Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Well said, Laplandica.
I lived 10yrs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Cold, clear and snowy is the norm during the long winters there. Beautiful.
I’m planning on New Year’s Eve at Emma Lake, SK.
The best way to learn about snow is to play with it, doing this often. By playing with or in snow, one gains experience with the different types of snow and one can readily and enjoyably adapt to snowy conditions allowing more opportunities in being outdoors.
There are a number of good Hawaii hiking sites. But I like best the map interface used by Na Ala Hele – Hawaii Trail System & Access. (It’s far better than the one we use on besthike.)
screenshot
If you click Kauai:
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Click on one of the numbers and you get quite a good information page on the specific trail.
It could not be simpler. Check it out for yourself:
“Na Ala Hele†is the State of Hawaii Trail and Access Program. Established in 1988 in response to public concern about the loss of public access to certain trails and the threat to historic trails from development pressure. Na Ala Hele has become increasingly engaged in trail management and regulatory issues due to both public and commercial recreational activities and emerging legal issues.
Administered by the Division of Forestry and Wildlife – Department of Land and Natural Resources
Now … Why don’t they add a list of “best hikes in Hawaii”?
Related: Hawaii State Parks
I’ve really been enjoying this frequently updated blog. Las Vegas is one of the best, least appreciated, hiking destinations in the World.
10 hikers spent part of Thanksgiving Day on top of Shark Boulder in Red Rock Canyon. This was the first group hike to The Shark!
OTTAWA, Nov. 21 — The Canadian government plans to announce today that it will convert 25.5 million acres of northern woodland into a new national park and wildlife protection areas.
The result will be one of North America’s largest conservation areas, about 11.5 times the size of Yellowstone Park, and ease pressure from the mining and energy industries on an area that is important for wildlife, if sparsely populated by humans. …
The lands are within the boreal forest, a band of trees about 1,600 miles wide that sweeps across much of Canada and continues in northern Scotland, Scandinavia and Russia. About 77 percent of Canada’s forest is in the boreal band and its trees, mostly evergreens, are believed to play an important role in offsetting the rise in gases related to global warming created by burning fossil fuels. Large numbers of migratory birds and waterfowl make their summer home with the forest.
Under the plan, 8.5 million acres surrounding the Eastern Arm of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories will become a national park. Another 15.3 million acres between the new park and an existing wildlife refuge will be designated as conservation land under the management of native groups Further to the northwest, near the Mackenzie River valley, 3.7 million acres will turned into a national wildlife area. …
I’ve been up there a couple of times. It’s a vast wilderness with limited hiking potential. You want to be paddling, not walking.
Still, a good move forward. Kudos to the Conservative government. Congratulations Environment Minister John Baird.
source – Lutsel K’e, Northwest Territories, Canada
(via Tennessee Trailhead)
Expect more announcements like this in future. The will of Canadian voters is for for more environmental protection.
Our old friend, the Whiskey-Jack, is my favourite bird in the Canadian Rockies. Pretty, and brazenly courageous, many days you have at least one at your campsite during breakfast.
This Camp Robber, the Gray Jay, is also known variously as venison-hawk, grease-bird, lumberjack, meat-bird, Canada Jay or even Moose Bird in various parts of it’s range.
Crow wants a wild Gray Jay as a “pet” at her cabin. She had had a magic experience with those birds on the trail:
One morning, high up a pass in the North Cascades, I woke up on a wide section of trail that I had decided was as far as I could go the night before. Lying in my bag, looking out at the glorious view and the morning sun, I reach into my food sack and pulled out a bar for breakfast. As I unwrapped it, a Gray Jay lighted by me. Even though I don’t approve of feeding animals, I held a piece of my bar between my fingers; it hopped on over and took it. Then two others showed up. One landed on my pack that was laying next to me; we finished off the bar together. When the bar was gone, so were they. …
I’ve had them alight on me. Here’s a hiker who had one land on her head:
By far the best source of information on hiking in Southern California is Modern Hiker.
