besthike.com

April 13, 2007

what’s the best backpack for a dog?

“Can I take my dog on this hike?”

That’s the critical question for many.

As an increasing number of trails disallow dogs overnight in the backcountry, it’s becomes a more important question.

One of the best hkes we know that allows dogs overnight is Paria Canyon in Utah. If you can recommend others, please leave a comment below this post.

Also leave a comment if you have a recommendation on a dog backpack. There’s some good buzz on the internet about the Kyjen models available from about US$20.

The Quick Releaseâ„¢ Dog BackPacks will give your dog maximum comfort and convenience when hiking with you. The backpack is designed with an adjustable harness and removable pack. Large storage pockets hold food, water and other gear. Made with extra-strong nylon for durability. Quick Release Dog BackPacks feature the “quick release” leash holder for use when approaching other hikers, dogs, or wildlife. Available in four sizes to fit most dogs.

The Kyjen Company :: Outdoor Gear for Pets

Check also â€” HikeWithYourDog.com

April 12, 2007

Mt. Tahan trek, Malaysia

I don’t know much about this trek to the the highest point in Peninsular Malaysia, but it sounds great. This country without question is the most underestimated adventure destination in SE Asia.

The standard route is the Kuala Tahan trail â€” not recommended from what I can tell.

Of the other routes, instead hike the Merapoh (Sungai Relau) trail.

Taman Negara National Park, Pahang, Malaysia
Moderately Difficult Trek

… route is through Sg Relau, Merapoh … starts almost at the foot of the mountain. It takes only three days to reach the peak 5 days return, about 44km. (27mi)

… The starting point for the hike is at the National Park Headquarters itself.

DIY Hikes & Treks

Photos on the site give you a good idea of the terrain.

Guides are manditatory.

Mount Tahan – Wikipedia

We’ve not yet added it to our list of the best hikes in the world. Leave a comment below if you think it worthy.

April 11, 2007

check out Florida Hikes

Guidebook author Sandra Friend runs the Florida Hikes website. We’ve linked to it under WEBSITES on the right hand navigation.

She’s just revamped the site and it looks great.

Happily, Sandra will be advising besthike.com on the very best hikes in Florida. And will introduce us to other experts in the region.

She’s is always on the trail in Florida and networks with the SE hiking community. Sandra’s friends with Mike DeWitt of Florida Trail video fame.

Sandra got a good photo of Mike, exposing the fact that he is no ultralight walker:

Now hereâ€™s a real comparison in pack weight for long distance hikers. To the left, Mike â€œSmileageâ€ DeWitt, with a pack that many of us gals could crawl into and sleep in, itâ€™s so danged big. He wonâ€™t say but Iâ€™m guessing it tips the scales past 50 pounds. To the right, the esteemed Nimblewill Nomad and his pack, roughly 12 pounds with water. I split the difference when Iâ€™m hikingâ€¦.

floridahikes.com Â» Pack Weight

Florida Hikes! – website

Here’s just one of Sandra’s guidebooks:

50 Hikes in South Florida: Walks, Hikes, and Backpacking Trips in the Southern Florida Peninsula, First Edition

April 11, 2007

two hiking events I WISH I could attend

Great Southeastern Hiking Festival Conference (fee)
May 3 – 6, 2007
Montreat, North Carolina

and

FREE Public Festival
Saturday May 5
From 9 AM – 7 PM
In Downtown Black Mountain, NC

American Hiking Society: Alliance: Southern Appalachians Initiative

(Thanks Sandra. Florida Hikes)

Appalachian Trail Days
May 18-19-20 2007
Damascus, Virginia

Trail Days celebrates the Appalachian Trail and the hikers, former hikers and aspiring hikers who converge there each year.

official website

April 10, 2007

only 6,875 miles left to hike

Andrew Skurka has begun his â€œGreat Western Loopâ€ â€” nearly 7,000 miles!

I’ll be following this adventure. It may just be the greatest thru hike of all time.

You can get email updates by signing up on his official website. (The RSS feeds for photos and podcasts are not up-and-running as yet.)

