Fantastic.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Site Editor gone HIKING
August 5th we start some weeks on the Pacific Crest Trail starting Tuolumne Meadows.
Mostly offline during August, I am hoping to post on the BestHike Instagram from the trail.
First afternoon is a day hike to Cloud’s Rest.
Rockwall Trail in the Canadian Rockies
About 56 km long in Kootenay National Park following the base of a massive limestone cliff wall.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
It’s one of our BEST HIKES in North America.
South Africa’s Whale Trail
As I post this hike is still closed due to COVID.
The Whale Trail is an unforgettable experience, taking you through one of the Western Cape’s most unique and diverse nature reserves.
The route stretches over 55km, from Potberg to Koppie Alleen, with five overnight stops (hikers spend the first night at Potberg before starting the trail). The unspoilt natural beauty on this trail is unsurpassable, leading through lush fynbos and offering stunning views of the coast.
De Hoop is known as one of the best land-based whale-watching spots in the world. Between June and November, the coastline is transformed as southern right whales migrate here to breed and look after their young.
Reservations are limited to group bookings of either six or 12. (No children.) The tariff includes the shuttle service from Koppie Alleen, where the trail ends, back to the Potberg tourism office and the Whale Trail parking area.
CapeNature
If you have a group of 6 people and are interested, check a trip report on Hiking South Africa:
The Whale Trail
Click PLAY or get a glimpse on the Whale Trail race.
Wild Confluence PCT Trail documentary
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (40min)
Via Ferrata – Squamish, B.C.
“Right to Roam”
Allemansrätten.
This video was actually filmed in Lofoten, Norway. But they also have a right to roam law in Norway.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
A funny John Muir Trail Book
I read Almost Somewhere by Suzanne Roberts in advance of our upcoming JMT hike.
Day One, and already she was lying in her journal.
It was 1993, Suzanne Roberts had just finished college, and when her friend suggested they hike California’s John Muir Trail, the adventure sounded like the perfect distraction from a difficult home life and thoughts about the future.
But she never imagined that the twenty-eight-day hike would change her life. Part memoir, part nature writing, part travelogue, Almost Somewhere is Roberts’s account of that hike. …
Amazon
Mountainsmith Zerk 40 Backpack
MAGGIE SLEPIAN: Best Backpacking Packs of 2020
Maggie’s article includes my own current favourite, the Hyperlite 3400.
NEW to me is the Mountainsmith Zerk 40, Editors’ Choice Award 2020 from Backpacker Magazine.
It’s quite different. More pockets. More features. Yet astonishingly still weighs only 1 pound, 9 ounces if you remove some of the extras.
Looks ideal for trail runners and fast packers.
I’m intrigued. Having carried a frameless pack for most of my life, I’d mostly use the Zerk frameless and without the hip belt.
It was designed in consultation with thru hiker The Hiking Viking, Tom Gathman.
I’m not a fan of the look, however. And it’s not waterproof.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Giant BANANA SLUG in my Tent
On finishing my first West Coast Trail hike 1999 I threw my backpack into the trunk. Drove directly to my parents home hours away.
Two days later I unpacked. Found 2 banana slugs inside.
I’m more careful now to keep pot, mug and cutlery clean and packed away at night.
My tent zipped.
Yet I still had a banana slug in my tent this year. 😐
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
besthike.com 