besthike.com

January 5, 2007

trekking to Everest – recommended

Baxter Gillespie is just back from 3 weeks walking to a trekking peak in the Himalayas.

Yes he encountered the Maoist rebels.

Yes he still recommends Nepal.

In fact, Baxter is planning to return next season to bag another peak.

…

Our plan was to carry all our own equipment but to hire a guide and stay in the guest houses for the three week trip to the 18,192′ summit of Kala Pataar which overlooks Everest Base Camp.

Over the course of the trip our guide, Depak, became a great friend and ambassador to his mountain world.

The Nepali people were very open and taught us much about their culture. The scenery was overwhelming. Even after seeing photos of the Himalayas for years, I was awed by the magnitude when viewing them in person. …

The trip turned out to be a fantastic experience. We had incredible adventures from snake charmers in Kathmandu to dealing with Maoist rebels on the trail and bargaining with Tibetan traders in the town of Namche City. We are completely hooked on traveling in Nepal and are now planning a more technical climbing trip back for next Fall.

If you are even contemplating going to Nepal, do it. I’ll see you there next year!

Backcountry Blog: Nepal Trek – A Journey to Everest

January 4, 2007

Buck Forester – the best outdoor photographer?

Brian Ernst, who goes by the wilderness name of Buck Forester, seems to be the most popular photographer on flickr.

If you haven’t seen his stuff, check it out right now:

Buck Forester’s photos

original – Mono Lake, California

original – Lake Tahoe, California

original – Lost Coast, California

January 3, 2007

hiking to natural Arches and Bridges

… there are only ten natural arches in the world that have spans longer than 200 feet. All but one of these are in the Colorado Plateau area of the United States.

Although there may be other natural arches this long somewhere else in the world, no others have so far been confirmed. The most likely candidate is Tushuk Tash (Shipton’s Arch) in China, measured at 1200 feet high, making it the tallest natural arch in the world. …

The most recent addition to this list, Aloba Arch in the country of Chad, was only confirmed in 2004.

… visiting all nine … located in the Colorado Plateau requires a considerable amount of effort. Looking for natural arches always takes you into very beautiful places, some of which you might not have thought to visit otherwise. An arch at the end of a journey through natural splendor could be seen as the frosting on a very good cake!

Here’s The Big 10 as ranked by NaturalArches.org:

+ Kolob Arch – Zion National Park, Utah
+ Landscape Arch – Arches National Park, Utah
+ Rainbow Bridge – Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Utah
+ Sipapu Natural Bridge – Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
+ Aloba Arch – Ennedi Range, Chad
+ Wrather Arch – Paria Canyon, Arizona
+ Morning Glory Natural Bridge – Moab, Utah
+ Stevens Arch – Escalante River, Utah
+ Kachina Natural Bridge – Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
+ Snake Bridge – Sanostee, New Mexico

But which of these have good hikes?

I’ve only walked to Wrather Arch, an excellent destination. For details on how to get there check our Paria Canyon information page.

And I’ve researched Rainbow Bridge, Utah. Access is only by boat or foot. There are several good hiking itineraries.

Here’s a view of Rainbow you’ve never seen before.

original – flickr.

There’s more like this on James Neeley’s flickr photo stream.

January 2, 2007

slot canyons of the American Southwest

You could spend weeks hiking just slot canyons in this area.

The best site to get inspired is AmericanSouthWest.net .

Few places on Earth have such beauty and mystique on an intimate scale as the delicately scupltured and coloured slot canyons of the American Southwest. There are thousands of scenic canyons in this region but most are relatively wide and often descend in steps through rock layers of differing hardness; in contrast, slot canyons have vertical walls and may be hundreds of feet deep but only a few feet wide.

Most slot canyons are remote, hidden and difficult to reach and explore, but this only adds to their appeal; one can get a good idea from a photograph, but this is no substitute for visiting in person. The canyons tend to be dry for most of the year but receive occasional flash floods of great force, most frequently during the late summer months. It is these sudden torrents of water, carrying logs, stones and other debris that have been cutting through the relatively soft rock for millions of years, resulting in a great variety of colourful rock shapes and forms.

In general, true slot canyons are found only on the many rivers and their tributaries that ultimately flow into Lake Powell, in Utah. There are three main drainage systems; various creeks that cross Navajo land south of the lake in Arizona, branches of the Paria River to the west, and branches of the Escalante and other rivers to the north.

Slot Canyons of the American Southwest

January 2, 2007

video – Huayhuash Circuit trek in Peru

by Rick McCharles, editor

When we named our top 10 hikes in the world, #11 was the Huayhuash Circuit.

Personally, it’s been my most dramatic, inspiring hiking adventure, of all.

While there my camcorder / camera broke half way around the 11-day trip. The tape was somewhat damaged, as well.

