They are going to get caught.
From Lance:
There is only one like it in the world therefore hard to pawn it off. Reward being offered.
incredible aerial photography
You certainly have seen this famous photo.
It was published by National Geographic. The photographer is George Steinmetz and the image is called Larger than Life.
Here’s another of his photos.
They are included in a slide show published on a new blog the adventure life by Steve Casimiro, who is an editor for National Geographic Adventure. (I’ve just subscribed by RSS.)
Details on this post – the adventure life – PHOTOGRAPHY: The Aerial Art of George Steinmetz.
Watch the must see gorgeous slide show here.
(via The Adventure Blog)
Adventure Sports Week 2009
New website for our big Adventure Race in Idaho – AdventureSportsWeek.com
From June 5—14, 2009, Farragut State Park, located just north of beautiful Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, will host 24 different races and contests for outdoor enthusiasts and athletes of all ages and abilities!
With activities ranging from 4 & 8 hour mountain bike races to an orienteering meet, the official XTERRA Northwest Cup race, a Duathlon, 6 trail runs ranging in distance from 6k to 50 miles, five different adventure races (including one especially for kids!), a distance swim, a paddling event and many more, we’ve got something to satisfy the whole family!
Over 1000 athletes are expected to participate, and we want you to be a part of one of the USA’s largest outdoor festivals!
BestHike.com will be there.
official website – AdventureSportsWeek.com
Incredible Crater Lakes
Another amazing photo article from Environmental Graffiti – 12 Most Incredible Crater Lakes On Earth
… While popular belief is that crater lakes are formed after water fills up meteorite impact craters, very few such lakes actually exist. Most of them are formed in volcanic craters – but all offer spectacular sights for sore eyes!
Fascinating, spectacular, stunning and at times deadly, this is a trip into the extraordinary world of crater lakes. …
see the rest – 12 Most Incredible Crater Lakes On Earth
related post – hiking Earth Impact craters
7800mi backpacking the Andes
Deia Schlosberg & Gregg Treinish were named Adventurers of the Year by one of the National Geographic magazines.
Congratulations.
Two years. 7,800 miles. No roads. That was how Deia Schlosberg, 28, and Gregg Treinish, 26, vowed to trek the length of the Andes. They had no idea what they were getting into. Beginning in Papallacta, Ecuador, the two Montana-based wilderness educators cobbled together a route of llama tracks, old Inca roads, and forgotten trade paths down the spine of the world’s longest mountain range. It was an Andes few outsiders had seen before. For good reason: “We were lost the entire time,” Treinish says. “Every time we wanted to quit, we were so far in the middle of nowhere that it wasn’t even an option.” …
National Geographic Adventure – Trekking the forgotten Andes
As I write I’m listening to their audio interview on Wend magazine.
… successfully completed the trek, after covering 56 degrees of the globe, trekking more than 7800 miles, we became the first two people to backpack the Andes Mountain Range, the first two to walk it through the mountains without relying on roads, and Deia became the first woman to have walked South America. …
It was a struggle at many times. There are no fixed long distance trails.
home page – Across the Andes
View from 7 Highest Peaks
The Sierra Trading Post blog linked to a terrific photo article on the 7 Summit.
Only a select few have conquered the Seven Summits, a grueling challenge that involves climbing the highest peak of every continent. They’ve seen the spectacular mountain-top views firsthand, and now you get a chance to soak in the scenery too as we go on a whirlwind tour of images captured by these exceptional mountaineers. …
But first, an explanation: Because of conflicting continental border definitions, there are actually two lists of the Seven Summits; the first was created by Richard Bass and the second revised by Reinhold Messner shortly after. Without question, six of the seven peaks on each list match, although one is disputed: Bass chose Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m) as the highest peak in Australia whereas Messner decided on the more challenging Carstensz Pyramid (4,884 m) in Indonesia as the top of Australia-New Guinea.
In any case, bravo to the 229 people who have completed all seven on either list …
Click through to see photos of all 8 Seven Summits: Environmental Graffiti – The View from the Seven Highest Peaks on Earth
Best treks in Africa
Anouk Zijlma on About.com posted a terrific list of the Best Hikes and Treks in Africa.
