besthike.com

June 16, 2007

Salt Creek hike, Utah renamed ‘Paradise Creek’

The best guidebook for Canyonlands was written by Bill Schneider.

Somehow, “Salt Creek” seems to describe a dry, harsh, and unpleasant place when quite the opposite is true. Upper Salt Creek is definitely one of the most delightful places in the Canyonlands region, and it deserves a name like “Paradise Creek”.

Details from our just posted information page:

* in the Needles section of the National Park
* walk in the wash of a broad canyon
* sometimes strenuous hiking
* 24.2mi (39km) Upper Salt Creek from Cathedral Butte to Peakaboo, plus sidetrips
* minimum 3 days for the normal route
* most hikers will want to do a number of (essential) sidetrips, some more challenging
* many more excellent shorter hikes in this region
* the only easy way to do our recommended route is with two vehicles
* worst months are June – Aug when average highs of 104F (40C) can strike down even fit hikers
* open year round, best months are in the Spring and Fall

more Salt Creek photos – Joel Duenow

WHY WE LIKE THIS HIKE

… The highlight for many is lovely Angel Arch. (1mi sidetrip)

* more arches: Wedding Ring, Fish-eye, Kirk and Natural.
* stream flows through much of the canyon, year round! (a rarity in this region)
* wildlifeâ€”mule deer, coyote, bobcat, cougar
* rock art and ruins
* it’s difficult to get lost as you follow the creek.

Greg Smith, the wildergeek, “wild camped”. But read his comments on the flickr photo page for this pic:

Seems you can no longer legally camp at this spot. Too bad.

Check carefully with the Rangers. Some wild camping is allowed, with restrictions.

Everything you need to know to organize your hike: Upper Salt Creek in Utah is one of the best hikes in the world.

June 15, 2007

best view, best hike – Yosemite

Chris is blogging his trip from Kansas City to the outdoor centre of the universe, California.

He loved Yosemite.

… all I can say is “wow”.

But dear ol’ Jimmy put it much better when he said, “This place is amazing…It’s like your walking in a picture” which is true, cause Yosemite IS the place where all landscape pictures are taken. …

My Favorite Hike and My Favorite View

My Favorite view is from where I stood in the above picture looking down 3000 feet into Yosemite Valley. …

As for My Favorite Hike, and I do mean my favorite hike of ALL time, it was suppose to be a leisurely walk to the Cathedral Lakes cause this was the end of the week and by this time Jim and I were hurting more places than we care to think.

So we thought we could handle the relatively flat walk to these picturesque lakes. We did managed to stick to the trail all the way to the gorgeous lakes but once we reached our destination and saw those tall, commanding, pointy little peaks we just could not resist a shot at the top.

So we hiked along the ridge … and had some incredible views of Cathedrals lake on one side and Bud Lake on the other. Shortly we reached the base of the peak from which reaching the summit look quite doable so we hike on up as rain clouds gathered over head and scrambled within 50 feet of the pointy little summit …

I would say that that 360degree view was second only to Yosemite Valley in its incredibleness.

The Tulumne meadows in front Cathedral and Bud lakes to the sides and Yosemite Valley way off behind me all add up to the best hike I’ve ever enjoyed. Not even to mention that it was off trail which makes it better 🙂

Hike Bike Climb: Yo Semite Nation Park

June 14, 2007

PCT – Mountain Hardwear Sponsorship?

Just so you know, Mountain Hardwear, if you kit me out completely, I’ll be happy to do the PCT and report back on the extended field test.

From the Mountain Hardwear blog:

Our industry professionals have compiled a list of recommended gear which should get you through the Pacific Crest Trail in high spirits. …

* Sleeping Bag/Bivy
* Tent
* Baselayer
* Shells
* Backpacks
* Gaiters
What gear should I bring on the Pacific Crest Trail?

If they deny me that sponsorship, I’ll need to try their Mission Project Challenge (video). Post my trip report on their Mission Project blog.

How do you like my chances?

June 13, 2007

wicked outdoorsy: How green is YOUR backpack?

Wicked Outdoorsy – right again:

More and more, I’m beginning to realize that Treehugger is the green-zine equivalent of a politician on the stump.

Regardless of the good intent, regardless of the question, the answer is about an hour too long and meanders down a winding yellow road through fields of poppies.

