Here are hikers doing it right.
They posted a blog dedicated to organizing an upcoming trek on our #1 hike in the World. Good luck guys!
Some of their posts:
iPod not recommended above 10,000 feet
This can’t be right:
Maximum operating altitude: 3,000 metres (10,000 feet)
My Rio Cali flash drive MP3 player worked perfectly up to 5000m.
Leave a comment if you know of an iPod Nano on Everest or other high peaks.
Likely Apple is being overcautious.
UPDATE: Consensus of opinion is that flash drive Nano iPods should be OK at altitude. But that spinning disk drive iPods are at risk.
Fedak pointed me to a pilot’s blog: He had problems at 19,000ft unpressurized.
Hard drives work by levitating a head a very small distance from the media; unlike floppy or tape, where the media actually touches the head. The distance between the rotating media and the head is regulated using a very small wing on the head. The head literally ‘flys’ above the media.
When the pressure inside the drive is reduced, the wing will need a higher angle of attack, until finally the wing stalls, and the head impacts the media. The term in the industry for this behavior is called a ‘head crash’. Very apropos, no?
Berg Lake, Canadian Rockies, early season hike
Outdoor Video Magazine have posted their best video to date. (That’s one nasty avalanche caught on film.)
A stunning trail featuring close-up glacier action, the Canadian Rockies Highest Peak (a staggering 2.5 vertical kilometres above the trail), blue-blue lakes, and more than one fantastic waterfall.
Berg Lake Trail – Mt Robson Provincial Park (with Video) · Outdoor Video Magazine
Though the trail was officially closed in May, these hikers braved a night walk, a glacier creek water ford in Crocs and snow storm. Snowshoes were needed for some sections.
We’d never recommend this to anyone … but I wish I’d been with them.
Our information page details how to organize a hike to this area in summer. Highlights: Valley of a Thousand Falls, Emperor Falls, Snowbird Pass, Toboggan Falls and the mass of Mt. Robson. One of the best hikes in the world.
Mount Robson: Berg Lake Trail – flickr photo set – Fotos de Canada
New Balance 902 – Outside shoe of the year
I’ll be trying the New Balance Men’s 902LW running shoe for hiking.
(The top ranked trail runner is the adidas Men’s J S3 M Trail Shoe. And adidas always fit narrow.)
Since I have bunions, New Balance and Dunham are my preferred brands as they offer wider versions.
New Balance 902 (10.1 oz)
1. A handful of shoes boast construction this light, but most are minimalist racing flats without much structure. Not so with the 902. Thanks to new-tech, lightweight materials—in the cushioning, foam, and even the breathable mesh of the upper—the 902 supports your foot better than many midweight shoes. …
Outside Online – gear of the year – Road Runners
guided trek in Morocco
Guide Aitelkadi Hassan contacted me regarding tours including treks in the Atlas Mountains. He collects you from the airport, makes all arrangements, and delivers you safely back for your return flight.
Get some testimonials from other travelers, of course, before you sign on with any guiding service.
Their website is AtlasWalkers.com (French).
Here’s the home page translated from French to English using Google Translate. (Somewhat amusing, but still useful.)
BEST HIKES Arches and Canyonlands, Utah
It’s all good.
This may be the best region in the world for hikers.
i could not find a bad official hike anywhere out of Moab, Utah.
That’s a problem for someone trying to list the “best hikes”. Still, in this post I sum up recommendations for hikers coming to the area for the first time. It’s a starting point.
Travel to Moab, Utah … in a motor vehicle. The US National Park system caters to everyone, no matter how obese. No matter how obese their motor home.
But the hiker with no vehicle is looked upon with suspicion. Indeed, is cited if caught hitchhiking.
Best hikes closest to Moab:
Delicate Arch, Arches
A mad walker can do these 3 dayhikes and more in a long day. Better would be 2-days.
Next drive 45min up to astonishing Dead Horse Point State Park. In fact, I suggest you stay in the car campground there, one of the best in the entire 4 corners region.
source – USGS
Next, move on to Island in the Sky in Canyonlands and hike (at least) Syncline Loop. There are perhaps 6 more essential short “parking lot hikes” including Mesa Arch. You need minimum 2 days on the Island in the Sky.
I’d strongly recommend you bypass Canyonland’s The Maze entirely. It’s too remote, too dangerous. Perhaps the most isolated land mass anywhere in the lower 48 States.
Instead, take a leisurely, scenic drive down to The Needles. Spend the rest of your hiking days there starting with the Chesler Park area.
campsite CP2 – Needles
You can do a lot in a week out of Moab as access to trailheads is so easy and most of the trails short. (Two weeks would be twice as good.)
And there is plenty to interest everyone. Many of the walks are wheelchair accessible. But those looking for adventure need merely scramble off-trail up the slickrock.
Read Edward Abbey’s 1968 classic Desert Solitaire while in the desert.
The Fall is slightly better than Spring for this region. The bugs are gone by early August. October would be best — but in October 2006 some of the roads were washed out due to atypical rainy weather.
John Hyde – Alaska photos
WOW.
I want to go to Alaska.
It’s well worth taking the time to see the professional slideshow of these photos. These are only “thumbnails” of the real thing.
Stumbled upon Wild Things Photography, found many pretty pictures. The shooter is John Hyde of Juneau, Alaska.
