Pete Lockey is a hiker / cyclist who has done many big trips around the world.
He noted my disappointment with the West Highland Way this past Summer, and recommended an alternative:
I was looking for a decent long distance walk in Scotland. The West Highland Way didn’t really appeal, but I found a book describing a [...]
Archive for the ‘books’ Category
28 Nov
West Highland HIGH Way, Scotland
10 Nov
last meal in Kathmandu
Egg masala dosa, garlic naan and coffee.
The vegetarian restaurant at Pilgrim’s Book House. If you’re into trekking, climbing or spirituality, this is one of the best bookstores in the world.
I picked up a classic, Nepal Himalaya by H.W. Tilman (1952). Some reading to supplement my audio books. I’ll need it during my acclimatization [...]
30 Oct
Banff Mountain Book winner – Revelations
Grand Prize
Revelations — Jerry Moffatt
by Jerry Moffatt and Niall Grimes
Phyllis and Don Munday Award, sponsored by the Alpine Club of Canada
Vertebrate Publishing (UK, 2009) 978-1906148119
Amazon
Check the rest of the Winners of the 2009 Banff Mountain Book Festival.
Mostly mountaineering titles, as usual.
27 Oct
The Monkey Wrench Gang – a review
I feel a little sheepish recommending a book glorifying what some would call industrial terrorists.
But I do.
Amazon.com Review:
Ed Abbey called The Monkey Wrench Gang, his 1975 novel, a “comic extravaganza.”
Some readers have remarked that the book is more a comic book than a real novel, and it’s true that reading this incendiary [...]
16 Oct
Banff Mountain Festivals 2009
Oct. 31st – Nov. 8th, 2009
Speakers include Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes, Royal Robbins, climber Chris Sharma, speed climber Ueli Steck, and extreme skier / BASE jumper Karina Hollekim.
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I spent a week at the 2007 festivals. My review:
Good, not great.
I’ll likely never return mainly because hiking is very under represented in Banff. It’s all about [...]
20 Sep
biking hiking Banded Peak, Alberta
by Besthike editor Rick McCharles
One of the best day hikes out of my home town, Calgary, is Banded Peak. But it’s a big day:
Something like 37 km return, a 1416m (4645ft) height gain.
Perhaps 27km on the bike and a 10km return hike/scree scramble to the 2,934m (9,626ft) summit.
Here’s the final deceptively easy looking approach.
Banded [...]
6 Aug
besthike pilgrimage to the Alps
by site editor Rick McCharles.
Jeff asks whether the Tour of Mont Blanc truly is the best hike in Europe.
He’s planning a hike in the Alps in the next couple of weeks.
And it sounds to Jeff … and to me … that the more difficult, longer High Route would be the better adventure.
I may [...]
3 Aug
future climbing trip to the Italian Dolomites?
Dreaming …
Via Ferrata are, in effect, a range of protected scrambling routes, comprised of skilfully installed fixed cables, ladders and gorge-spanning bridges, which assist ascents to high levels, from which you walk on, often to a nearby rifugio, or back to the starting point via a path.
Click PLAY or watch it on [...]
30 Jul
hiking the Stone Sea in Germany
Jeni and just about everyone else told me to travel to the most beautiful lake in the country. It looks like a fjord.
You get there from Berchtesgaden, 30km south of Salzburg. Hitler’s mountain residence, the Berghof, was located near here though Der Fuehrer rarely visited due to security worries. Today the Nazi Eagle’s [...]
2 Jul
Death in the Grand Canyon
The 2001 book Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon details 500 fatalities.
It’s a dangerous place to travel.
Library Journal:
Flagstaff, AZ-based authors Ghiglieri, a biologist who leads river trips in the Grand Canyon and abroad, and Myers (Fateful Journey: Injury and Death on Colorado River Trips in Grand Canyon), a medical doctor who has [...]