… Africa’s most popular trekking destination is Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the continent. Lesser known ranges like Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains offer an incredible array of snow-capped peaks right next to the equator.
Other fantastic hikes in Africa that don’t necessarily involve great heights include the Wild Coast (South Africa) and the Fish River Canyon (Namibia). …
Others on the list:
Mount Kenya
Simien Mountains, Ethiopia
The Drakensberg, South Africa
Mount Meru, Tanzania
Mount Elgon, Uganda and Kenya
Mount Cameroon, Cameroon
Mulanje Mountain, Malawi
Click through for more information, links and recommended guides – About.com Best treks in Africa
Most foreign trekkers prefer to go with a guiding company to ensure their safety.
Mt. Stanley – Sylwia Duda/Creative Commons
Mulanje Mountain, Malawi – larger original – flickr – fffriendly
Compare this About.com list with our own Best Hikes in Africa
Backpacker bungles Best Hike in Each State
Backpacker Magazine, as part of their Readers’ Choice Awards 2009, named “the best hike in every state” in the USA.
No need to click through to the list, however.
Not unless you want to add your comment to these:
The “best trail in Nevada” points at a link titled Great Basin National Park? Nope, but instead takes you to a description of a little known side trail outside of Las Vegas at Cathedral Rock. Read a map sometime. What hooey.
Lord help us all if this is the kind of dis-information my favorite magazine prints!
Posted: Jan 30, 2009 Iowa Hike
Delaware’s best hike is in Virginia? That’s ridiculous! …
I don’t know where Backpacker comes up with this best of crap. The best hike in Florida is a three day paddle in the everglades? It wasn’t long ago they highlighted the bridge to bridge trail in White springs Florida, that’s a bicycle trail on the opposite side of the river from the FNST. As a volunteer trail coordinator for the Florida trail I’m offended by their lack of knowledge when it comes to hiking in Florida.
Posted: Jan 29, 2009 Alton Snellgrove
I especially like the fact that Big Creek is in NC not TN
Posted: Jan 29, 2009 Ricky
You guys need to chill out. Please. How are you going to diss Backpacker? I mean, how many other magazines are there that tend to the desires and needs of a hiker/climbing/packer? The writers are human, they will make mistakes.
Posted: Jan 30, 2009 AJ
I love Backpacker magazine too. But this is a good example of the mistake many websites make banking on “reader contributed content”.
The Wisdom of Crowds only works if you have a large enough crowd. Clearly Backpacker did not get enough feedback on the best hikes to put together a reasonably good list.
(via The Adventure Blog)
Rockies hiking pics – Lake O’Hara
Photographer Conny Ellison loves Lake O’Hara in the Canadian Rockies.
We agree it’s the most photogenic hiking area of all, the best place to take first time visitors to the region.
Check out a slideshow to see for yourself.
No doubt about it: Lake O’Hara is our most favourite place (“Happy Place”) on this planet. We have been very fortunate and been able to make a trip here at least once every year since 2002 (getting seats on the bus into O’Hara can be a bit of a hassle). Often there is too much snow on the alpine traverse and we have to “make do” with the Lake Oesa and Opabin trails. The highline is definitely our favourite trail though!
see the rest of the photos on Pbase – LAKE O’HARA
Our besthike Lake O’Hara information page.
Donjek Route hike, Kluane, Yukon
Polly Evans posted a terrific trip report on Great Outdoors.
80mi, 9 days — this trip was epic.
… The Donjek Route, Parks Canada emphasizes, is not a trail. “Wilderness travel experience is essential, including excellent route finding skills, map and compass skills, and creek/river crossing skills,” the rangers insist in their literature. I had none of these estimable qualities. …
read the entire article – Into the Yukon’s Kluane National Park
Polly recommends this guidebook:
Kluane National Park Hiking Guide by Vivien Lougheed.
Polly Evans an award-winning travel journalist and author. Her latest book, Mad Dogs and an Englishwoman, tells the story of her attempts to learn to drive sled dogs in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
besthike.com 