Nudge nudge. Wink wink.
… Know what I mean?
(via sandrafriend on Twitter)
She’s now calling for the Florida Governor to disappear on the Florida Trail.
I’m hiking the Appalachian Trail
hike Arrowsmith Trail to Lookout
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
On Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, at the Port Alberni Tourist Information Centre, I picked up a free brochure called Mount Arrowsmith. There is a guidebook, but the brochure is all you need to hike this mountain.
The brochure map shows 11 trails for hikers, climbers, snowshoers and skiers.
Close to amazing Cathedral Grove, is one easy access to the mountain, Old (Historic) Arrowsmith Trail.
There’s good parking ($3), pit toilets and a picnic area at the east end of Cameron Lake.
The trailhead across the highway is easy to find … after you know where it is. (I drove by it the first time.)
It starts (deceptively) as a road.
In fact, this route is extremely well marked. It has to be for winter adventurers, when snow covers the track.
This trail gets very steep and rough in places, climbing continuously for about 2hrs.
I was lucky there had been no rain for about a month. In wet conditions you might be scrambling up temporary creeks.
The route is mostly tree locked. That makes getting to Lookout even more enjoyable:
If you have about 8hrs, you can continue on this trail to the now defunct Mt. Cokely ski hill. One trip report calls that 20km return.
Better, however, would be to slog up in the afternoon. Wild camp tent overnight. And explore the top trails next day.
That’s what I’ll do next time.
solar powered tent with WiFi
THIS is what a hiking blogger needs!
… uses solar energy to light itself up and provide WiFi access to the Internet.
The design concept uses photovoltaic fabrics to collect energy from the sun all day long, then uses that power to recharge our gadgets, which are conveniently stored in a “magnetic induction pouch”. The tent also comes equipped with a flexible LCD screen that can connect to the Internet …
Adventure Blog – High Tech Concept Tent is Solar Powered, Comes with WiFi
Sadly, it’s still in the concept stage.
I can’t buy one any time soon.
Hiking blogger Steve Howe mocks it … but wonders if he can get a prototype to test.
hiking with booze?
I’m for it, of course.
The greatest backcountry boozer I’ve hiked with is Kelly Mock, then living in Whitehorse, Yukon. It was Kelly that carried a “Bubba” (mini keg of beer) over the Golden Staircase to Happy Camp on the famed Chilkoot Trail in Alaska.
Arriving on the solstice, Kelly bought a round for the house at Happy.
He’s been one-upped.
Michael Popov carried 20lbs of beer up 4,000′ of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the continental USA. He was doing some kind of loco carbo loading / altitude acclimatization for his record breaking unsupported John Muir Trail run. (4 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes from Mount Whitney to Yosemite Valley)
This is mentioned in Aaron Sorensen’s trip report from both Michael’s and his attempt that year.
Leave a comment if you’ve seen a greater feat of trudging alcohol up hill.
Here’s beer for you wimpy lightweight backpackers. (Treehugger hates this.)
Incidentally, Aaron Sorensen will be starting June 28th an attempt on the Unsupported Record on the Lake Tahoe Rim Trail. No one has claimed this record yet. Aaron is looking at 55-60hrs for the 168 miles.
UNSEEN HAZARDS That Threaten Hikers
A new small book by Jerry Genesio.
Vital information about natural, unseen hazards that threaten hunters, hikers, campers, and other outdoor activity enthusiasts, including Rabies, Tetanus (Lockjaw), Tularemia (Rabbit Fever), Brusellosis (Undulant Fever), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Borrelia (Lyme Disease), with CDC advice on how to avoid ticks, and how to remove ticks. Each of the subject diseases is described with symptoms, treatment, history, geographical risk areas, and significant incidence reports. The book is written by Jerry Genesio, a former employee of Cutter Laboratories’ Biological Products Division, and author of a natural history series published by New England Outdoors magazine.
Canada, Russia new National Parks
The Great White Norths.
… the Russian government created a new Arctic park for endangered wildlife, banning all industrial activity on and around the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya, a long island that stretches north into the Arctic Circle, south of Franz Josef Land’s popular spring break beaches.
Much better, me thinks, is the newly expanded Park in my homeland.
… the Canadian government finalized the expansion of the Nahanni National Park on the border of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. …
After a 35-year effort from CPAWS, the seven-fold expansion adds the granite formation known as the Cirque of the Unclimbables, one of Canada’s best big wall climbing venues, to the National Park.
… read more – Outside Blog
15 best mountain towns in Summer
By Kelly Gray on a new UK outdoor magazine called Wide World:
Just because there’s no snow on the ground doesn’t mean you can’t go to ski resorts. In fact, it’s a fantastic time for a mountain getaway – plus there are less crowds. White water, raw natural surroundings, forested canopies – perfect for mountain climbing, white-water rafting and challenging hikes. So put away your skis and snowboards and head to the hills in the ‘off season’. Here’s WideWorld’s pick of the 15 best.
