besthike.com

March 20, 2010March 20, 2010

hiking Steinbeck Canyon, Baja

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Steinbeck Canyon is the name locals in Loreto use for the most popular hike in the area.

I started at the Puerto Escondido marina. With a bike.

You ride (or walk) from the marina out to main highway #1. There’s the arroyo (watercourse) in the distance just right of the exit road.

The turnoff to the trailhead is unmarked but easy to find. Simply cross directly over Highway #1 and follow the dirt road on the other side.

It’s impressive right from the get go.

It’s actually more of a bouldering scramble than a hike. You’ll be using your hands clambering up, over and under smooth river rocks.

What people like most is the explosion of insect, bird and plant life.

Some of the pools were so clean, when I was there, that I was tempted to swim.

Steinbeck Canyon is one of the best hikes in the Baja. Highly recommended.

See all my photos from a March 2010 scramble.

March 19, 2010March 19, 2010

trekking Japan – 88 Temple Pilgrimage

We’ve added a category of walks called “spiritual”. This is a perfect example.

For example, one adventure recommended by Aasmund Midttun Godal, the Shikoku Pilgrimage.

… Neon Pilgrim (2009) is a rollercoaster account of an Australian woman’s 1200km trek around the island of Shikoku, the famed 88 Temple Pilgrimage performed in honour of the ninth-century monk who brought Buddhism to Japan. Depressed, unemployed and overweight, 28-year-old Lisa Dempster undertook the epic walk to cure her body and mind ….

Amazon

I checked out a review by Andy Hayes. His summary:

… this book has a terrible cover and an even worse title.

But it was probably the best ‘travelogue’ I’ve read all year. …

Indie Travel Podcast

I’ve added Neon Pilgrim to my books-to-read list.

March 18, 2010March 19, 2010

Everest Base Camp – gay weddings wanted

A gay politician in Nepal wants you to wed beneath the world’s highest peak.

Tourism is one of the main drivers of Nepal’s economy, worth about £228 million last year, and government officials are determined to double tourism to 1 million visitors next year.

They hope gay tourists will be far more lucrative than the backpackers who stay in cheap hotels and travel on shoestring budgets.

Stepping up tourism: Nepal is hoping to target gay travellers who are interested in more active holidays

“They do have a lot of income…they are high-spending consumers,” said Aditya Baral, spokesman for the Nepal Tourism Board. “If they behave well, if they have money, we don’t discriminate.”

The driving force behind the tourism push is Sunil Pant, a member of parliament, the nation’s most prominent gay activist and founder of the Pink Mountain tour company.

“The nation’s mountains, food and culture are a natural tourist magnet”, says Pant. Additionally, gay tourists could get married at Everest base camp and honeymoon on an elephant safari — though since Nepal doesn’t marry foreigners, such weddings would have no legal status, he said. …

Read more … or not

In a totally unrelated story, The Adventure Blogger, Kraig Becker, is planning on a trek to Base Camp during the Spring “flower” season.

In a totally unrelated photo, aren’t fishing babes wonderful?

Those Great Outdoors bloggers are still O.K.

March 17, 2010

Machu Picchu reopens April 1st

The Inca Trail is still closed, but there’s been progress in getting one of the world’s top attractions back to business after severe flood damage earlier this year.

The vital rail link to Peru’s sacred ruins of Machu Picchu will reopen on 29 March, ready for the Inca site itself to open on 1 April …

Wanderlust

The cheap train is not opening, note.

On the bright side, the normally near useless Peruvian government is cutting air fares and hotel rates hoping to draw tourists to Cuzco.

All the alternative trails to Mach Picchu are open, including our favourite Choquequirao to Machu Picchu.

Consider, too, the 4 treks in Peru we like best:

• Ausangate Circuit TOP 10
• Huayhuash Circuit
• Alpamayo
• Santa Cruz Trek

March 17, 2010March 13, 2010

Sleeping in Tents

The Sleeping in Tents page on Facebook has over 275,000 fans, including me.

If you’re on Facebook, click through and join.

March 15, 2010March 18, 2010

the thorny truth about Baja – goathead

This evil is cursed in many parts of the world, by many names: puncturevine, caltrop, cathead, yellow vine, goathead, burra gokharu and bindii.

Wikipedia – Tribulus terrestris

Here’s me before meeting goathead. Happy.

And here’s my ride with at least a dozen thorns in each tire.

I was 16km out of Loreto, Baja on a coastal adventure. Happily, a taxi van was parked right where I punctured.

Cyclists hate these thorns. One guy recommends:

• thick tires with an anti-puncture strip.
• thorn resistant tire liners
• thorn resistant tubes
• slime

… I’m thinking I’ll drink beer by the pool.

