L A Y N E K E N N E D Y
Excellent adventure travel photography.
mountain artist – Elizabeth Wiltzen
I bumped into the Canadian hiking artist Elizabeth Wiltzen when we both applied for a trekking permit to The Wave on the Arizona / Utah border on the same day.
Later I checked out her work on-line: MountainArtist.com
Her work is excellent!
I’m looking forward to seeing what she paints at The Wave.
She certainly knows Lake O’Hara.
more of her paintings using the Giclée technique
problems hiking “The Wave”
I was surprised and happy to get one of 10 available hiking permits available through an in-person lottery for the famous day hike in southern Utah known as The Wave.
I slept in my car at the BLM (not BoweL Movement, rather Bureau of Land Management) office that distributes hiking permits so I would not miss the 8:30AM random draw.
Surprisingly, there were only 9 hikers there for 10 permits. Score! (Some days 50 apply for the 10 spots.)
The SW USA is one of the very best hiking destinations in the world — unless it rains. Flooding, even drowning, is a severe risk in arid slot canyons.
the morning-of-the-hike sky
It did not look good. But I decided come Hell or High Water, I would hike The Wave.
At 2:30PM the drizzle seemed to abate. I jumped in the car and sped to the trailhead, now short of time to finish the 6mi (9.7km) return trip by dark. On the other hand, I felt the best photos would be available in the dying light.
Of the 10 essentials I carried only the 11th — a can of Diet Coke.
Jogging the slip rock (no real trail) and attempting to short-cut, I quickly became lost. Easy to do in this part of the world.
When I finally got to The Wave, I was very happy to bump into some other hikers who had braved the rain and hail. Included was the Mountain Artist, Elizabeth Wiltzen, who has seen her share of misadventure in the wilderness. She worked many years for a heli-skiing outfit in Banff. Needless to say, she want not much impressed with my preparedness as a hiker.
How was The Wave?
Fantastic. Well worth the hassle. The unusual sandstone formation is wonderful from every direction.
larger image – Wikipedia
There is a “second Wave” and other terrific geology nearby. The more time you have, the better.
27 Wave photos – Flickr
I hiked back with several others arriving at the trailhead parking lot right at dark. Doh! In my rush to get here I had forgotten to fuel the vehicle. Others had to follow me to the closest service station. I rolled in on fumes.
If you want to be better prepared than I, check details on how to get to The Wave – besthike.com
packaged hiking food
It’s been years since I last tried any of the custom packaged hiking food. In the past they were expensive — and no tastier than my tried and true home made recipes.
But in a weak moment at Wal-Mart I grabbed a package of Mountain House – Chili Mac w/ Beef: 2 servings.
Excellent.
I would buy it again. Tasted great and the stand up pouch is convenient. Simply add 2 cups of boiling water and dinner is served.
I added shredded sharp cheddar. Mmmm.
Add a comment below if you have a packaged hiking food to recommend.
why extend the Appalachian Trail?
We got an important comment from the official AT.
UPDATE:
“Actually the terminii of the Appalachian Trail were determined by an act of the U.S. Congress when it established it as the first National Scenic Trail in 1968. To “lengthen†the official Trail would take a similar act of Congress.”
Martin A. Bartels – www.appalachiantrail.org
=======
original post:
Most finish the AT at Mount Katahdin, Maine.
But the Appalachian Mountains continue into Canada. Surely the standard 2,175mi is not long enough.
You could cross the U.S.-Canada border at Fort Fairfield and add another 500mi or so. This is one of the extensions referred to as the International Appalachian Trail.
Trek Through to the True End of the Appalachian Mountains – GORP
But is that far enough?
Why not extend your walk through to the north tip of Newfoundland?
source – InternationalAT.org
Walking for walking’s sake is not necessarily a good thing. Because it’s there, not a good enough reason.
Be discriminating when you choose your hikes. That’s what besthike.com is all about.
Life is short.
A Year of Adventure
A Year of Adventures: Lonely Planet’s Guide to Where, What And When is an inspiring book.
