Archive for the ‘hiking’ Category
hiking Japan’s northern Alps
I’m confirmed tomorrow to head for the Northern Alps to hike out of Kamikōchi:
… a remote mountainous highland in the western portion of Nagano Prefecture, Japan, which has been preserved in its natural state. …
It is sometimes referred to as the “Japanese Yosemite,” although it is considerably smaller than its American counterpart. …
34km
Japan’s classic alpine route.
I’ll be back online by Oct 2nd.
my best hiking photos
Just updated. … 830 pics
Alpamayo Trek, Peru
See ALL my best besthike photos.
Those are a subset of our thousands of photos, from over 200 of my hiking photo sets.
Expedition Idaho Race
I’m down in Kellogg, Idaho volunteering for a week long Adventure Race.
Here are racers from around the world, still clean and happy at the START …
They’ll race from Sunday 10am until the following Saturday night, finishing at a Blues and Beer Fest. Nearly a full week on bike, paddle and feet.
Check out our website. (I’m working on the BLOG portion.)
my new Out There AS-1 backpack
$189 is the cost of the best all-around adventure pack on the market right now.
I got mine yesterday from Mike Kloser himself. He packed it for me. Adjusted it for me. … And then made me chase him around the mountains of north Idaho for 12hrs continuous to test it.
The pack did great. I’m a wee bit exhausted.
Mike was testing 40 miles of the 400 mile Expedition Idaho Race coming up in a couple of weeks. I tagged along.
There are too many features to list. Watch the video on the site if you might be interested in getting one for yourself.
For pure hiking I’ll stick with my minimalist Granite Gear inflatable frame pack, but for any trip requiring “toys”, I’ll be using the AS-1.
hiking Big Paradise, Italy
survived Corsica’s GR 20 …
I grossly underestimated the difficulty of “Europe’s toughest trek“, the 180km long GR 20.
The second night was my low point, both hamstrings cramped. … I thought I’d need to quit, following two other hikers who decided to limp out due to blisters.
But each day I got stronger, the pack lighter. I ended up doing the tougher ‘half’ of the total route over 6 challenging days.
The last day was a long scramble to the summit of Monte d’Oro.
That was FUN. Perfect weather.
Less fun, from there (7837ft / 2389m) … it’s about 1400m straight down to the narrow gauge railway line at Vizzavona, where I made my escape.
That’s my toughest hike ever, by far.
… Rick offline hiking Corsica
The GR 20 is about 180km long.
The walk for most people takes around 15 days. I’m hoping to finish in 8 or 9 nights.
It’s a busy track this late in June, alpine huts and hot meals available. The first few days, including the “Cirque de la Solitude”, are the most intensely scenic. Unfortunately that’s when my pack will be heaviest. 
Sarkozy willin’ and the ferry don’t sink, I’ll start trekking Sunday afternoon, June 26th.
farewell Iceland
Today I fly to some other island that starts with “I” …
But the next one is an economic disaster.
My Iceland hiking trip reports are posted on BestHike.com
off hiking Skaftafell …
Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park is the most popular wilderness in Iceland. I’m offline hiking there the next 3 days, 2 nights. … If you can call them nights.
hiking Iceland …
My circumcision of the island is going well. Sheep, WIND, ponies, seabirds, WIND, cliffs, beaches, WIND, WIND, licorice candies, …
But I’ll be posting mostly over on my hiking blog …