March 15, 2010March 10, 2010

book – The Great Divide

Sarah of Trail Cooking was given a hard-to-find copy of this book.

The Great Divide: A Walk Along the Continental Divide of the United States (1987) by Stephen Pern

Sarah recommends it, saying on Facebook:

As you get into the heart of the book my mind thought of another book, Dances With Marmots – A Pacific Crest Trail Adventure. George’s book has a similar flow. If you liked Dances, you will enjoy this book.

The Continental Divide Trail (CDT) is a wild trail even today. I cannot imagine his walking it even in the 80’s, picking a path of his own to beat the weather and to be able to get food drops. There wasn’t much of a trail back then.

March 13, 2010

Alaska-Yukon Expedition – Andrew Skurka

Andrew Skurka is the greatest hiker of all time. His 6,875-mile Great Western Loop was only one of many fantastic hiking accomplishments.

What could he do to top the Great Western Loop?

4,700 miles in 7 months via skis, foot, and a packraft

official Alaska-Yukon Expedition home page

… On Saturday, March 13, a small plane will land early morning in Kotzebue, Alaska. Andy Skurka will get off the airplane, put on his headlamp in the pre-dawn darkness, pull on some clothes in the zero degree temperature, and start skiing. He would ski for 12 hours straight, and do at least that every day for the next month and a half. Then he’ll hike and packraft 16 hours every day for the next 5 months.

He’s circumnavigating the entire state, crossing the entire Alaska Range, Brooks Range, and parts of the Yukon. An estimated 4,720 miles, in hopefully 6 1/2 months. Almost all off-trail. Plenty of bears, brush, snow, raging rivers, glaciers (and mosquitos). …

read more from Buzz on the Adventure Running Blog)

March 11, 2010

hiking guidebooks – Kathy and Craig Copeland

Andrew Breen suggested I give a shout out for Kathy and Craig, popular hiking guidebook authors from my part of the world.

BestHike links to many of their guidebooks, but I’ve not mentioned them lately.

Kathy and Craig Copeland are dedicated to each other, and to hiking, in that order. Their second date was a 32-km (20-mile) dayhike in Arizona. Since then they haven’t stopped for long.

They’ve trekked through much of the world’s vertical topography, including the Himalayas, Patagonian Andes, Pyrenees, Swiss and French Alps, Scottish Highlands, Dolomites, Sierra Nevada, North Cascades, Colorado Rockies, New Zealand, and canyons of the American Southwest. In 1989, they moved from the U.S. to Canada, so they could live near the Canadian Rockies—the range that inspired the first of their refreshingly unconventional guidebooks.

authors

Here’s their list of current guidebooks:

Bear Safety
Bears Beware! (audio book)

Hiking
Done in a Day: Banff
Done in a Day: Jasper
Done in a Day: Whistler
Don’t Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies
Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies
Where Locals Hike in the West Kootenay
Hiking from Here to WOW: North Cascades
Done in a Day: Moab
Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country

Cycling
Done in a Day: Calgary

Vehicle Camping
Camp Free in B.C.

It was news to me that they now offer mini-ebooks. I could download these to my iTouch.

Don’t Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies
Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies
Where Locals Hike in the West Kootenay
Hiking from here to WOW: North Cascades

Everything is linked from their attractive, fast and easy-to-navigate home page: HikingCamping.com

March 10, 2010

self-guided hiking in Europe

Last summer in Europe I met many hikers on “self-guided” trips. That concept is very popular there, not so much anywhere else.

Here’s how it works.

You hire a company to do all your logistics in advance: transportation, accommodation, some meals, etc.

They choose a “best” itinerary for you. No need to plan.

One example from Bredson Outdoor Adventures:

We will be offering a special one-time, 10 night/11 day, self-guided departure from July 18 – 28, 2010 that melds the best of our two existing French Pyrenees self-guided hiking itineraries with an opportunity to view two legs of the Tour de France as it passes through the Pyrenees. During this anniversary year of the Tour de France you’ll have an opportunity to see history in the making as the Tour celebrates its 100th year in the Pyrenees. This trip is rated moderate to strenuous. …

Ten nights, half board (breakfast and dinner).

Minimum two star hotels and likely one three star hotel, all with private bath; friendly, traditional accommodations in beautiful settings with very good food

Local transport and baggage shuttle included.

Price: $2,300 USD per person double occupancy. Minimum 2 people. No single rooms available. Price reductions available for more than two people.

Deposit of $500/person by the beginning of December in order to secure hotels.

details