And just possibly the best trip reports on-line anywhere. Here’s the perfect example post:
A leg-busting ascent to the highest point in Los Angeles County, with a neighboring mountain thrown in for good measure. This is a classic hike through some incredible subalpine scenery, and is a MUST HIKE for anyone who lives in or is visiting Southern California.
For a 6hr scramble, they’ve posted detailed trail information, fantastic photos, video clips, highlights, specific warnings, links to other trip reports, GPS coordinates with a link to Google Earth, …
And graphics like this:
Wow.
It’s far more detailed than any hiking guidebook.
See for yourself – Hiking Mount San Antonio (Mount Baldy) and Mount Harwood at Modern Hiker
Note that the site has a new URL: now it’s modernhiker.com
Check you have the right bookmark and/or RSS feed.
At besthike we are responsible for the entire world. We search out blogs that are most expert in specific geographic areas. Like Two-Heel Drive in the Bay area, California. And Modern Hiker in Southern California.
Circumnavigate the world by bike and boat?
… better them than me.
Simon Evans and Fearghal O’Nuallain are planning an adventure called Revolution Cycle 2009. Team Geared Up has the details.
But I’m always looking for state of the art technology I might use for updating hiking trip report and blogging from the trail.
Here’s what Revolution Cycle is planning to use:
As the expedition will cover over 25,000km and last for over 14 months, durability is the key requirement for our bikes and equipment. All of the kit used en route will have to be of the highest quality as it will have to function in extreme and varied environments- from the subzero Andean passes to the baking heat of the Libyan desert and everything in between. …
Revolution Cycle – gear page
Too heavy for hiking. Ideally, I’d want to take a photo on something like a satellite camera iPhone — and have it automatically posted on this blog.
Any suggestions? Leave a comment.
Blogs are such a PAIN.
Posted in reverse chronological order, often I end up reading a hiking trip report from the finish to the start. It’s confusing.
… finally I saw the light.
Reading Frank — Frank in Oz, one of our favourite sites. (linked in the right hand navigation under Blogs) — I clicked on the Hinchinbrook Island link (9 posts). Next, I navigated to the bottom of the page. And worked my way back up to the top.
Hallelujah !!
Why did it take me so many years to figure this out?
… “With its lush rainforests, rugged, misty and heath-covered mountains, sweeping sandy beaches, rocky headlands, paperbark and palm wetlands, mangrove-fringed shores and extensive open forests and woodlands, Hinchinbrook Island National Park is one of the world’s most outstanding island parks.”
The route we are planning is opposite to the one normally taken. This was taken on the advice of a local walker, who suggests this is the nicest direction to do the walk. There is also a significant benefit that part the final day is spent at the Hinchinbrook Island Wilderness Resort.
Read the entire report (from bottom to top) – Our Hiking Blog: Hinchinbrook Island. I’ve got to get there.
Hinchinbrook is midway between Cairns and Townsville, in Far North Queensland (FNQ to the locals). Needless to say, the Thorsborne Trail is on our list of the best hikes in Australasia.
UPDATE: Hinchinbrook Island Cruises has an excellent page on the Thorsborne Trail or East Coast Trail.
A hiker who can speak to power.
During a 30 minute meeting Secretary Kempthorne and Andrew Skurka discussed some of the Secretary’s most important agenda items, most notably getting funding for the National Parks Centennial passed by this Congress, and their shared concerns about Americans’ increasing detachment from the natural world, especially by the youth. The main focus for Skurka was to share his first-hand view of the effects of global warming on National Parks …
One man and his dog, 128 days and 1553mi (2500km), the first person to walk solo and unassisted across the continent of Australia.
Adventurer of the Year Andrew Skurka just completed 6875mi on his Great Western Loop, but I reckon John Muir’s trek across Australia in 2001, on his fourth attempt, was even tougher.
Mainly because there is no water in most of Australia.
My favourite, the People’s Choice favourite, from the Banff Mountain Film Festival 2005 was the emotional story of Jon Muir and his Jack Russell, Seraphine.
This is a survival epic. The psychology of pushing yourself to the brink.
The distributor of the documentary posted a 10min trailer on YouTube. Well worth checking out. I love this film.
besthike.com 