Hiking in New Zealand, diving with sharks in South Africa, ballooning in Switzerland and storm watching in Alaska. Choose from over 100 activities in 130 countries, some to challenge you, some to enjoy at a leisurely pace, and catering to all fitness levels.
Organised by month and week to allow you to plan the best adventure at the best time of year.
Country and Activity indexes provide easy access search by the destination of your next holiday, or by the adventure you want to experience.
Lonely Planet has a webpage supporting the publication.
Bikini Wars: fishing babes
Position statement
For the record, this blog decries what some are calling the Bikini Wars.
Trash talking blog posts used as an excuse to highlight photos of pretty girls with fish.
Indeed, I concur with Trout Underground that those bloggers are merely “traffic-hungry smut peddlers”.
Bikini Wars: The Final Battle – The Trout Underground
The Besthike blog will never stoop to those kind of tactics.
(… let me know if I am out-to-lunch on this. Perhaps scantily clad fish with girls should be a priority.)
dog survives unbelievable mountain fall
My hiking buddy (Shasta, CA), Wally the Wonderdog, took a severe fall on the ice fields of Mt. Eddy, California.
The Wonderdog hit the ice and rocketed straight down for several hundred feet, gathering speed the whole way. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the ice field lay a steep rockfield, which he hit at full speed, sending him on a cartwheeling, pinwheeling ride over 600 vertical feet of very sharp, very hard rocks.
Michelle – an experienced mountaineer and backcountry skier – said simply that “it was the gnarliest thing I’d ever seen.â€
She estimated he bounced and cartwheeled in the neighborhood of two dozen times, and that the total distance of the fall was in the 800-1,000 range.
“It was like it went on forever.â€
I can’t imagine what it felt like to see that, but after a lengthy traverse to the bottom of the rock field, both Michelle and Nancy expected to find a dead doggie.
What they found was a battered, stunned Wonderdog staring at them.
This launched a rescue effort where Michelle – who weighs 120 pounds if you turned a fire hose on her – resourcefully jury rigged a small daypack and carried the 80-pound Wonderdog back up the ohmigod-steep rocky slope (if you’re handy with numbers, that’s 2/3 of her body weight) while Nancy steadied him.
I’m impressed.
On flatter ground, he was able to walk (limp, actually) down the trail towards the truck, but by the time I saw him at home, he was a battered puppy.
Bleeding from a bunch of wounds, his nose, and his mouth, he’d had a tooth ripped out and the right side of his face was swollen up so bad his eye was closed.
Get well soon, Wally.
Shipton’s Arch – Kashgar, China
One day soon you may be able to hike to Shipton’s Arch, the world’s highest. Almost as high as the Empire State Building at 366m (1200ft).
This wonder of the world was rediscovered in 2000 when National Geographic published Journey to Shipton’s Lost Arch.
It’s also known as also known as Pierced Rock (Uyghur) and Hole in Heaven (Chinese).
Washington State – Ptarmigan Traverse
One of National Geographic’s World’s Best New Adventures, this is a dream trip for a hiker / mountaineer / skier.
The legendary Ptarmigan Traverse begins at Cascade Pass in the shadow of North Cascades National Park’s 8,065-foot (2,458-meter) Johannesburg Mountain and traces nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers) of the Cascades Crest, cutting across ridges and cirques to the north side of 10,541-foot (321-meter) Glacier Peak, in the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area. It’s the kind of iconic route that experienced Cascades mountaineers have been tackling unguided ever since the area’s Ptarmigan Climbing Club established it in 1938.
Next May, Seattle-based Mountain Madness will guide a tour that makes this North American classic accessible to beginning ski mountaineers. …
“The trip is equivalent to the Haute Route in the Alps, but in a wilderness setting,” says Mark Gunlogson, president of Mountain Madness. “It’s beautiful.”
Washington: Conquering a Cascades Classic
(via The Adventure Blog)
besthike.com 