1. Telluride, Colorado2. Zermatt, Matterhorn
3. Chamonix, French Alps
4. Mammoth, California
5. Poiana-Brasov, Romania
6. Whistler Blackcomb, British Colombia, Canada
7. Ben Nevis, Scotland
8. Snowdonia National Park, Northern Wales
9. Angel Fire, New Mexico
10. Vail, Colorado
11. Queenstown, New Zealand
12. Valberg, France
13. Pamporovo, Bulgaria
14. Åre, Sweden
15. Sierra Nevada, Granada, Spain
Click through for links and details on each – Wide World – 15 AMAZING MOUNTAIN TRIPS
The obvious omission that jumps to mind is Banff, Alberta, Canada.
No worries. Banff is hardly underexposed. Better people be reminded of Åre, Poiana-Brasov and Pamporovo that are lesser known.
No RSS feed for Wide World? That’s lame. I won’t be back very often. RSS is essential in 2009.
Pamporovo – the pearl of the Bulgarian mountain resorts, nests in the heart of the Rhodopes, 260 km from the capital Sofia, and 85 km south of the city of Plovdiv. …
(via Kraig Becker on Gadling)
Is Half Dome in Yosemite safe?
UPDATE:
Nohara fell to his death in 2007. Kumar fell and died in 2009.
==== original post: Half Dome is certainly one of the best hikes in the World.
Fantastic.
flickr – TeecNosPos – larger version
more interesting Half Dome photos
But, once again: “Rangers re-examining safety of popular hike after a fatal fall from cables during final ascent”
It was crowded on the climbing cables leading to the top of Half Dome, but Hirofumi Nohara was seemingly giddy with excitement on what could only be described as a gorgeous Saturday in Yosemite National Park.
The 37-year-old Japanese citizen was talking and laughing with his four friends as they worked their way up the nearly vertical granite slope, witnesses said.
Then he slipped.
Nohara didn’t have time to speak or even shout before he slid off the side of Half Dome to his death, becoming the third fatality within a year off the 4,800-foot granite dome. …
SF Gate – Deadly trek up Half Dome
… or is that news story wrong?
An earlier SF Gate article identifies the hiker who tumbled to his death as Manoj Kumar, a 40-year-old software engineer from San Ramon, California.
Who was it that fell? Leave a comment if you know.
Tom Mangan weighs in with his advice to hikers considering Half Dome:
1) Assess your fitness and fear-of-heights issues
2) Research your hike in-depth before you start
3) Train
4) Ask yourself ‘why’
read more on Two-Heel Drive – Is Half Dome safe? A cautious maybe
Related book: Amazon – Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite
Must Have iPhone App for Hikers
Wow.
The Best iPhone 3.0 Beta app award at the Apple Design Awards last week is for trekkers.
Rave review … at least if you hike in certain parts of the U.S.A.:
… I haven’t used the application on a hike yet, but the mapping content on the application is very rich, and you can see what the surface of the terrain looks like. The drawbacks are you can’t zoom in as far as the iPhone Google Earth application lets you, and it doesn’t use the iPhone’s auto-tilt function to move to another part of the map like Google Earth does.
AccuTerra lets you share your outdoor experiences with others via Facebook and email. You can post a link of your trek to your Facebook profile or email a link to family and friends that includes the route you traveled and pictures you took along the way. …
Intermap created AccuTerra to fill the void of the modern-day GPS: off-road mapping. Though GPS does a “wonderful job on the road,” acknowledged Thomas, it’s not as useful “once you get to the end of the pavement.” The application also has a library of maps of U.S. national state parks and forests for each state. It had an extensive list of popular hiking and biking trails in the Bay Area, including my favorites, Alum Rock Park and Rancho San Antonio County Park. …
GigaOm – For Hikers, Bikers & Trekkers, Accuterra a Must Have iPhone App
You can get a better idea of how it works on the official mobile AccuTerra website.
Or watch a short introduction video on YouTube.
More video tutorials.
I think I’ll try it if and when I get an iPhone. That might be SOON.
checking out … Outdoor Bunnies
Szu-ting Yi recently launched an online network of bloggers called … Outdoor Bunnies.
You may know Szu-ting Yi as LittlePo.
The name of her new site itself may draw undesirable lurkers. Most will go away when they realize the kind of bunnies on display.
… Outdoor Bunnies is the safe and supportive community for women of the wilderness (outdoor bunnies) to connect and grow with each other. At Outdoor Bunnies, outdoor bunnies share their thoughts, insights, emotions, and wisdom inspired by their outdoor endeavors. Its purpose is to empower fellow bunnies to take initiatives to pursue wilderness adventures, to engage intellectually with nature, or to simply enjoy what the great outdoors has to offer. …
home page – Outdoor Bunnies
The site is hosted by WordPress using BuddyPress. Members can add their own blogs, if they wish. Very cool.
I am subscribed. And have added the new site in the right hand navigation under BLOGS.
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