FalconGuide’s Trailhead on-line community
Welcome to the FalconGuides Trailhead. This is your starting point to a community filled with experts and enthusiasts who all share a passion for the outdoors and an interest in sharing their stories, photos, and experiences with others.
Thanks to Tom for pointing out this interesting new experiment:
It’s all brand-new now, so it’s hard to judge how well it will turn out, but it’s worth a look. The “trail finder” is just a link to trails.com, a subscription service I’ve never felt compelled to invest in.
I’ll join and report back here. Quick to criticize what I don’t like about Falcon Guidebooks, this way I could be part of the system working to improve them.
Falcon hiking guidebook feedback
Falcon has more hiking guidebooks than anyone else in North America, some of them not very good.
Here’s their pitch:
FalconGuides are leading the way with more than 800 titles in over 30 series. Our 500-plus authors have personally hiked, climbed, pedaled, paddled, and recorded a total of more than 11,000 published FalconGuide trails, rides, and waterways and as many as 50,000 climbing routes in nearly every state in the nation and in nine European countries. All are documented on the more than 6,000 maps we produce every year for outdoor enthusiasts.
I’ve often seen the brand as an “impulse” buy. Available almost everywhere at a low cost. But not all that usable in the real outdoors.
To my happy surprise, on a 2-week hiking trip out of Moab, Utah, the Falcon was by far the best guidebook available. I bought Hiking Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, 2nd edition 2005.
It is written by Bill Schneider, founder of Falcon, now the retired President. It looked pretty good. Bill obviously loves this region. The text is well written, without conspicuous errors.
After my trip I emailed Bill to give him some feedback on the book.
First day we encountered two big snakes on the trail.
I whipped out my guidebook to check if they were a dangerous species. What? There is no section on animal dangers! What about scorpions, black widow spiders, rattle snakes and centipedes?
Ask a Ranger. It’s not in your guidebook.
A bigger frustration I have with this book (and others) many others is lack of an index. Bill tells me that creating a good index is far more difficult than people think. He would love to have one, but it is a lot of work for the publisher.
The most important part of any hiking guidebook to me are the maps. And, happily, the second edition maps are a HUGE improvement. They look very “clean”.
Too clean. Imagine my disappointment to discover that not all backcountry campsites are included on these Falcon maps.
Specifically I was looking for CP5 in Chesler Park. It’s not in my guidebook though it is on all the NPS on-line maps:
Bill pointed out that “no hiker should rely on the maps in any guidebook”. His book clearly states that it is to be used with a proper map.
Happily, I had bought a map at the trailhead. But when I opened my $3 Trails Illustrated Canyonlands-Needles National Park … I found it also left off the backcountry campsites.
You need to buy the $10 Trails Illustrated, Canyonlands National Park – Maze District of the entire Park if you want to be able to locate your campsite.
Bill explained, ” … listing designated campsites is a moving target for guidebook authors. Virtually every year, the NPS has to change campsite locations, close campsites, open new campsites, etc. for management reasons, but a guidebook is in print for many years.”
I sheepishly asked each hiker I met if they had any idea where I could find my campsite.
Despite my problems, we’ll be recommending Hiking Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. And I look forward to 3rd edition improvements. In the meantime, I recommend Falcon check some of the best hiking guidebooks in the world for inspiration.
Moab, Utah – living a lie?
I went to Moab to hike.
When I told other tourists that Moab had been awarded a major environmental award as a “green town” they thought I was joking.
Located on the Colorado River near the state line between Utah and Colorado, is the 4-square mile City of Moab. A desert oasis, the 5,000 or so Moab residents host over a million tourists annually. Visitors come to enjoy the adjacent National Parks Arches and Canyonlands, the Dead Horse Point State Park as well as biking, hiking, water sports and gorgeous vistas.
To most tourists who pass through Moab annually, it’s a hot, noisy highway lined with junky, over-priced souvenir shops.
Moab is perhaps less known for being the Nation’s first EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Green Power Community and a steward for clean energy. Under the leadership of Mayor Dave Sakrison, the town began purchasing wind power for 50% of the City Office building electricity demand in 2003. Local electricity customers were encouraged to purchase pollution-free wind energy through Utah Power’s Blue Sky voluntary wind program. As a result Moab became the region’s first Blue Sky Community.
I hope Mayor Sakrison is not buying his own press. If Moab is the model of a town of the future, we are all in trouble.
Moab reminds me more of Mad Max than a desert oasis. The road warriors here ride gas guzzling jeeps. Or modified Hummers if they can afford the rental.
Another opinion:
Can’t say I am thrilled to be in Moab other than to get my final resupply box and get out of town. Never much cared for this place despite trying to like it. The community here is great, certainly friendly folks, but something about the constant marketing vibe that runs through town just bugs me…Adventure This! and Adventure That! Extreme! I know it is a tourist based economy and one that caters to thrill seekers (whether motorized or not) but it just is a bit over the top.
I’m overstating the problems. Likely Moab is on the right track. The boom there is relatively recent.
If you turn off the highway into town you’ll find great school grounds, fantastic bike trails, an award winning library. And some amazing facilities for a town of this size.
If you are ready to pack up and move to Moab, speak up and leave a comment.
besthike.com 