You can tell we are SERIOUS from the all caps typeface.
Kelly Bastone in Backpacker posted this list in 2008:
From a slippery Sierra catwalk to a treacherous Hawaiian paradise, we name the country’s 10 most hazardous hikes. Then we break down the dangers and provide local beta for conquering each route.
The Maze, UT
Flash flood is a greater worry to me than getting lost or being avalanched. Recall April 2008 when 7 of 12 “canyoneers”, most students, were killed in a flash flood in New Zealand.
The new North Coast Trail is close to the top of my MUST HIKE BEFORE I DIE list.
The North Coast Trail is a 43.1 km wilderness hiking trail in Cape Scott Provincial Park on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
… in Cape Scott Provincial Park runs along beaches and in forest around the northern tip of Vancouver Island from Shushartie Bay to Nissen Bight. At Nissen Bight it links up with an existing 15 km trail which leads to the trailhead at San Josef River. The total distance for hikers between the trailheads is 61 km. The trail is in a wilderness area and hikers may see deer, elk, black bears, cougars, wolves, sea birds, seals, sea lions, grey whales and sea otters. In two failed attempts, Danish pioneers tried to settle the area at the turn of the twentieth century and the trail incorporates some of their original routes.
Detailed route information is available on the BC Parks – Cape Scott hiking page.
Number of miles hiked: 417.4 miles
Longest hike: 15.9 miles (Hike #48 – San Gorgonio Mountain)
Hardest hike: Hike #21 (Telescope Peak, Death Valley)
Furthest hike from home: Hike #86 (Villarrica, Chile – 5,864 miles from Arcadia, CA)
Jotunheimen (English: The Home of the Giants) is a mountainous area of roughly 3,500 km² in Southern Norway. Jotunheimen is a part of the long Scandinavian Mountains range. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are in Jotunheimen, including the very highest – Galdhøpiggen (2469 m). …
The Jotunheimen area contains the Jotunheimen National Park, ….
Jotunheimen is very popular among hikers and climbers, and the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association maintains a number mountain lodges in the area, as well as marked trails between the lodges and to some of the peaks. …
Hikers normally stay in cabins. Some of the popular trails out of Bessheim:
traildatabase.org - click for larger version
What about nearby Rondane?
Rondane National Park
… Rondane is a typical high mountain area, with large plateaus and a total of ten peaks above 2,000 m (6,560 ft). The highest point is Rondeslottet (“The Rondane Castle”) at an altitude of 2,178 m (7,146 ft). The lowest point is just below the tree line, which is approximately 1,000 to 1,100 m (about 3,300 to 3,600 ft) above sea level. The climate is mild but relatively arid.
Apart from the White Birch trees of the lower areas, the soil and rocks are covered by heather and lichen, since they lack nutrients. The largest mountains are almost entirely barren; above 1,500 m (5,000 ft) nothing but the hardiest lichens grow on the bare stones. …
It would be convenient to hike both these National Parks on one trip.
Szu-ting Yi, better known online as LittlePo, just hiked Tiger Leaping Gorge in southern China. One of our best hikes in Asia.
By email:
… I’d love to wish you a merry Christmas. I am right now in Lijiang, which is located at northwest of the Yunnan province in China. Two days ago, I hiked the trail overlooking the tiger leaping gorge, it was an amazing hike: sheer cliffs along the river, constant mountain views, and raging water. …
LittlePo is more of a climber than a hiker. But she’s in China doing research:
… My primary objective is to perform reconnaissance for my adventure travel business, LittlePo Adventures (a working title), and therefore I have been actively investigating aesthetic areas in China for active exploration and ultimate adventure. In the meanwhile, I have been making connections with local businesses and proposing collaboration projects with local residents.
I’ll be following this venture. Having trekked in China independently and illegally, I can assure you it’s a PAIN. Much better would be to sign on with a trekking company with guides who speak Mandarin and who have connections.
In 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan (“Star of Pakistan”) for his dedicated and humanitarian effort to promote education and literacy in rural areas for fifteen years. …
This guy has done more by himself to help Pakistan than all the hundreds of millions spent by the U.S. government. I love the title of this article: He Fights Terror With Books
I highly recommend his first book. Greg Mortenson is my hero.
click for details on the book
Never has the failure to climb a mountain led to such success. After Greg Mortenson failed to climb K2 in 1993 to honor his dead sister, he picked a new mountain. He raised enough money so a small village in Pakistan could build their own school.
In 2006 he published Three Cups of Tea, a book chronicling his journey. By 2009 he had supported more than 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. At a time when U.S. foreign policy is governed by military might that includes Shock and Awe and a flock of high-altitude drones, Greg Mortenson took a simpler, gentler approach. He traveled on rugged roads to small villages—in the same remote regions where the United States dropped bombs from unseen and unheard planes high in the sky—to deliver cash so locals could build schools from stones and have basic learning supplies for their children. He took the war against violence out of the sky and put it in the hands of young girls on the ground.
Wouldn’t it be great to take a long hike with one of the great legends of mountaineering, Sir Chris Bonington?
You can …
ANNAPURNA 2010
THE 50th ANNIVERSARY TRIP with SIR CHRIS BONINGTON
This very special trip is the 50th Anniversary of Sir Chris Bonington’s first ascent of Annapurna II and the 40th Anniversary of his assent of the South Face of Annapurna I. Travelling a very special route, Sir Chris will be joining us for the entire trek.
Trek Leader: Joe Bonington
Duration: 23 days (Kathmandu–Kathmandu)
Departing: 5th May 2010 (Very Limited Places – Enquire)
Price: £5,000
Likely the most expensive Annapurna trek ever sold. I’d LOVE to be there.
It’s fantastic. But safety concerns have stopped many over the years from traveling to Colombia. And stopped others from doing the trek.
Bt82 joined a group of 11 hikers to do it in the Fall of 2009. No problema. Everything went great.
… Everything went great until the post-hike celebration. That evening was a disaster.
Tricked into a meal at an expensive restaurant. Porn movies and strippers at the bar. Prostitutes. One hiker caught with Marijuana. Police demanding a $1000 bribe.
Yeesh.
Click through to TravelPod to read the sorry details – Ciudad Perdida
