Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Jason Wade Heflin of outdoorzy.com has been buzy:
The Outdoorzy Blog is now The Outpost. You can reach the site through the same url – blog.outdoorzy.com. We just gave the site a much needed face lift. The new format is organized way better and allows for more fun features such as polls and ratings.
We’re pretty stoked about the new layout and branding …
Or check out one of their recent posts – Todays Top Female Adventure Sports Athletes
Rarely do I revisit hikes.
But I returned to the Alabama Hills on a recent trip to Lone Pine, California.
This landscape is so weird.
OK, it’s not that weird. Kids must have painted this one.
But otherworldly. And about as realistic as an old Star Trek TV set.
TTVo – larger version
… The Alabama Hills are a popular location for television and movie productions (especially Westerns) set in an archetypical “rugged” environment. Since the early 1920s, 150 movies and about a dozen television shows have been filmed here … Gunga Din, Springfield Rifle, and How the West Was Won, as well as more recent productions such as Tremors and Joshua Tree…. In Gladiator, actor Russell Crowe rides a horse in front of the Alabamas, with Mount Whitney in the background, for a scene presumably set in Spain. Star Trek Generations was filmed here …. More recently, many parts of the film Ironman (film) were filmed here. …
I went to scramble the boulders at dusk. Gorgeous.
djfrantic – larger version
… There are two main types of rock exposed at Alabama Hills. One is an orange, drab weathered metamorphosed volcanic rock that is 150-200 million years old. The other type of rock exposed here is 90 million year old granite which weathers to potato-shaped large boulders, many of which stand on end due to spheroidal weathering acting on many nearly vertical joints in the rock. …
more interesting photos tagged “Alabama Hills”
The only geology I can compare it with are the boulder hills near Hampi, India.
Just started to upload my best photos of our big Adventure Sports Week event in Idaho.
see more on flickr
Good FUN so far. Not much sleep.
I was a “leader” for a kid’s Adventure Race, Saturday. (My team finished last after 4.5hrs. But we had a GREAT day.)
It was an honour to assist arguably the greatest Adventure Racer of all time, Mike Kloser (PDF), in the children’s clinic before the race.
Outdoor Camping Survival personal favorites:
Breakneck Ridge Trail, Hudson Highlands State Park in NY
Glacier Gorge, Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park
Mount Whitney, California
Appalachian Trail: The Pinnacle
Conundrum Hot Springs, Colorado
flickr – pixelgrain – larger version
Here’s one trip report …
… Conundrum Hot Springs near Aspen is the type of place that spawns rumors. I had heard hippies clog the nine-mile trail to the springs.
I had been told the pools attract cliquey nudes who make fun of people in bathing suits.
Was the gossip true?
For nearly a year, I had been looking forward to finding out. I had visited several other hot springs in the area, but Conundrum was the Holy Grail of hot pots — a secluded bath in the Maroon Bells, reachable only by an 18-mile roundtrip backpacking trek. …
Vail Daily – Trip to Conundrum Hot Springs near Aspen
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles.
12mi return
I was the only one on the Trail June 2nd.
Most hikers feel it is too hot in June to do valley hikes safely.
Actually, 100 degrees in the shade and zero humidity is not all that uncomfortable. I took plenty of water. And I love these slot canyons.
Fall Canyon is one of many colorful ravines in the hills surrounding Death Valley in California; shaped by occasional flash floods that flow from the higher mountains beyond, the canyon is remote and little-visited; deep and moderately narrow for many miles, with occasional shaded, cave-like passageways of great beauty. Some of these narrow, twisting sections are enclosed by smooth granitic walls with an unusual bluish tint. As with most other Southwest canyons, the rocks are layered, but quite differently to the orderly slot canyons of Utah – here the strata are multi-colored, buckled, twisted and eroded, the result of ancient geological forces. Fall Canyon is easily reached and offers a perfect wilderness experience, though it should be avoided during the summer months when the weather becomes too extreme.
The highlight comes 2.8mi in when you reach this 20ft wall.