Happily, I’ve salvaged a few clips. (Featured are our pack horses and fantastic mule driver who spent his days worrying about getting us back alive.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Interested?

WHY WE LOVE HUAYHUASH

* PERU, all things considered, offers the best alpine hiking in the world

* the remote, forbidding Huayhuash range was made famous when Joe Simpson & Simon Yates climbed Siula Grande in 1985. The book & film Touching the Void were both hits.

* getting high at Punta Coyoc pass 5490m (18,012ft) !!

* Peruâ€™s second highest summit, Yerupaja (6634m)

* non-stop vistas â€” entire Circuit is above treeline

* intensely glaciated, intensely beautiful

* condors and other wild birds

* fantastic natural hotsprings half way round the Circuit

* limited road access, few people

* travel in Peru for as little as US$20 / day

* a trip with pack animals is good value

* lifetime experience you will never forget

CONSIDERATIONS

Huayhuash is dangerous. Hikers have died there. This is arguably the best hike in the world but is appropriate only for robust, experienced high altitude trekkers.

The greatest danger is altitude sickness. We hired horses instead of mules so we could evacuate by horse, if necessary.

Huayhuash Circuit in Peru – besthike information page

January 1, 2007

pioneering a trek to Kachenjunga, Nepal

SÃ¸ren Viit Nielsen hosts a wonderful website documenting his many trekking adventures. (Danish and English)

In 2002 SÃ¸ren hiked to both south and north basecamps of Kachenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. (map)

He used Cicerone: Kangchenjunga: A Trekker’s Guide by Kev Reynolds.

Even if your Danish is rusty, the gorgeous pictures tell the story.

SÃ¸ren returned in 2004 to guide 10 Danish clients and a Nepalese staff of about 30 people (guide, cook, sherpas, kitchen staff, and porters). But this time he chose a new route, just opened because new suspension bridges were built in 2003-04 across the Tamur River. None of his group had been this way before. (map)

Tibetan culture and interactions with mountain peoples were big highlights.

BlueDandelion.net – SÃ¸ren Viit Nielsen

December 31, 2006

incredible Alaska photos

Posted on the flickr photo stream of Alaska Stock Images.

original – Campers View N. Lights by Tent near Lake SC AK Fall Chatanika Valley

original – Bull Moose grazing in early morning near Wonder Lake w/alpenglow on Mt McKinley Denali Nat Park Composite

original – Santa Claus Mushing Dogs Chugach Mtns Southcentral AK Winter Snow

Flickr photo stream of Alaska Stock Images. About 100 more like this.

December 30, 2006

walking the Great Wall of China – Helan Shan

I’ve been following the excellent and fascinating blog posted by Brendan Fletcher of a walk along the Great Wall of China.

The most recent is his best post to date.

Just east of the town of Shikong, the Yellow River takes a turn to the north and the Great Wall turns with it. For 90 kilometres the wall runs south to north along the foothills of the Helan Shan, an isolated mountain range with peaks as high as 3500 metres.

Historical details on the Helan Shan wall are sketchy (in English, at least). About all we have been able to find out is that Sanguankou, a series of fortifications about 40 kilometres west of Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia, was built in 1540. Presumably the Helan Shan wall was constructed around the same time.

You might see the odd photo or two of the Helan Shan wall in the better books on the Great Wall, but itâ€™s not especially well known to tourists. Which is a shame, because it is probably the most impressive section of wall in the west, and itâ€™s located reasonably close to a nice tourist town in Yinchuan.

The Helan Shan Wall, Part 1 at Walking the Wall

December 30, 2006

proposal – voluntary Park entrance fees

Good idea.

This would work.

Park Remark quoting Scott Silver:

… I outlined legislation for what I thought would be a positive park fee system. In my mind, the fees would be VOLUNTARY with suggested fees being posted at entrance stations. People could give what was posted, or more — or less, as they chose.

No one would ever be turned away.

In all probability, most people would pay the suggested amount and if the suggested amount was a bit less than $20, for example, many people would hand over the $20 and say “keep the change.” Some would, I expect, offer $10 and say “I’m sorry, I’m on a very limited budget and would like to pay more but this is all I can afford”. Some would pay nothing. So be it.

In my proposal, the park that collected the fee would get to keep only a modest percent of the gate receipts — perhaps 25 – 35% and the cost of collection would have to be paid from THAT percentage. …

There would be NO fee compliance enforcement.

There would thus be NO COST associated with fee compliance enforcement.

An Alternative to the Current NPS Entrance Fees

December 29, 2006

new affiliate – InfoHub hiking vacations

I am testing links to a new affiliate: InfoHub.com

InfoHub aggregates hiking and trekking vacation packages. It’s a good place to compare competitive packages for specific destinations.

So far I am very impressed.

InfoHub offers good, free information for hikers. And we get a small payment for anyone who downloads a brochure after clicking through from this site. No need to buy.