Tag: nature

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Hiking to Aw-Asen Falls, Philippines

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

A month earlier, I’d asked LFC Travel and Tours (Facebook and Instagram only) to add me to a “Joiners Tour” of their day trip to Mt. Pinatubo.

Joining a group on the trip makes it much less expensive than booking privately. And more fun.

I’d sent in passport and a doctor’s letter confirming my health — but LFC still couldn’t put me on Pinatubo.

Who knows why? In my mind, just another example of how so many things don’t work in the Philippines.

LFC offered me an alternative for the next day ➙ Aw-Asen Falls at 142 feet (43 meters).

I signed on, still irked that it wasn’t Pinatubo.

Hikers are picked up in the middle of the night in a Hiace van.

Delivered to the parking lot first thing in the morning. About 5 hours of not sleeping / dozing for me coming from Clark. It’s about 8 hours from Manila!

Switched to the worst possible vehicle for the final 17km to the trailhead ➙ an underpowered Jeepney with not much suspension.

I was shocked to see a couple of hundred hikers out here on a Sunday morning.

I’d say 80% were women. Mostly young women.

It’s not a long hike. BUT there are 919 stone steps up and 919 down. 😀

First you cross 2 suspension bridges.

YES, Filipinos love a photo op.

We marched through some paddies.

Reaching the Falls, people relaxed for a couple of hours. We’d all arrived early in the day.

Drones are allowed. So there is plenty of footage on YouTube. And even more on TikTok.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The highlight for me was floating on a bamboo raft in the mist.

I’m pretty sure this guy could rope tow me from Peru to the Polynesian Islands. IF he had a long enough, light enough, rope.

Click PLAY to watch me on a raft, rescuing a hat, or watch it on YouTube.

Here’s our group. I only saw one other foreigner at the Falls. This hike seems to be quite unknown outside the nation. It’s not even on AllTrails.

On the return drive, we stopped for sunset at San Juan, La Union, a famed surfer beach. Consistent intermediate quality waves make it ideal for beginners.  

Mebuyan’s Vessel, an homage to the Bagobo goddess of the underworld, is an installation of 21 interconnected, inhabitable pods.

Signage said it could be climbed — but it was inexplicably closed. I must be in the Philippines.

A good trip, all in all.

Plenty of night driving, however. Those coming from Manila got very little sleep 2 nights in a row.

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Climbing Rinjani, Indonesia – day 1

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

MOST groups on our itinerary camp on the 1st volcano ridge day 1. Our guide offered us the chance to descend 3 hours to camp at the lake, instead. Super tough 1st day — but we were all glad we did it.

Mount Rinjani Crater Rim 1st night on the 3 day trek.

We were up for the dawn.  I added milk powder to my brutal black instant coffee. 

Banana pancakes excellent, as always. 

Driving up to the start at 600m we stopped for a blessing.  An important tradition with the local Sasak people as well as Hindus. 

Still clean and keen at the start.  

They’ve had a lot of deaths on this mountain, the most recent June 2025. 

Another died May 2025. Both from falls.

We each had to register with photo ID.   The Gunung Rinjani National Park, established 1997, is trying to make this adventure safer — but they have a long way to go.  It’s dangerous. 

Our goal was the 1st crater rim — only 6.9km.  Sounds easy until you calculate you need gain 2km in elevation over that short distance!

We started on the far right of this map.

The start through jungle was relatively easy.  THEN it got steep and challenging. 

Wherever hikers might stop to eat, long-tailed macaques will be waiting.  

These wild cousins are more worrisome than the ‘tame’, well-fed ones in the Monkey Forest, Ubud. 

Breakfast !

We hiked into and out of clouds. 

Crater rim beckons. 

This — really — is the best vista on the hike.   Crater lake Sagara Anak is huge, the colour unforgettable.  The volcano’s eruption in 1257 is considered one of the most powerful global volcanic events of the last 2,000 years.

We were scheduled to set up our camp on the ridge here at 2,600m. 

But we opted, instead, to hike down to the lake at 2000m, saving us 3-4 hours on day 2. 

We all agreed to go for it. 

OUCH …

That decent is awful and dangerous.  I took no photos.  We had to concentrate on every technical step. 

It was a relief to finally get to the lake.  This one of my toughest hiking days of all time.

We arrived just before dusk. 

Alpenglow time. 

Each group has their own toilet tent.  

