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#4 – Ausangate Circuit, Peru

Ausangate (or Auzangate) is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.

Why?

Our favourite multi-day tramp in our favourite hiking region of the world — glorious New Zealand.  😎

  • circle sacred Ausangate massif (6372m, 20,905ft), the highest peak in southern Peru
  • 4 high passes between 4757m – 5165m!
  • 70km (43.5mi) plus sidetrips
  • almost everyone does Ausangate with a guide, but it’s quite doable independently if you are acclimated 
  • many options to extend this trek
  • best months are the May-September dry season
  • Tinqui is 5-8 hours now only about 3.5hrs by bus on a new road, about 100km S.E. of Cusco
  • sidetrip to the “rainbow mountains” of Vinicunca

World → South America → Central Andes → Peru → Ausangate

Click PLAY or watch a 1-minute introduction on YouTube.

For details click over to our Ausangate Circuit information page.

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500 Days in the Wild

Dianne Whelan is making a film about her solo adventures on the non-motorized Great Trail (the Trans Canada Trail).

From pushing 150-pounds of bike and packs over rocks, to hiking through flooded bogs, paddling the largest lake in the world, snowshoeing through dense coniferous forests, skiing across wind-blown plains, the trail beckons.

Dianne travels the ‘Old Way’, the slow way of the turtle,seeking wisdom from those that live close to the land, asking the questions “what have we forgotten?”

“What do we need to know?”

500daysinthewild.com

Click PLAY or watch a teaser on YouTube.

related – Is it called the Trans Canada Trail … OR Great Trail?

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My Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt

Want to be comfortable and sleep well when on the trail?

I recommend this very expen$ive quilt / sleeping bag.

It was the most popular sleeping bag or quilt for those spending months on the Continental Divide Trail 2021.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I really like their strap system.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I opted for the 20 degree (6C) 850 down fill version. Regular length. Wide. This should keep me warm and comfortable on all my typical outdoor adventures. Even Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland.

Enlightened Equipment gives you hundreds of options. You can custom order exactly what you want.

Though it’s down, apparently I will be able to wash this bag.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer/2 Hoody

GearLab awarded the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer 2 Hoody Editors’ Choice award for the best overall down jacket.

But I bought mine after seeing how many thru hikers use it on the Continental Divide Trail. They can beat this up for months without destroying the warm layer.

I am a little worried about the ultralight zipper.

NOT CHEAP. I paid CAD $341 including taxes and shipping. But it will be well used on adventures where weight and bulk are critical.

On colder trips, I’ll bring it along with my beloved Helly Hansen LifaLoft jacket.

  • highly compressible
  • DWR (durable water repellent) 800-fill RDS®-certified down insulation
  • Ultra-lightweight ripstop fabric
  • stuffs into its own hand pocket with internal carabiner clip loop
  • 8.8 oz. / 249 g

Click PLAY or see the original Men’s Ghost Whisperer on YouTube.

Personally, I don’t like the form fitting shape — so bought the XL. For me it fits much like a normal jacket.

Read the full review.

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Mainland Egypt’s 1st Long-distance Hike

The 170-km Red Sea Mountain Trail (RSMT) is touted to be the “first long-distance hiking trail in mainland Egypt and the sister project of the award-winning Sinai Trail“.

Of course walking pilgrimage in Egypt has been a tradition for thousands of year.

Connecting a series of ancient trade, travel, smuggling and shepherd routes into a single trail for modern times it is a 170km path taking most hikers 10 days to complete.

Created by Bedouin of the Maaza tribe – who manage the trail today on behalf of the wider Bedouin community – the Red Sea Mountain Trail gives a way into one of the most untrodden, little-known and beautiful wildernesses in the Middle East and perhaps the world.

From vast desert plains to deep gorges and high summits and from crumbling Roman towns to prehistoric rock art and chapels of Egypt’s Desert Fathers, the trail shows the best of the region’s inimitable beauty and seeks to open new kind of tourism that truly benefits its communities.

official website

You can explore the RSMT by clicking through the 10 days of a Virtual Thru Hike.

Or watch a short video on CNN.

It looks great.

We’ve added both the RSMT and the Sinai Trail to our list of the best hikes in Africa.

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#1 Day Hike in the World – Harder Ridge

Harder Ridge in Switzerland, also known as Hardergrat (… grat is ridge in German) is our pick for the very best day hike on Earth.

  • 24km total … about 18km on a sharp ridge
  • 10+ hours. Physically and psychologically challenging.
  • no water available. Carry all you need.
  • not an official trail, but it’s easy to follow in good visibility
  • about 1500m above the lake
  • permits not required
  • it’s popular with trail runners who do about 35km entirely on foot.


Check our Harder Ridge information page.

let’s go outdoors is posting flyovers of some of the world’s best hikes on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch one route on Harder Ridge on YouTube.