Former SNL funnyman Chris Elliot has just published a new book called “Into Hot Air: Mounting Mount Everest,” a send-up of Outside Editor at Large Jon Krakauer’s famous work of nearly the same name. The book imagines it wasn’t Hillary and Tenzing Norgay who first bagged Everest’s summit, but Elliot’s adventurous and stone-crazy Great Uncle Percy Brackett Elliott, who subsequently disappeared. Hoping to solve the mystery, Elliot the younger sets off to hike the mountain with a cast of characters including Michael Moore, Martin Sheen, Kirsten Dunst and Tony Danza.
polar bear attack – explicit photos
If this happened to you, are you prepared? Take the quiz: How to survive a polar bear attack.
if you love sun, hike Australia
In February I did some bushwalking in Tasmania.
Locals were effusive in their warnings about the dangers of the sun. Everyone there knows people who have skin cancer.
But if you LOVE the sun …
The map shows irradiance that reached the ground in the world, for the years 1990 to 2004…
The dark red spots getting the highest degree of solar energy. …
“I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of rugged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rainâ€Excerpt from a 1904 poem about Australia, by Dorothy McKeller.
A Sunburnt Country’s Embarrassment of Energy Riches (TreeHugger)
Our list of best hikes in Australasia.
the entertaining coatis of Tikal
Mollie Rolfe took this photo of the Coatis at Tikal in Guatemala. They were almost as mobile as monkeys in the big trees.
I enjoyed watching the coatis just as much as much as climbing the ruins, in fact.
The name coati is applied to any of three species of small neotropical mammals in the genus Nasua, family Procyonidae, ranging from southern Arizona to north of Argentina. They are largely insectivorous, but also eat fruit. A fourth animal, the dwarf Mountain Coati, is not a true coati, and belongs to the genus Nasuella. Genetic studies have shown that the closest relatives of the coatis are the olingos.
Distinctive features of all species of coati include a long, ringed tail, which is often held erect.
Unlike most members of the raccoon family, coatis are primarily diurnal.
Coati have long, pointed muzzles, and long, bushy, ringed tails, and brownish fur. They range in size from 13 to 27 inches including their tails, which can be just as long as their bodies. They weigh from 7 to 15 pounds. Males are larger than females.
They must be related to the ringtails that brazenly marauded our campsite in the Baja.
Watching unusual wildlife is one of the great joys of the wilderness.
Thru Hiker’s Guide to America
If you were wondering what I need for Christmas …
I know very little about many of the hikes chosen by Schlimmer. At first glance it looks like the Thru Hiker’s Guide to Eastern America.
Thru Hiker’s Guide to America (Thru-Hiker’s Handbooks) – Amazon
do NOT throw away your Nalgene
Chris on the Hike Alberta blog has been researching the dangers of Nalgene bottles leaching bisphenol.
Goodbye to my Nalgene Bottles | Hike Alberta
Click through if you want to see the details.
It’s the first I’ve heard of this hazard. I normally carry one Nalgene, one soft drink bottle.
UPDATE: Turns out Sarah on the Freezer Bag Cooking blog has already debunked this myth.
Leave a comment if you are throwing away your Nalgene bottle. But first read the other comments.
Ryan Jordan – Wilderness Trekking School
I wish I could have atteneded Backpacking Light’s Wilderness Trekking III Course.
From super hiker Ryan Jordan’s blog:
… food, water, avalanche gear, group gear, snowshoes, and all clothing worn and items carried. Our pack weights to start actually averaged in the 12-14ish pound range.
If I had to sing praise for the most merit-worthy benefits of this course, it was the cross pollination of experience, the joy of camaraderie in the face of wilderness stress, and the satisfaction of having achieved something meaningful as part of a group. …
Ryan Jordan’s Backcountry: Wilderness Trekking School Featured in Billings Gazette
see all the wonderful photos – Wilderness Trekking III Course
fantastics photos by Istvan Hernadi
A really diverse and engaging series of outdoor photos by Istvan Hernadi, editor for www.trailpeak.com of the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut area
A couple of samples:
Mt Shishapangma camp, Tibet
Advance base camp at 19,500ft near the ice pinnacles – late in the day storm clouds.
Storms over Juneau icecap
View from Atlin lake BC
see all photos in this set – most interesting – Explore top 500 – flickr
National Geographic Greatest Trips – Paria Canyon
by Rick McCharles, editor
I was a minor contributor to a gorgeous new National Geographic coffee table book.
One chapter describes Adventures on Foot. I helped write the Paria Canyon hike description.
My own 2006 trip report was used as a reference.
Though any experienced hiker will dismiss some of the trips chosen by National Geographic, their list of trekking adventures, overall, is surprisingly good.
Paria Canyon tops our own list of the best hikes in the Southwest USA. I’m very happy it was included.
Check my my Paria photos (flickr). Or checkout our hike Paria Canyon information page.
Pacific Northwest Trail 1200mi
Sam Haraldson thru hiked the lesser known Pacific Northwest Trail. (trip report)
On June 21st, 2007 I begin walking at Glacier National Park with intent to move westward roughly 1200 miles reaching my goal of the Pacific Ocean in late August or early September.
On August 20th, 2007 I reached that goal with a lightness in my step and a smile upon my face. Sixty-one glorious days of backpacking through the highlands and lowlands of the Pacific Northwest were an enlightening time for me both physically and mentally.
samh.net – Ultralight Backpacking, Wilderness Trekking, Outdoor Adventure
trip photos – Picasa
The official guidebook for Long Distance and Day Hikers by Ron Strickland:
o Detailed route descriptions of 44 trail segments
o USGS topographic maps
o Mileage charts for at-a-glance planning
o Resource lists for maps and supplies
o Details for mountain bikers and horse-packers
o Information on planning a long-distance trip
o 50 black and white photographs
o Pullout display map of 1200 mile trail
(via the new look Two-Heel Drive)
besthike.com 