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video – closest black bear ever

Just finishing the Wall Lake hike in Waterton, I commented to George: “We haven’t seen our bear yet today.”

(One time in Waterton National Park my hiking group had seen at least one bear a day. They are easy to spot here. One day we saw 5 bears.)

Right then a bear came strolling directly towards our car. George let the vehicle roll down a hill, quietly pacing the animal. You’ll see it was completely unconcerned by our presence.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

To Identify the mule deer, also in the video, I used the Road Watch in the Pass website.

They are a non-profit organization monitoring animals on the roadways in the Crowsnest region of Alberta. Trying to improve safety for large animals including hikers.

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Road Watch Wildlife Information Primer – Mule Deer

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Road Watch photo contest winner

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All-in-one Map Tool review

It’s very rare for me to add any item to my “base” hiking kit. (It’s too heavy already.)

The new essential must be very valuable. Or very light.

The All-in-one Map Tool is both. I carry it with my map and compass.

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Bob Moseley from Brooks-Range Mountaineering Equipment Co. asked me to test this award winning product.

I took it with me on a solo kayak hiking trip out of Bamfield, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada. Since the weather was good, I was able to paddle directly to the Deer Island group, the closest to town.

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It was a great, relaxing trip. I saw bear, seals, sea lions and nearly stepped on a baby puffin.

Normally mornings on this, the “Shipwreck Coast” are fogged in. On a previous trip to the nearby Broken Group Islands we were a number of times confused in the fog. It’s essential to know where you are on the map, have an exact compass bearing, and a good estimate of your speed and distance to the next island.

The All-in-one Map Tool is ideal in this situation as it has 6 different, easy-to-read map scale rulers to help estimate distance.

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More photos from this trip – flickr

Sadly I had atypically excellent weather and did not need to do any dead reckoning in the morning.

So I’ll take it heli-hiking into the Tombstone Mountains in the Yukon in August. Certainly I should have a good chance to get lost there, having to rely on Topo, compass and map tool for survival.

All-in-one Map Tool – US$18 – Brooks Range Mountaineering Equipment Co.

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watching slideshows on flickr

We post our hiking photos on flickr, the best photo hosting service we’ve found.

We’ve launched an improved version of the Slideshow.

Here’s the feature comparison:

Old Version — sucks
New Version – rules!

You wanted bigger photos!
You wanted to see titles descriptions!
You wanted to see your photos on a black background!

Flickr Blog : Announcing Slideshow 2007

If you look at photos on flickr, here’s an important tip: During slideshow mode, if you hover your mouse over the centre of any photo, an “i” should appear. Click that and you will get a text overlay on the pictures during the slideshow.

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Invisible-until-you-hover links on photos and videos are becoming quite popular. But it’s definitely not intuitive.

Thanks George.

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hiking Snow Peak, Idaho

We hiked Snow Peak, the most spectacular mountain off the popular, scenic St. Joe’s River near Spokane, Washington.

hiking Snow Peak, Idaho
looking up at a final off-trail scramble to the fire tower

This region would be completely undeveloped if it wasn’t for the lumber industry and big game hunting. (We got lost trying to find our way to the trailhead.)

We 3 hikers shared the trail that day only with a solo mountain goat.

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annotated Snow Peak hike photos – flickr

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The jumping off point for Snow Peak is historic Avery (#5).

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hiking Willmore Wilderness in Canada

If you are looking for wilderness, consider hiking the Willmore Wilderness north of Jasper, Alberta.

You can get “into the wild”.

One of our contributors, George Novak, will be there in about 10 days. He plans to cycle as far as possible, then bushwhack further towards the mountains.

There are very few developed hiking trails in Willmore. But it’s gorgeous:

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To get a feel for the region, check an excellent trip report jammed with video clips and photos: Willmore Wilderness Park « the electronic experiment

Willmore Wilderness – Wikipedia

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wheelchair hiker – 4WheelBob

Tom Mangan hiked with the famous (Backpacker Magazine article) 4WheelBob Bob Coomber .

For those who don’t know Bob’s story: Diabetes has made his leg bones so brittle they break if he tries to stand up on them. He has some use of his lower extremities; he can operate the pedals on his car, for instance.

Don’t be complaining about your “sore feet” when on the trail with Bob!