The alternative at major camps are these good looking public toilets.  This one was filthy!  But some are quite new.  Fairly clean. 

Major camps have emergency shelters.  I don’t doubt they are used frequently.  The trek is risky. 

Our guide sent us to the hotsprings with one of the porters.  Fantastic.  A highlight of the entire trip. 

Tim (tim_de_bruijn on Instagram) was a full-time social media manager for a major Dutch soccer team. He showed us fantastic photography tips on his iPhone, including these two. It was pitch dark at the hotsprings!

Pitch dark at camp, as well.

tim_de_bruijn

Most amazing of all was his capture of the night stars. Very few of these were visible to the human eye. This from an iPhone 16 Pro Max.

tim_de_bruijn
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Climbing Rinjani, Indonesia – day 2

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

SUMMIT DAY

Tim’s great selfie (tim_de_bruijn on Instagram)

Awoke at the lake before dawn.  Went straight to the hotsprings on my own.  Had the hot bath to myself. 

We packed up camp quickly. 

Said goodbye to the lake. 

There are only a few bridges on this adventure.  More often you scramble down — and back up.   It must be miserable in the rain. 

Rarely are there stone steps.  This ain’t Nepal. 

We had about 600m to gain back climbing up to the 2nd crater rim from the lake. 

It was tough.

When I say tough, in addition to being technical, we increasingly had to deal with slippery ash.  

Once on the ridge, we set-up our tents. Had lunch.  Then a short lie down until 2pm.  

One of these pests actually went inside Mason’s tent while he was there! Cheeky.

Tim’s photo (tim_de_bruijn on Instagram)

We’d decided as a group to go for sunset today rather than sunrise the following morning.  This turned out to be our best decision. 

That means we’d climb another 1100m trying to get to the top before the sunset.  A deadline. 

It looked doable to me. 

BUT it got increasingly slippery and dusty as we ascended. 

Once above the clouds, we were motivated by the amazing vista. 

Gorgeous views — though it was dusty plodding in sections. 

Very, very slippery — we all used systems to keep scrambling slippery scree.  I did bouts of 20 steps. 

Made it!  And well before sunset.  

Only 1 other group tried our itinerary.  Perhaps half their group finished, just about sunset. 

In fact, I left the top even before sunset as I wanted some visibility on the scree section at the top before it got dark.  

Descent turned out to be fairly easy.  Mostly screeing through the loose dust and rock (scree).

Views on the way down were even better than on the ascent. 

Eventually we had to turn on our headlamps.  I held mine in one hand, finding it easier to direct the beam. 

Exhausted, we had dinner in our tents.  And went to sleep early. 

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Climbing Rinjani, Indonesia – day 3

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

Tim posted the BEST 20 photos from our trip in an Instagram story. Scroll through.

7am UP on our final day.  

I actually carried my own tent on this adventure. Air mattresses in the provided tents were not good. 😀

The crater rim vistas really are superb. 

The biggest takeaway from this trip for everyone is being impressed with the porters.  Rather than use the more efficient tump system, they balance these loads on one shoulder while doing big step-ups and step-downs.  

They all wear flipflops.  Until they break. 

We were headed down, back to civilization. 

Somewhat slippery — but overall fairly easy. 

We had lunch in a shady forest, monkeys and cows standing by to gobble down what leftovers they could get. 

It was a shock to get to the trailhead.  Noisy motor cycles. 

Perhaps 120 people readying to start.  

Those who sign up for 2 days, 1 night begin and end here close to Sembalun village.  They miss the lake and hotsprings.

It took about an hour to drive back from Sembalun to our start at Senaru village.  We returned rented gear and recovered our luggage left in storage. 

TIPS

  • BEST HIKE is our itinerary (3 days, 2 nights in tent) with an afternoon ascent rather than the crowded, dusty line-up for dawn.  Day 1 is long and hard, however. 
  • WAIT for a good weather forecast, if you can  
  • Green Rinjani looked one of the most professional companies at camp, to me.  Modern tents. Tables and chairs.
  • Grippy and comfortable shoes are the most important piece of gear.  Wear a size larger than normal so your toes aren’t crushed on the descent. 
  • Protection from sun and wind is important.  Sun screen.  I brought a sun hoodie.  
  • Porters provide as much water as you can drink.  
  • I fell about 8 times over the 3 days.  No injuries as I almost always landed on my backpack. 
  • I didn’t bring trekking poles.  And that was a mistake.  Our guide gave me one pole for long down climbs.  
  • It’s badly littered.  
  • Sanitation standards are low.  No water for washing up.  Not even the expected containers of alcohol gel that I’ve had on similar trips around the developing world. 

