besthike.com

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.)

June 9, 2007

Mont-Bell lightweight gear

It’s been years since I heard the name Mont-Bell.

The company withdrew from the U.S. market for a long while.

Then I heard Dr. Ryan Jordan of BackpackingLight.com call Mont-Bell one of the top 3 manufacturers of interest to ultra-light hikers. (He did not name the other two.)

I’d love to get to their mothership store in Boulder, Colorado to try the high end gear for myself. It’s difficult to shop over the internet.

Mont-Bell America – official website

June 8, 2007

meaningless lists – National Geographic

Whoopee. National Geographic posted 5 US National Parks “best hikes of 2007”.

Mount LeConte – Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee and North Carolina

Halemauu Trail – Haleakala National Park, Hawaii

Tomales Point Trail – Point Reyes National Eashore, California

Highland Creek Trail – Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Half Dome – Yosemite National Park, California

National Parks: Hiking – National Geographic Adventure Magazine

Hmm. Who chose these five??

They should check our list of the best hikes in North America for next year. Only Half Dome is on our list.

Whenever I see nonsensical articles like this I laugh anew at the meaningless list category on the Goblog site. They are SO right.

People will read anything so long as it’s titled TOP 10 Hikes in the World.

The GetOutdoors blog also has categories for meaningless awards and meaningless records.

Now … I supposed I should check out the National Geographic list. A couple of these look pretty good. Perhaps they should be on our list.

Point Reyes National Seashore – NPS

Haleakala National Park – NPS

(via Modern Hiker)

=====

Much better is another less meaningless list posted by National Geographic in 2005:

1. The Colorado Trail
2. Buckskin Gulch, Utah
3. John Muir Trail, California
4. Kalalau Trail, Kaua’i, Hawai’i
5. McGonagall Pass, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska
6. Fitz Roy Grand Tour, Patagonia, Argentina
7. Kungsleden, Sweden
8. Mount Everest Base Camp Trek, Nepal
9. Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
10. Routeburn Track, New Zealand
11. Shackleton Crossing, South Georgia Island

National Geographic Classic Hikes of the World

June 7, 2007

Iceland waterfall photo

From Reykyavik, Iceland …

It’s an incredible place, surrounded by an unrelenting and spectacular landscape that might only be described as an ice-age Wyoming.

As harsh as that might sound , the single emotion that came back in my luggage from Iceland with me was none other than jealousy.

wicked outdoorsy: The Hard Way

June 6, 2007December 12, 2024

lost overnight – Syncline Loop, Utah

Things can go wrong, fast.

A series of decisions, all which seemed reasonable at the time. Even experienced hikers can get lost in canyon country.

Three friends, planning on a challenging day hike on the standard Syncline Loop in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, got stuck overnight without provisions. ~~One suffered some hypothermia.~~

Rich posted a detailed account of how it happened:

Now, we didn’t really have much in the way of food. I had brought a few slices of bread, some saltines, a jar of peanut butter and, of course, plenty of water. We each had a similiar supply.

We planned on stopping at the grocery store on our way to Moab but, somehow that slipped our minds. …

So, we figure … we’d probably find a bit of trail food at the visitor center.

Well, we soon found out there was nothing at all in the way of trail food at the visitor center. The Island of the Sky Visitor Center is a little more than a Ranger Station. In fact, I really like Canyonlands because it doesnt have any amenities.

The desert is one place your really do need the 10 essentials. And extra water. Even if setting out only for an hour or two.

They made one last urgent scramble to get up and out.

… we saw … a potential exit. It was crazy and we were all really uncertain but, we pushed on. Every second getting closer to darkness.

Of course, as they do in the desert, temperatures plunged with the setting sun. Thankfully, we still had clear skies and little to no wind. We climbed higher and higher.

… It is endless!!!

For certain, that mile or so was the most intense and rugged hiking I have ever done in my life. Naturally, I loved every minute of it but, my lungs would argue otherwise. We had been on the trail for nearly 10 hours.

No pretty pictures on this post. Just three wiser hikers the following morning when the sun finally came up. Cold, but never in any real danger.

Canyonlands National Park – WikiTravel

June 5, 2007

“Worlds Most Dangerous Tourist Route”

UPDATE from Brad in California:

Unlike every other report I’ve read on the internet, Brad’s actually been there.

It’s a good sidetrip out of Xian, site of the astonishing Terracotta Warriors.

A few more facts: It is not "Mt." Hua Shan. It is just Hua Shan. …

A hostel is available on the mountain top â€” what a cool place for a midwinter honeymoon?! Despite the vigor and risk involved in the climb, it is crowded in fair weather! …

The mountain has multiple summits, and looks somewhat like a blossoming tulip: hence the name flower mountain.

You can take a cable car to the vicinity of the lowest summit, or you can hike about 5 or 6 klicks to the same area. The "hike" option is very worthy, with incredibly lengthy and steep staircases carved into the stone, â€” awesome. Rusty chain handrails are anchored into the rocks.

Once on the lowest summit, you can climb the circuit of the other higher summits. This is where you will encounter the most harrowing exposures, and the pictures that accompany this page.

Again, on a crowded day, it would suck! Everything is one-way, or narrow, etc… We went on a rainy day, with fog, and had the mountain almost to ourselves. It was incredible when the fog cleared!

Snow or freezing rain would make this hike very dangerous. I would not do it!

Mount Hua (Hua Shan) – Wikipedia

We’ve added Hua Shan to our list of the best hikes in Asia.

Click PLAY or watch a “hiker” on the route on MetaCafe.
Snapple Scores With Super Premium Tea Ad During Super Bowl XLI – Click here for funny video clips

==== original post Nov. 6th, 2006:

The most dangerous tourist route in the world is located in Tibet.

Damn Cool Pics: Worlds Most Dangerous Tourist Route

But … they have the location wrong.

It seems these photos are actually from (or Mt Hua or Mt Hua Shan) in Shaanxi province, China. It is the Western Mountain of the Five Sacred Mountains. This error was pointed out in a comment on Cool Pics by JJ.

More photos:

Welcome To China – Welcome2CN.Com

photo set – Fosdick

To a hiker like me, this scramble looks like good fun. Similar to Half Dome in Yosemite.

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