide spans the crest of the main peaks. …

From Pinedale, Wyoming it’s a long, pretty 55mi (88km) drive, partly paved and partly gravel, to the Big Sandy trailhead.

After being near bugged to death on my previous hike, I was worried about mosquitoes. … Happily, in early August, they were not bad. Not an issue.

Many complain that this hike is crowded. It wasn’t while I was there.

Lunch at the Cirque was a hiker’s paradise. Surreal.

I spotted this waterfall from the top of Jackass Pass 10,800ft (3,290m) and couldn’t resist the sidetrip.

Most hikers finish at Lonesome Lake in the Cirque, then backtrack.

Instead I climbed over Texas Pass:

I placed a Summit Stone atop this spire to the west of Texas Pass.

The vista over to the far side of Texas:

I saw only 2 other hikers cross the pass on this day, peak season.

It’s actually quite pretty from the backside.

At my campsite near Shadow Lake, I jammed my bear canister between a tree and a boulder so no critters could roll it away down the hill.

It’s a long, mellow walk out if you do the full circuit.

The only downside to this hike is that you must share the trail with tourist cowboys.

Horses really muddy the trail.

more photos from my Circuit of the Towers

If you’re interested in planning for this hike yourself check Lonely Planet Hiking in the USA. It lays out the Circuit (sometimes called “Circle Route”) … though it was obvious to me that the authors had turned back before Texas Pass. (They got the map wrong.)

And check out our besthike information page – CIRQUE OF THE TOWERS

Anglers will love it.

August 15, 2010August 16, 2010

lightweight collapsible hiking poles

I find hiking canes too inconvenient. My hands need to be free to take a photo … or blow my nose.

But if I had poles that retracted mechanically whenever I wished, … I’d consider them.

Technology is getting closer. Shannon Davis reporting from the Outdoor Retailer show 2010:

Black Diamond’s Ultra Distance Z-pole. These things are unreal–eight-ounce carbon-fiber poles. They will be pricey ($149), and they will come in four fixed-length sizes. The poles fold like a tent pole with a protected inner bungie cord, and they snap to rigidity like an avalanche probe. The Distance model will be $20 cheaper, adjustable, and about and ounce heavier. …

Backpacker

Update: Similar technology in a walking stick. Thanks Daniel.

August 14, 2010August 12, 2010

Survivorman returns with new TV show

The Adventure Blog:

… Les is about to return with an all new show for the Discovery Channel.

The new show is called Beyond Survival, and it will begin airing on Friday, August 27th. This time out, Les will be venturing into the remote corners of the globe once again, but he’ll be living amongst the indigenous people …

Survivorman Les Stroud Returns with New Show!

Click PLAY or watch the preview on YouTube.

August 13, 2010August 9, 2010

scary – new Klymit air mat

Chris Weiss:

… At this year’s Outdoor Retailer, one of the most hyped products around was Klymit’s Inertia X Frame camping pad. As you can see in the picture, the pad features a unique design with a variety of cutouts aimed at cutting weight and size. In fact, it packs down smaller than a soda can and weighs just 9.1 ounces. For comparison sake, the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir weighs 14 ounces and packs to the size of a one-liter bottle. …

The “lightest most packable camping pad in the industry” will cost $100 when it hits the market this fall, putting it well under the NeoAir.

Uncooped – Klymit Claims World’s Lightest Camping Pad

August 12, 2010August 10, 2010

gear tip – aluminum foil on the Trail

Sierra Trading Post:

In an attempt to educate us on what NOT to do outdoors, Teva’s The Naturist is back for season two of his hilarious web mini-series.

Much to our surprise, he is still alive and in one piece. Gavin McInnes is The Naturist…

… read more on the blog

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

August 11, 2010August 5, 2010

Montana – man in tent killed by Grizzly

A few days before my solo Beartooth High Lakes hike, nearby a camper was killed and eaten by a bear.

Montana Department of Fish, WIldlife, and Parks (MFWP) officials have captured a 300 – 400 lb. grizzly sow that went berserk in a Montana campground, fatally mauling Kevin Kammer, 48, of Grand Rapids, MI. Two other people were injured in the attack, which took place around 2 a.m. Wednesday, July 28 in Soda Butte Campground on the Gallatin National Forest northeast of Yellowstone. Witnesses said the sow was with three yearling cubs.

MFWP officials say Kammer was by himself in a tent when the attack happened. He was found at around 4 .M. about 25 feet from his tent by a team of state park investigators dispatched to the area on a report of a bear attack. He was a husband and father of four children, ages 8,9, 15 and 19 and he was alone on a fly-fishing vacation. …

Island Park News

The mother bear was euthanized, the cubs sent to a Zoo.

… I saw no bear sign on my own trek.

August 10, 2010August 4, 2010

Beartooth High Lakes, Wyoming

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

35mi (57km) on the Continental Divide

This lollypop loop circuit, as recommended by Lonely Planet Hiking in the USA, starts and (supposedly) finishes at the Island Lake trailhead on the intensely scenic Beartooth Highway, an access to Yellowstone National Park.

The wildflowers here in early August are insanely great.

Unfortunately, the horseflies and mosquitoes are insanely awful. Fish food, I guess.

For all the wildlife in nearby Yellowstone, I was surprised to see nothing larger than this marmot. … Perhaps the mosquitoes drove them out.

The High Lakes hike is aptly named. You trek from one remote lake to the next. With all the granite, at times it reminded me of the Sierra Nevada.

You are going to get your feet wet, for sure. But normally there is a way across the widest streams.

Many love this wilderness for the remote tenting options. Set up wherever you want.

Lonely Planet rates this adventure easy-medium, the worse misranking of any hike in the book. It is correct here:

… Waymarkings and signposts are unreliable. …

The Beartooth High Lakes circuit is very challenging due to the many rocky and wet scrambles. The snow that stays into late July. The lack of signage. Trails that often fizzle out completely.

In fact, I’d not recommend you try it without a good topo and GPS. One lake looks like the next up here.

Here I am wandering out through charming alpine meadows, looking for a good spot to leave a Summit Stone.