I completely enjoyed Rinjani.  It could hardly have gone any better for our group with the afternoon ascent.  

BUT ➙ Bottom line ➙ I can’t recommend this hike.  It’s simply too dangerous.  

During the July 2018 Lombok earthquake, multiple climbers and guides were killed by landslides triggered on Rinjani’s slopes. 

March 2007, seven people died of exposure after illegally scaling the volcano during a ban. 

Be sure to have evacuation insurance, just in case.

You’ve been warned. 

Trip Report

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Saysutshun (Newcastle Island), Vancouver Island

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

Saysutshun (Newcastle Island Marine) Park is a family friendly adventure, accessible only by foot passenger ferry or your own boat from Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.

I put my bike on an intercity bus. Then rode the fantastic Nanaimo bike trails to get to the ferry.

It’s a quick, scenic trip over to Saysutshun.

Many simply kayak over to the island. It’s quite protected and safe.

I believe it’s obligatory 😀 to take a photo at the first totem pole.

There are a number of trails to explore on foot and (some) on bike. I did both.

Most day trippers spend about 2 hours walking the trails.

With frequent stops for photos.

Surprisingly, coal was mined here 1853 – 1882. Hence the name, Newcastle.

The rocky shelf is perfect for exploration.

Most fun for me was exploring some of the boat wrecks at low tide.

As you can see 😀, I pushed this one boat back into the ocean.

Here’s the one I might want to salvage. 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

You are almost certain to see some of the Nanaimo ferries.

Sandstone quarrying began on Newcastle Island 1869. There is plenty of evidence of that stonework, even today.

Happily, you can still see some huge old growth trees.

I saw many deer. A few rabbits. None of the worrisome racoons.

For the first time at Saysutshun, I camped one night.

18 walk-in campsites are located in a quiet forested area a mere 5-minute walk from the docks.

Five group campsites are also available that can accommodate up to 50 guests.

Potable water is available along with flush and pit toilets, hot showers, and food lockers to protect your rations from local raccoons!

With no cars allowed on the island, the quiet is serene, with nothing but the sound of the ocean, birds and wind in the trees. And with no bears or cougars on the island, there is little worry of any alarming wildlife encounters.

Sites are available on a first-come first-served basis, but reservations are highly recommended.

Reservations can be made through the BC Parks online reservation system.

It took 3 tries and 2 different email addresses to get my campsite booked. Also, you have to book at least 48 hours in advance.

The campsites weren’t full in early June. But group sites were packed with school kids. Having fun.

I enjoyed most cycling and hiking after the last ferry returned to Nanaimo. It’s very peaceful.

I highly recommend you visit Saysutshun (Newcastle Island Marine) Park if you get to Nanaimo.

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Amazing Stuðlagil Canyon, Iceland

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

When the construction of Kárahnjúkar Hydro Dam was finished 2009, Stuðlagil (Studlagil) Canyon became fully visible.

The water level in the river Jökla, that runs through the canyon, dropped and amazing basalt columns have since become one of the most popular tourist attractions in eastern Iceland.

Click PLAY or get a glimpse on YouTube.

The landowners were still building tourist infrastructure in 2024.

I stayed at the simple campground on the northern side of the river.

A German couple — world travellers — in a camper van, offered me lamb dinner with locally picked mushrooms. And wine! It was my best meal in Iceland. 😀

Once the tourists were gone in the evening, I climbed down a long set of stairs to have the northern viewing platform all to myself.

Next morning, I cycled over to the southern side of the river. It’s the better experience. Go to both sides, if you can.

Stuðlagil (Studlagil) is a canyon in the Eastern Region of Iceland.

It is known for its unusual amount of large columnar basalt rock formations and the turquoise coloured river that runs through it.

The canyon also has an interesting story as it became an unexpected tourist sensation in 2016 after Einar Páll Svavarsson published an article in August of that year on hiticeland.com with spectacular photos.

A year later Einar also wrote an article about Stuðlagil in WOW air magazine in June 2017 and after that the canyon became a popular tourist destination.

It’s an easy detour off the Highway 1 Ring Road. About a 19km/11.8mi sidetrip along road 923. Mostly paved in 2024.

related – All you need to know before visiting Stuðlagil Canyon

official website – studlagil.is