Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Outdoor Camping Survival personal favorites:
1 – Breakneck Ridge Trail, Hudson Highlands State Park in NY
2 – Glacier Gorge, Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park
3 – Mount Whitney, California
4 – Appalachian Trail: The Pinnacle
5 – Conundrum Hot Springs, Colorado
Of these, only Mount Whitney is specifically on our list of the best hikes in North America, so far.
trip report by site editor, Rick McCharles
I awoke early and drove out of town about 10min towards Lake Haversu City.
This geology looked, from the highway, very interesting.
It’s easy to hike anywhere you wish here. Simply follow the jeep tracks and dry arroyos.
This was not an official hiking trail, but made for a very pleasant morning, none the less.
Here’s the view looking back towards Needles.
I checked into the Needles California office of the Bureau of Land Management. They gave me some excellent advice on “best hikes” in the region.
Two books are recommended and sold there:
Hiking California’s Desert Parks, 2nd edition: A Guide to the Greatest Hiking Adventures in Anza-Borrego, Joshua Tree, Mojave, and Death Valley by Bill and Polly Cunningham
I’ll be using this one over the next couple of months.
Deserts Summits: A Climbing & Hiking Guide to California & Southern Nevada by Andy Zdon
Both are recommended.
Click on either book cover for more information and links to other available books on Amazon
I feel lucky to have just finished a driving tour of the exact range of the crazy beautiful Saguaro cactus, definitely one of my favourite flora.
… a large, tree-sized cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in the U.S. state of Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, a small part of Baja California in the San Felipe Desert and an extremely small area of California …
Harming a saguaro in any manner, including cactus plugging, is illegal by state law in Arizona, and when houses or highways are built, special permits must be obtained to move or destroy any saguaro affected. …
George and I had a female guide on the Choquequirao trek in Peru. We made no special request. She simply happened to be the next experienced guide available.
Cool.
Increasingly the world’s top trails are seeing more female guides. They’re in high demand by female hikers who, understandably, feel more comfortable.
I was happy to see this post on the Women Travel blog:
Mary “Mumbi” Kariuki has been guiding on the trails of Mt. Kenya, Kilimanjaro, and other East African mountains for 8 years – and she’s not over the hill yet. In 2001 Mary officially became the first, and only, rated female guide serving these mountains. Before she was a guide, Mary worked her way through the ranks as all African guides should have, as a porter. …
Leave a comment if you’ve more stories of female guides on the world’s great treks.
lucrativetravels.com posted a surprisingly good list:
Wet Beaver Loop
Picacho Peek
Kendrick Mountain
Paria Canyon
We name Paria Canyon the best hike in the entire S.W. USA.
The other three I’m currently researching. … Especially since I’ve just arrived in Arizona. We drove between Tuscon and Phoenix yesterday past impressive Picacho Peak.
Wet Beaver Loop
The Wet Beaver Loop is not a trail that should be hiked by a novice. The trail is a twenty-two mile loop so you should plan on taking a couple of days to complete it. …
Picacho Peak
The Picacho Peak is a hike that that will provide you with the opportunity to admire the Sonora desert. Although the trail is only a seven mile round trip, you need to be aware that much of it is extremely steep and that there are many switchbacks. …
Kendrick Mountain
If Picacho Peak is more than you feel comfortable handling, you might want to consider the Kendrick Mountain hike. This particular hike is 9.2 miles round trip. When you reach the summit you will find a cabin and have an amazing view of Mount Humphreys, Red Mountain, and Sycamore Canyon. On a clear day you will even be able to see the Grand Canyon’s north Rim. …
read more – lucrativetravels.com
Cartoonist Alex Hallatt put up a hike trip report on her professional site Arctic Circle Cartoons.
How do you justify that? … Tag it “work-life balance“.
They photo blogged a 3 day section of the Great Ocean Walk from Johanna Beach to Princetown.
I love these kinds of trip reports. In a very short time you get a good feel for the hike. Click through to scan the photos – Great Great Ocean Walk
Thanks Our Hiking Blog for putting it up as a guest post.
Have you ever heard of this unique natural attraction?
Manpupuner and the 7 Strong Men Rock Formations
Deemed one of the Seven Wonders of Russia, Komi Republic (map) is home to Manpupuner (Man-Pupu-Nyer), a mysterious site in the northern Ural mountains, in the Troitsko-Pechorsky District, made out of seven rock towers bursting out of the flat plateau known as the “7 strong men“.
Manpupuner is a very popular attraction in Russia, but not on an international level and information regarding its origin is scarce. We know however that their height and abnormal shapes make the top of these rock giants inaccessible even to experienced rock-climbers. Manpupuner is very hard to reach, it lies in a very harsh environment, …
Thanks George.
Henry Wismayer authored an excellent article published by The Telegraph: Garhwal Himalayas: trekking the Curzon Trail
He points out how the Garhwal Himalayas in India might have been as popular with hikers as Nepal. This is an entertaining read.
… this five-day trek is the marquee route along the western rim of the Unesco-prescribed Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve – but there isn’t much accommodation in these parts so everything we need, including food, cooking rings and an antiquated A-frame tent, is coming with us.
It pays to come prepared. On the next terrace down are three bearded Bavarians who set off from the Ghat trailhead expecting the amenities of Annapurna.
“There is nowhere to buy food here?” had come the incredulous reply …
I’d love to hike there.
… There is no tourist paraphernalia in the mountain settlements – no tea-houses selling pizza and home-made chang – just corncobs hanging from the lintels and chillies scattered over sackcloth to dry. Outside Pana, an ancient goatherd asks Biru if I want to buy marijuana; this is the only clue that other trekkers have been here before us. …
read the article – Garhwal Himalayas: trekking the Curzon Trail
Wismayer has a photo set too. Click through to flickr – The Curzon Trail
From Hiking Trip Reports:
… Duct tape is probably the most versatile item you can carry when hiking. It can mend and repair almost anything from blisters to holes in air mattresses. …
Hiking Trip Reports – Duct Tape: The Hikers Friend
related – 10 hiking essentials
besthike.com 