Oh Toto. My eyes … sleepy …. so sleepy.

wicked outdoorsy: How green is YOUR backpack?

I’d love to cancel my RSS subscription to Treehugger.com â€” it’s too “shotgun”.

Can anyone recommend an environmental blog with more “balance”? One less preachy?

June 13, 2007

unlikely survival on the West Coast Trail

About one in a hundred hikers are evacuated off the WCT on Vancovuer Island in British Colombia. It’s difficult and dangerous.

But this is the strangest WCT evacuation story I’ve heard yet.

Disaster struck the group when they tried to cross a deep surge channel in the sandstone early in the day. …

Peterson’s father, Neil, a veteran hiker, had looked at the width of the surge channel and instructed the others to get their ropes out of their backpacks.

Taking off their packs probably saved their lives.

“The packs would have dragged you down immediately,” said Neil, 63.

As they pulled out their ropes, there was no sign anything was amiss. “There was no water in the area and it was close to low tide,” he said.

Seconds later they were thrashing around in the churning water, buffeted by huge pieces of driftwood.

Death by rogue wave. Death trying to cross a surge channel. Those are old stories on the West Coast.

The amazing part (one I still can’t picture) is that the hikers were left stranded in a “hole”. I assume in the surge channel and surrounded by washed-up logs.

One of their group had crossed the surge channel successfully. He â€” eventually â€” was able to call in the American Coast Guard helicopter. They all survived.

Photograph by : John McKay, Times Colonist

Watery trap was ‘like certain death’

(via Two-Heel Drive)

Safety & Staying Healthy – Are surge channels a problem? – i-NEEDtoKnow

I’d like to update this post with photos of where they were trapped.

West Coast Trail – besthike information page

June 13, 2007

Shackleton Crossing, South Georgia Island

Selected by Outside Magazine as their “2004 Trip of the Year”.

In November 2000 we were the first company to guide travelers across South Georgia Island, following in Sir Ernest Shackleton’s valiant footsteps. …

The Shackleton Crossing is an outing for the adventurous and historically minded. Shackleton’s traverse of the mountainous island was the culmination of one of history’s great survival epics.

Al Read sums up the adventure: “The crossing is straightforward; however, the island can be a real weather factory. We rope up all the way, with glacier travel protocol, pulling sleds and carrying packs. But it is a fantastic adventure, one of which we are very proud.”

South Georgia: The Shackleton Crossing with Dave Hahn – Geographic Expeditions – To the ends of the earth

Many consider Shackleton’s 1914-16 Endurance Expedition hike to be the end of the greatest Explorer survival story of all time.

A DVD The Endurance is fantastic!

$The Endurance - Shackleton\'s Legendary Antarctic Expedition$

June 12, 2007

hiking the granite Tombstone Range, Yukon

My favourite hiking author is Chris Townsend. But I’ve not yet read his 1990 solo Yukon adventure, a route never duplicated. Or again attempted.

The next day, I found that walking into this mountain sanctuary was like walking into paradise.

As befits the way of a pilgrim, the going was rough, leading gradually through dense brush, across willow-thicketed creeks and over moss-covered, half-hidden boulders into the inner sanctum, the magnificent rock amphitheater that is the Tombstone Range, a huge curving ridge of heart-stopping granite walls and spires.

Talus Lake, a boulder-ringed, brooding mountain tam, backed by a towering cliff that looked about to topple into the water, made my fifth night out from Dawson one of the most magnificent wilderness camps I have ever had. Beyond the rippling waters Tombstone Mountain darkened into blackness as the sky deepened from pink into the dark blue of night.

Perfection is not easy to find. Some would say it is an ideal, a goal to seek but never achieve.

Perhaps, most of the time, but I found it at Talus Lake on the morning of August 12, 1990, a morning so beautiful, so faultless that I almost felt guilty for being there, almost wondered what I had done to deserve such rapture. …

Chris Townsend: Walking the Yukon

Andy Howell interviewed Townsend on a recent audiocast. You can listen to it streamed or download it from Podcast Nation. (I subscribe to The Outdoors Station in iTunes and have it automatically downloaded to my computer. Much easier.)

There are very few established hiking trails in the Tombstones. And even fewer hikers. (Leave a comment if you can recommend a route.)