Actually, you’d be crazy to scale this wall without ropes.
Instead look for cairns on the right hand side of the cliff. They lead up to a relatively easy path up and over the obstacle.
The next half mile is the best section.
Location: Fall Canyon is located in the Grapevine Mountains, towards the less-traveled north end of Death Valley National Park. It is close to Titus Canyon, another colorful ravine that is popular because of the rough one-way track that extends through it – this is a 4WD route …
I left my pack behind (carrying only water) before the cliff. My thinking in hanging it was to keep out scorpions and snakes.
In fact I did see one golden snake further up the canyon. And several chuckwallas.
… I’ve been thinking about hiking Iceland. …
Iceland? The closest European land to North American shores is more like Halfpriceland these days. Its krona has plummeted against the dollar, bringing what was one of the most-expensive spots on Earth back down to affordable levels, and with travel deals ramping up for the summer season this is the best time in at least five years to take the short flight over to Reykjavik. …
the adventure life – Adventure Next Door: Iceland Has Never Been So Cheap
flickr – orvaratli – more Iceland photos
… Idaho Centennial Trail (ICT) is a scenic trail through Idaho. It winds its way through various ecosystems from high desert canyonlands in southern Idaho to wet mountain forests in Northern Idaho. ICT travelers will cross many mountains, streams and rivers in between. …
Depending on exact route, it could be anywhere from 900-1200mi long.
… The ICT was designated as the official state trail during Idaho’s Centennial year in 1990 by the Lasting Legacy Committee of the Idaho Centennial Commission. Since then the number of hikers completing the trail have remained low. …
On recommendation from Andy Howell, I listened to an audiocast on Practical Backpacking, an interview with Brian Frankle of ULA Packs. Brian described his own ICT from North to South.
He was happy to see few people on the Trail.
… In 1998 Stephen Stuebner’s Idaho Centennial Trail Guidebook was published. This guidebook, although well written is considered to be out of date by the Idaho Centennial Trail coordinator, Leo Hennessey. …
Idaho’s Centennial Trail is a work in progress. There are very few trail markings in the middle of the State. Route finding is essential.
Wikipedia – Idaho Centennial Trail
official website – Idaho’s Centennial Trail
Surely you must have heard of the Cougar Traverse:
• Location: Pasayten Wilderness of northern Washington
• Length: 242 miles
• Best season: Mid-July to mid-October
• Features: The longest wilderness route in the lower 48 states. A loop. No road crossings, no resupply, no backtracking.
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Why haven’t I heard of it?
… Ah. Here’s why:
… In fact this isn’t an official trail in any sense. Mike and Kristy Woodmansee created it and dropped it into their 2003 book “Trekking Washington” as a long challenge, far from anywhere else. Their difficulty rating is “toughest”, as it would be if done in the recommended 10 days. …
The Ultralighter – Occasional Trails: The Cougar Traverse
Amazon – Trekking Washington
The 4.0-mile trail to 11,760-foot Kearsarge Pass switchbacks up a sunny slope towards its namesake mountain pass, providing access to a sparkling High Sierra lake basin, the John Muir Wilderness, and the dramatic backcountry mountain scenery of Kings Canyon National Park—superb destinations for any day hiker.
Begin your hike at the trailhead located at the end of Onion Valley Road (Market Street in town), a 13-mile drive from the town of Independence, California—starting at an elevation of 9,189 feet, you might already feel breathless …
Here’s the winding road that gets you up to over 9000ft.
Quickly you reach that wonderful stoney Sierra landscape. I saw far more fishermen than hikers. Dogs are allowed as far as the Pass.
Rain threatened.
But it just seemed to not be able to get over the mountains.
Sadly, I never made it to the “Pass” itself at 11,823ft. The snow was still heaped close to the top.
See all my photos from this half day hike.
Onion Valley was named one of the 10 best hikes in the Eastern Sierra.
But famed local author R. J. Secor pooh-poohed this hike, I read. He disparages it as over popular.
A funny fake news podcast from The Onion.
besthike.com 