On Sunday we traveled to Portola Redwoods State Park, back to the hills of Bob’s youth. We hiked for about three hours in the cool shade of that wonderful redwood forest. First we headed up the Old Tree Trail, where I started getting a lesson in Bob’s technique. On easy grades he pushes forward, but on steep grades he reverses and pulls himself up.

Two-Heel Drive: Travels with 4WheelBob

Thanks for the trip report Tom. I’m inspired by Bob’s good example.

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Incidentally, Tom has refocused his top-ranked hiking blog more specifically on his home turf out of San Jose, California.

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(Now I need to watch the entire hike-o-sphere myself. Formerly I counted on Tom.)

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hiking coast-to-coast across Corsica

Say that you’re planning to walk across Corsica and many assume that you’re heading for the GR20, a challenging 110-mile trail that bisects the mountainous island from north to south. As a relative beginner, I opted instead for the 50-mile Mare a Mare Sud, a gentler path that winds from Propriano in the south-west to Porto Vecchio in the south-east.

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Where to stay:

Walker’s hostels called gites d’étappe provide basic but clean accommodation and decent food for about €35 per night.

In early May the hostels were half-empty and advance booking wasn’t necessary, but from June to August they can fill up quickly and reservation is recommended. Some of the hostels close from October to April. There are also some guest houses along the route, which need to be booked in advance as they may close without notice if business drops off. Each of the stop-off points has a campsite, but camping outside these areas is not allowed.

When to go:

Late spring and early autumn are the best times for walking. The route is passable for most of the year but is more difficult in the winter, when snow covers the higher stretches. In July and August the route is busy despite the heat.

Walking coast to coast across Corsica – Times Online

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more information – Corsica.forhikers.com

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top 10 summer backpacking trips in California

We’ve begun separately sorting the best California hikes OUTSIDE the Sierra Nevada on our list of the best hikes in North America.

The GoBlog has California hiking recommendations including some outside the Sierras:

Climb_Ca’s Top 10 Summer Backpacking Trips

  • Young Lakes, Yosemite
  • Lost Coast Trail
  • Sykes Hot Springs, Ventana
  • Boy Scout Trail, Joshua Tree (late summer/fall obviously a better time to go to avoid the heat)
  • John Muir Trail (yeah, well, had to throw that in)
  • Saddlebag Lake to McCabe Lakes
  • Desolation Wilderness (pretty much anything, but stay away from the Rubicon 4×4 trail)
  • Mt. Shasta

    • Get Outdoors – Climb_Ca’s Top 10 Summer Backpacking Trips – Getoutdoors.com Outdoor Blog

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    Saddlebag Lake – source – flickr

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    hike the Stein Divide, British Columbia

    The Province of British Columbia has over 800 Provincial Parks and Recreation Areas. …

    At over 250,000 acres, Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park is one of these large parks.

    The park protects the entire extent of the Stein River making it the last fully intact watershed in the Southwestern mainland of BC.

    The river supports five species of salmon while the surrounding valleys and mountains are home to a full range of wildlife INCLUDING resident Grizzly Bears and wolverines!

    This was a place that I was dying to visit, and my chance came in September 2005. A cancelled trip to Yellowstone left me with a week of free time.

    We had hoped to walk over the Stein Divide and then proceed past Tundra Lake and down to Stein Lake in the Stein River valley proper. Unfortunately the trail was rough, and in many areas there was no trail, just a route marked by cairns. We spent a lot of time hopping across boulders large and small. Our progress was slow, and we had to scale back our plans and turn back at Tundra Lake. We did so with great regret but as the saying goes, “it’s best to leave a place hungry.” We did and I hope we and others will come back.

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    Check out the great photos of the trip.

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    should Angel’s Landing be closed?

    Good and important question:

    What should the National Park Service do, if anything, with Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park?

    This question arises every time there’s a fatality, and rightly so. The recent death of Barry Goldstein has rekindled the debate, with at least one reader believing the Park Service should, in essence, certify the ability of hikers determined to reach the landing.

    … How do you guard against canoeists, kayakers and rafters drowning while on park outings?

    What about those who are swept away by avalanches, who are attacked by grizzlies, die from the heat at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, or fall from Half Dome in Yosemite?

    National Parks Traveler: Should Anything Be Done With Angel’s Landing?

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    original photo – flickr

    details – our Angel’s Landing information page