That 1990 book is not available from any of the libraries near me, but you can still get it on-line: Walking the Yukon: A solo trek through the Land of Beyond

Talus Lake – Phil Hammer

I’m pencilled-in myself for a trip to Talus Lake starting Aug. 5th. I’ll be looking for perfection.

June 11, 2007

flooded – Valley of Geysers, Kamchatka

Just today we posted our first hiking recommendation for Kamchatka, Russia â€” having missed completely the news story being reported over the past week:

Scientists mourn devastation of Valley of Geysers

Wildlife in the Valley of Geysers may be threatened by the rubble that has caused flooding (below).

Teams of scientists have been sent to the Valley of Geysers, on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east of Russia, to report on the condition of the World Heritage site after a massive landslide in the Kronotsky national reserve.

The slide, which lasted only seconds on 3 June, loosed an estimated 4.5 million cubic metres of rock, gravel, snow and ice. A deluge of material into the Geyser River created a dam the size of 30 football fields, officials estimated. This has since been breached by waters building up behind the dam, clearing some of the valley and allowing at least some of the geysers to spout again.

The extent of damage to the region is unclear, including to scientists contacted by Nature who have study sites in the area.

news @ nature.com – Scientists mourn devastation of Valley of Geysers …

See a sobering series of before-and-after photos.

Igor Shpilenok

No humans were injured.

Volcanic disruptions like this happen over and over, geologically speaking.

It may be attractive for hikers to see how the landscape recovers as they do at Mt. Saint Helens in Washington State.

June 11, 2007

Wonderland in August?

UPDATE: Mount Rainier National Park is not issuing permits for the entire length of the Wonderland Trail in 2007. Only sections. Check the website: WTA.org

Wonderland Trail, Mt. Ranier, Washington, is one of the best hikes in the world.

However, it’s taken a lot of storm damage over the past winter. Not all trails will be open for 2008, I believe.

On the other hand, this adds interest and challenge to an already unbelievable hike.

I would like to do the wonderland trail 9-12 days. preferably have other married woman like myself. husband doesnâ€™t like to hike.

The responder should be a strong hiker. (lot of ground to cover but would be life altering experience.) I plan to do the hike in august 24-sept 2 if you think you can do this e-mail me

sgiglenda @ yahoo.com

Wonderland Trail – besthike information page

bridge photo – Washington Trails Association

June 10, 2007

Walking Inn to Inn – Swiss Alps

An editor, Shana Hoch, sent me a review copy of a new hiking guidebook.

Walking Inn to Inn: A Self-Guided Hike in the Swiss Alps

The small, easy-to-pack guide by Linda Jean Titus reads like an extended trip report.

First of all, I am a sucker for personalized guidebooks. Linda’s reminds me of the (also excellent) The West Coast Trail – One Step at a Time by Robert J. Bannon.

This is a great trend. All hikers should write a guidebook on their favourite trail!

This guide describes an “inn to inn” hiking route in the Berner Oberland (Bernese Alps).

The trek begins in Engelberg and travels in a southwestern direction before sweeping in an arc through the dramatically beautiful Jungfrau region.

details

If your looking to do one of the best hikes in Europe, this book would be a great starting point. It is very specific, detailing the choices you have to make in planning, including best airport. (Zurich)

I always picture Swiss hiking as very posh. Lovely accommodation. Fantastic food. Short, easy days.

But I learned that on this route you can sleep in barns and campgrounds, inexpensively. Rush past the French coffee and chocolatiers to put in long, physically challenging days. It is endlessly flexibly in terms of itinerary.

The risk of putting together such detailed recommendations is that they might quickly become out-of-date. (That’s why so many guidebooks are vague on details.)

Fortunately, this guide has good website support with a user forum. Or you can get up-to-date information personally from the author herself on their contact page.

Buy it directly from the SwissHikes.com.

Engelberg monastery – flickr

Like all review copies, I’ll be donating Linda’s book to the wonderful Alpine Club of Canada Library in Canmore, Alberta on behalf of the author. I stay at the inexpensive Alpine Club residences whenever I get the chance, an excuse to look over their unique collection.

(Good news â€” the ACC library received a donation for C$100,000 in 2007 from long-time member Bev Bendell.)