7 Jan
High on my list of future hiking destinations is the Indian Himalaya.
Good news on Gadling:
Adventure travelers were given even more incentive to travel to India recently when it was announced that the government would begin allowing access to previously restricted areas in the remote Jammu and Kashmir provinces. …
Backpackers will find plenty to love [...]
3 Jan
Recommended by Aasmund Godal by email:
Jotunheimen and Rondane are considered the classics for Norwegians.
Jotunheimen (English: The Home of the Giants) is a mountainous area of roughly 3,500 km² in Southern Norway. Jotunheimen is a part of the long Scandinavian Mountains range. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are in Jotunheimen, including the very highest – [...]
2 Jan
Aasmund Godal recently hiked a privately managed region of South America.
Los Nevados (English: snow mountains) is a national park located in the central area of the Colombian Andes.
Less than 150km from Bogotá.
Aasmund drafted a WikiTravel page on Los Nevados to assist those planning for that trip.
Looks great.
30 Dec
Wouldn’t it be great to take a long hike with one of the great legends of mountaineering, Sir Chris Bonington?
You can …
ANNAPURNA 2010
THE 50th ANNIVERSARY TRIP with SIR CHRIS BONINGTON
This very special trip is the 50th Anniversary of Sir Chris Bonington’s first ascent of Annapurna II and the 40th Anniversary of his assent of the [...]
29 Dec
Last trekking day. Namche to Lukla.
by site editor Rick McCharles
It was a long but comparatively easy descent from Namche to the airport at Lukla.
The highlight was the series of suspension bridges.
I’ll miss the Buddhist culture and monuments.
But I was looking forward to a barber shave, “one of the best travel bargains [...]
28 Dec
by site editor Rick McCharles
Gokyo to Namche
Renjo La should have been the last high alpine crossing on my Three Passes of Everest trek. … It starts with a steep climb from Gokyo over the ridge (5345m) at the top right corner of this photo:
A particularly grueling 10hr trek to Thame.
… Instead I turned south, [...]
27 Dec
by site editor Rick McCharles
I awoke to this gorgeous view from Gokyo village 4790m (15,715ft).
The brown hill off to the right (in shadow) is Gokyo Ri (5360m). Famed for its view of four 8000m peaks, including Everest.
Here’s the world’s highest mountain from the top:
That’s not my photo. Actually I did not make the [...]
26 Dec
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles.
Over the Cho La 5420m (17,782ft)
There are no tea houses. No restaurants. The Cho La is seriously dangerous. Often a guide, ice axes and ropes are needed. Yaks can only rarely cross.
I may not have been looking better, but I was feeling better after headache and some diarrhea [...]
25 Dec
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles.
After a long, cold night in the tent, I awoke with “mountaineer’s lassitude“:
… reluctance to put one foot in front of the other …
I’d first read of the condition in the mountaineering parody, The Ascent of Rum Doodle (1956), one of my favourite books.
I was sick again. The [...]
24 Dec
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles.
Over the Kongma La 5535m (18,159ft)
I heard plenty of warnings about the 9hr crossing. But in perfect weather … if you are already acclimatized to altitude, it’s only moderately difficult.
One of two access trails climbs quickly up and away from the Nuptse Glacier. And away from “teahouse trekking”. [...]
