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hiking out of Chamonix, France

Much critical of France over the years, I must admit I’m loving Chamonix. It’s a great hiker’s town.

Only 10,000 people live here. Yet the valley hosts over 5 million visitors a year!

Chamonix-map

… the snowclad summit of Mont Blanc towers above the valley from the southeast. At 15780 feet, Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe. …

Chamonix
Chamonix

When I checked with tourist information, my usual question: “What’s the best hike out of Chamonix?” … the woman laughed.

She told me that there are far too many choices for her to be able to steer me to the “best” hike.

… Jon Krakauer, in an essay in his collection Eiger Dreams, described the town as “the death-sport capital of the world” because Chamonix serves as an ideal playground for almost all types of outdoor activity, especially in their more extreme variants, such as ice climbing, rock climbing, extreme skiing, paragliding, rafting, and canyoning. …

I like this town even better than the much more famous, upscale Zermatt, Switzerland.

Chamonix and Zermatt are two of the best hiking towns in the world. Leave a comment if there are other hiking centres you would rank in the top 10.

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HikingLady.com

Carol Roberts is an avid hiker, backpacker and outdoorswoman from California. Check out her website.

HikingLady.com is dedicated to women hikers who love the outdoors! My goal is to share tips and secrets learned over years of hiking, backpacking, camping, and exploring the outdoors. I want to provide unbiased advice and opinions (and your comments too!) to ensure that you will love the outdoors as much as I do.

There are so many simple things that you can do to make your time outdoors more enjoyable. So instead of suffering through blisters, freezing at night in a sleeping bag that isn’t right for you, or wearing a backpack that doesn’t fit your female frame, take a look around HikingLady.com and learn from my experience and share your own tips (and stories from your hiking adventures!) …

about HikingLady.com

screenshot
screenshot

HikingLady.com

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best way to cost a tent site?

$23 / night for a walk in campsite at Thomas Raddall campground in 2009. That’s $23 / person!

The same charge is levied for 6 adults with 3 tents. That’s less than $4 / person.

Nova Scotia Parks … FEES

click for official brochure (PDF)
click for official brochure (PDF)

I drove down the highway and stayed at the hostel. … The hostel that costs $25 / person. Hot shower. Kitchen. WiFi.

Charging $23 for a solo tenter is far too high, Nova Scotia.

… I like how tenting at a campground is billed in Europe. There’s are separate charges for each tent, each vehicle and each hiker. A very fair system, I find.

Leave a comment if you have an opinion.

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BIG in Europe: Nordic Walking

My stand on hiking canes remains unchanged.

I think they’re great for the elderly and infirm.

elderly-couple-hiking-poles

Just kidding.

I’m astonished at how popular this new activity is in Europe. It’s HUGE compared with North America.

Europe has dedicated Nordic Walking paths.

Nordic walking is defined as fitness walking with specially designed poles. … Hikers with knee pain discovered they could walk more powerfully with a pair of trekking poles, often eliminate or reduce hip, knee, and foot pain, and backpackers found relief from painful backs when using poles. …

Wikipedia

Nordic-Walker

Check out a video tutorial by trekkingpoleguru.

Swedes call it stavgång. In Norway and Denmark it is stavgang. And to the Estonians it is kepikönd.

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camping, hiking, kayaking on the rise

On Paul Gilbert’s blog:

… In just the last year, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority has seen a jump in camping of 10 percent increase over last summer, and an astonishing 75 percent increase since 2004. …

kayaks

… Tom Doyle, Vice President of Information and Research at the National Sporting Good Association, says the increase in visitation is no fluke. “In our last national survey, we found that camping has dramatically increased, from 46 million campers (nationally) in 2005 to 49.4 million last summer.”

Those figures show no sign of slowing either. Camping, hiking, kayaking – all three areas remain on the rise according to Doyle. Meanwhile, tent sales nationally have been trending up the last few years.

“I fully expect the increase in camping to continue,” Doyle said. “People are foregoing expensive travel.” …

Regional Parks

(via TrailVoice on twitter)

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$80 US Parks Pass FREE from Amazon

Promotion Details

While supplies last, get a National Parks and Federal Recreation Land Annual Park Pass for free (an $80 value) when you purchase $299 or more of eligible outdoor recreation gear sold and shipped by Amazon.com. To take advantage of this offer, please review and follow the steps below:

Add eligible outdoor recreation gear to your cart totaling $299 or more (before shipping, gift wrap, and taxes) shipped and sold by Amazon.com.

Add the National Parks and Federal Recreation Land Annual Park Pass to your cart.

Proceed to checkout.

The value of the National Parks and Federal Recreation Land Annual Park Pass ($80) will be deducted at checkout. Verify that your discount has been taken to ensure that your order qualifies for this offer before clicking the “Place your Order” button.

Once you’ve placed your order, your products and the Park Pass will be shipped to you.

This offer applies only to select Amazon.com purchases. Items eligible for this offer will feature a promotional message indicating that it is an eligible item. Applies only to products sold by Amazon.com. Does not apply to products sold on our site by third-party merchants or through third-party areas such as Amazon.com Marketplace, or Auctions.

Amazon

annual-park-pass

(via Trailspotting)