April 7, 7AM – Just about everything has come together over the last 24 hours and I am feeling confident in my level of logistical preparedness for this trip.

My maildrops are about 75 percent packed (all the maps, most of the supplies and food, and some of the gear), my extra gear has been neatly organized in the basement so that it can be sent out quickly and correctly when I need it, the website is pretty much dialed ….

Andrew Skurka

(via Cutter’s blog)

April 10, 2007

McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

I’d love to hike Antarctica.

Realistically, the best destination would be out of McMurdo.

The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of valleys in Antarctica located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The region includes many interesting geological features including Lake Vida and the Onyx River, Antarctica’s longest river. It is also one of the world’s most extreme deserts.

… the largest relatively ice-free region in Antarctica. The valley floors are covered with a loose gravelly material, in which ice-wedge polygons may be observed.

… Scientists consider the Dry Valleys perhaps the closest of any terrestrial environment to Mars, and thus an important source of insights into possible extraterrestrial life.

McMurdo Dry Valleys – Wikipedia

The superb photo blog Dark Roasted Blend has done it again. These are just a few of the pics they posted in a series on the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

more photos in this series on Dark Roasted Blend

The photos originally came from a Russian website. Spacibo!

April 9, 2007

where NOT to hike – Saul, French Guyana

Two French hikers who got lost in thick jungle in French Guiana survived for seven weeks by consuming turtle meat, big hairy spiders and river water.

The men were rescued on Thursday, exhausted and dehydrated.

Loic Pillois and Guilhem Nayral disappeared on 14 February, having set off from the Grand Kanori rapids bound for the village of Saul.

Guilhem’s brother Gilles said “they ate palm seeds, insects, mygales (big spiders) and two turtles” to survive.

Mr Pillois, 34, emerged at Saul at 1000 (1300 GMT) on Thursday and told the authorities that his friend Guilhem, 34, was about six hours’ walk away to the south, the French news agency AFP reported.

Rescuers found him and brought him out by helicopter. One of them, gendarme Martin Andre, said Guilhem was “stretched out on the ground, completely exhausted, very thin, dehydrated”.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Lost Frenchmen ate jungle spiders

original map – Lonely Planet

(via WildrLog)

April 9, 2007

trekking in Laos

Though jungle treks have been popular in northern Thailand for decades, similar adventures in Laos are just starting to get popular.

Justine Vaisutis, Lonely Planet travel guidebook writer, published a brief article.

In a pocket of the world renowned for package holidays, shoestring extravagance and faux bling, Laos remains an unadulterated enigma. It’s the ideal asylum for fugitives from urban routine, with the majestic curves of Luang Nam Tha Province offering the best refuge of all.

Hemmed in by the mighty Mekong to the west and China’s great girth to the north, this province devotes almost a third of its ground cover to the Nam Ha National Protected Area â€” 550,000 acres of untamed forest.

The jungle, mountains, waterfalls, rivers and lofty plateaus in this conservation area, coupled with the culture of some 30 ethnic groups, created the ideal canvas for hiking, which in this densely forested region translates to “eco-trekking” â€” one of those phrases often hijacked by wily sharks with eyes for the tourist trends and appetites for commerce. …

I’m joined by seven fellow trekkers on my two-day escapade. Our destination is Ban Nam Lai, a small Akha village tucked high in the folds of a mountain. The Akha are woodsmen, and their affinity with the forest is legendary. Our multilingual guides each lead a trek once a month, sharing the vocation with 30 others, a number that ensures the tourist wealth is evenly spread and that no one discards his or her traditional source of income….

The progress and the crowds are inevitable, but we have a quiet faith that Nam Ha is destined for years of preservation yet.

Trek though jungles, mountains of Laos

source – Flickr – Mat Honan

(via Two-Heel Drive)

April 9, 2007

new language translation on this site

We’ve added the Google web page translation service and placed it in a more prominent position than our old AltaVista Bablefish link. Click on the desired flag near the top of the navigation column.

(I know how frustrated I get trying to translate wonderful trip report from another language.)

Since the scope of besthike.com is world-wide, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for non-English speakers to read this blog.

example – Mandarin