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toughest long distance walk in the British Isles

So says the Ramblers Association.

Cape Wrath Trail is a hiking route that runs through the Scottish Highlands and along the west coast of Scotland.

It is approximately 200 miles in length and is considered to be one of the most challenging long distance walks in the UK.

The trek gained prominence via a 1996 book by Dave Paterson entitled The Cape Wrath Trail. This was followed in 1999 by a separate publication (North to the Cape: A trek from Fort William to Cape Wrath) by Denis Brook and Phil Hinchliffe.

In both versions the trail begins in Fort William and ends at Cape Wrath lighthouse on the northwest tip of the Scottish mainland. It connects with the West Highland Way and parts of it also follow the Great Glen Way to Inverness.

These guidebooks estimate an experienced hiker should be able to traverse the entire route in less than 20 days. However the two sets of authors detail slightly different routes and stages for hikers to follow.

Officially the trail is not endorsed by Scottish Natural Heritage and it is not waymarked or signposted. Facilities along the trail are also minimal and it covers some of the remotest parts of mainland Britain. …

Cape Wrath Trail – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Check a superb trip report by Colm Ennis.

North to the Cape (Cicerone Guide)

North to the Cape (Cicerone Guide)

DISCOVERING THE CAPE WRATH TRAIL. A JOURNEY OF 200 MILES FOLLOWING SCOTLANDS ANCIENT FOOTPATH FROM FORT WILLIAM TO CAPE WRATH

A Walk Through the Highlands of Scotland: DISCOVERING THE CAPE WRATH TRAIL. A JOURNEY OF 200 MILES FOLLOWING SCOTLANDS ANCIENT FOOTPATH FROM FORT WILLIAM TO CAPE WRATH

We’ve added Cape Wrath to our list of the best hikes in Europe.

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hiking the Big O – Lake Okeechobee, Florida

I recall questioning Florida hiking guru Sandra Friend when she insisted we include Okeechobee on our list of the best hikes in North America.

Over 110mi long. Circling the second largest freshwater lake entirely inside the United States. It sounded a little … flat.

OK. I’m convinced after reading her recent trip report.

Why Sandra loves the Big O:

… Hiking this section of the Florida Trail introduced me to a part of Florida I previously knew little about, and to a lake I’d only ever seen in the distance from the dike at John Stretch Park. I watched anglers putter into the locks with a boatful of catfish, and duck hunters slide their fast boats past with nary a duck on board. I learned the rhythm of the sugar cane harvest, and could spot white pelicans soaring over the endless blue. I learned the calls of the blue-winged teal and the smooth-billed ani, and discovered that sandhill cranes like to hang out around lone cattle. And I discovered that I liked being away from the normal flow of life for nine days, rising before sunrise to catch the colorful morning glow from every conceivable angle. Sure, there’s no shade. And it’s flat, except when you have to go down the dike. But it’s a different take on Florida, a quiet refuge from the humming cities on either coast—and you’ll never lack for fresh water to filter. …

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Read Sandra’s trip report – Florida Hikes! | The Best of Hiking in Florida | Hike, Day, Big, Lake, Trail

Florida Hikes is a quality site. Sandra a terrific writer.

The Big O is an ideal destination when most of the rest of the North American hikes are frozen.

Sandra has many Florida hiking guidebooks on Amazon.

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Photo Contest Winners – National Wildlife Magazine

In case you missed seeing these photos linked via Two-Heel Drive, here’s another shout out.

THE SUBMISSIONS to the 37th annual photo contest were remarkable, not only for sheer volume—nearly 16,000 images—but for geographic breadth. Our winning photographers hail from Texas, California, New York and Tennessee, among other states, but also from India, Poland and the United Kingdom.

One of the winning pics by Carol Goldstein

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Reflection Lake in Alaska’s Denali National Park

Photo Contest Winners – National Wildlife Magazine

I finally got to Denali this past summer, but — as usual — the highest peak in North America was clouded over during my visit. So I must return.

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National Geographic Photography Winners

When I saw the Adventure Blog had submitted photos to National Geographic, I thought … why not me too?

I’ll make a New Year’s Resolution to submit my best photos to contests in 2008.

If only I could come up with something like this contest winner:

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About 10 years ago I saw a monkey in India admiring himself with a stolen hand mirror. But had no camera at the time.

National Geographic has announced the winners of this year’s photography contest and has begun displaying the winners and honorable mentions online. …

As you would expect, there are some stunning images here, each of which will be published in the January issue of National Geographic. Sadly, none of my entries made the cut, and after seeing some of these shots I can see why. Of course, with 148,203 photos entered, I can’t imagine trying to whittle it down to these few. It must have been an incredibly tough job. …

The Adventure Blog: National Geographic Announce Photography Winners

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top 10 hiking REGIONS in the world

top10.jpgA year ago, we did a Christmas countdown of our top 10 hikes in the world.

It’s almost holiday time again.

Starting December 16th, besthike.com will post our list of the best hiking regions in the world starting with #10.

present.jpgWe’ll reveal one each day culminating Christmas morning with the #1 hiking region on Earth.

That’s it. Our Christmas present to regular readers.

Leave a comment below if you care to nominate any specific region. Or to hazard a guess at which region we’ve chosen #1.

Greenland? Antarctica? Kalahari?

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Into Hot Air: Mounting Mount Everest

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.

Outside Blog: Archives

Into Hot Air: Another “Novel” by Chris Elliott

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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. …

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“I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of rugged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rain”

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.

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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.

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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.

Coati – Wikipedia

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.