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 in this remote and stunningly beautiful region as well. High altitude passes and trails that have previously been off limits are now open to foreign travelers, including a route that leads to the village of Turtuk in the Nubra Valley. …

Kraig Becker – India opens remote trekking and mountaineering routes

I’ll get a copy of Trekking in the Indian Himalaya (2009) and start planning.

The author’s favourite trek is Markha Valley in Ladakh. I’d like to do some of the recently opened region on the same trip.

If interested, be sure you get the most recent edition. It’s great to see Lonely Planet updating their excellent trekking guidebooks.

I may even buy, for the first time, the PDF version. You can “Pick & Mix“, buying only the chapters you need. I’d put those on my iTouch for the trek rather than carrying paper.

The PDF version has free samples including the Table of Treks (PDF).

Now … when will independent hiking be allowed in Bhutan?

You can tell we are SERIOUS from the all caps typeface.

Kelly Bastone in Backpacker posted this list in 2008:

From a slippery Sierra catwalk to a treacherous Hawaiian paradise, we name the country’s 10 most hazardous hikes. Then we break down the dangers and provide local beta for conquering each route.

The Maze, UT

Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon, AZ

Barr Trail, Pikes Peak, CO

Mt. Washington, NH

Muir Snowfield, Mt. Rainier, WA

Huckleberry Mtn., Apgar Range, MT

Kalalau Trail, Kauai, HI

Buckskin Gulch, UT

Abrams Falls, Great Smoky Mtns., TN

Mist Trail, Half Dome, CA

click through for details on each – Backpacker

Buckskin Gulch

Flash flood is a greater worry to me than getting lost or being avalanched. Recall April 2008 when 7 of 12 “canyoneers”, most students, were killed in a flash flood in New Zealand.

Never climb underneath a glacier. It might collapse.

But, if you really, really want to check out the Comox Glacier …

Read an entertaining trip report on Pure Outside – Snow Cave at Century Sam Lake

The new North Coast Trail is close to the top of my MUST HIKE BEFORE I DIE list.

The North Coast Trail is a 43.1 km wilderness hiking trail in Cape Scott Provincial Park on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

… in Cape Scott Provincial Park runs along beaches and in forest around the northern tip of Vancouver Island from Shushartie Bay to Nissen Bight. At Nissen Bight it links up with an existing 15 km trail which leads to the trailhead at San Josef River. The total distance for hikers between the trailheads is 61 km. The trail is in a wilderness area and hikers may see deer, elk, black bears, cougars, wolves, sea birds, seals, sea lions, grey whales and sea otters. In two failed attempts, Danish pioneers tried to settle the area at the turn of the twentieth century and the trail incorporates some of their original routes.

Detailed route information is available on the BC Parks – Cape Scott hiking page.

official website – Northern Vancouver Island Coastal Trail

I’ve added it to our list of best hikes in North America

He did it. Kolby Kirk vowed May 4th, 2009 that he would do 100 serious hikes by Jan. 1st.

And he made it.

Congratulations.

Number of miles hiked: 417.4 miles
Longest hike: 15.9 miles (Hike #48 – San Gorgonio Mountain)
Hardest hike: Hike #21 (Telescope Peak, Death Valley)
Furthest hike from home: Hike #86 (Villarrica, Chile – 5,864 miles from Arcadia, CA)

click through for details – 100hikes.com

Recommended by Aasmund Godal by email:

Jotunheimen and Rondane are considered the classics for Norwegians.

Jotunheimen

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 – Galdhøpiggen (2469 m). …

The Jotunheimen area contains the Jotunheimen National Park, ….

Jotunheimen is very popular among hikers and climbers, and the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association maintains a number mountain lodges in the area, as well as marked trails between the lodges and to some of the peaks. …

Hikers normally stay in cabins. Some of the popular trails out of Bessheim:

traildatabase.org - click for larger version

What about nearby Rondane?

Rondane National Park

… Rondane is a typical high mountain area, with large plateaus and a total of ten peaks above 2,000 m (6,560 ft). The highest point is Rondeslottet (“The Rondane Castle”) at an altitude of 2,178 m (7,146 ft). The lowest point is just below the tree line, which is approximately 1,000 to 1,100 m (about 3,300 to 3,600 ft) above sea level. The climate is mild but relatively arid.

Apart from the White Birch trees of the lower areas, the soil and rocks are covered by heather and lichen, since they lack nutrients. The largest mountains are almost entirely barren; above 1,500 m (5,000 ft) nothing but the hardiest lichens grow on the bare stones. …

It would be convenient to hike both these National Parks on one trip.

And there are more great adventures listed on our list of best hikes in Europe.

I almost bought a ticket to Norway last Summer. Next time I cross the Atlantic it will be for Iceland and Norway.

Aasmund recommends the Norwegian Trekking Association website as the best place to start research.

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.

click for larger version

Less than 150km from Bogotá.

Nevado del Tolima

Paramillo del Quindio

Aasmund drafted a WikiTravel page on Los Nevados to assist those planning for that trip.

Looks great.

Szu-ting Yi, better known online as LittlePo, just hiked Tiger Leaping Gorge in southern China. One of our best hikes in Asia.

By email:

… I’d love to wish you a merry Christmas. I am right now in Lijiang, which is located at northwest of the Yunnan province in China. Two days ago, I hiked the trail overlooking the tiger leaping gorge, it was an amazing hike: sheer cliffs along the river, constant mountain views, and raging water. …

LittlePo is more of a climber than a hiker. But she’s in China doing research:

… My primary objective is to perform reconnaissance for my adventure travel business, LittlePo Adventures (a working title), and therefore I have been actively investigating aesthetic areas in China for active exploration and ultimate adventure. In the meanwhile, I have been making connections with local businesses and proposing collaboration projects with local residents.

Developing Business Ideas

I’ll be following this venture. Having trekked in China independently and illegally, I can assure you it’s a PAIN. Much better would be to sign on with a trekking company with guides who speak Mandarin and who have connections.

A dazed climber descending from a failed attempt on K2 got lost, stumbling into a remote village.

This week his story was named by the Outside Adventure Blog the Adventure Story of the Decade.

Kudos to Outside. That’s a gutsy and correct call. What Greg has done was the most inspirational story I’ve heard in recent years.

… Who is Greg Mortenson?

Greg Mortenson is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute www.ikat.org , founder of Pennies For Peace www.penniesforpeace.org , and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea www.threecupsoftea.com , and author of the bestsellerStones into Schools www.stonesintoschools.com.

In 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan (“Star of Pakistan”) for his dedicated and humanitarian effort to promote education and literacy in rural areas for fifteen years. …

About Greg Mortenson

This guy has done more by himself to help Pakistan than all the hundreds of millions spent by the U.S. government. I love the title of this article: He Fights Terror With Books

I highly recommend his first book. Greg Mortenson is my hero.

click for details on the book

Never has the failure to climb a mountain led to such success. After Greg Mortenson failed to climb K2 in 1993 to honor his dead sister, he picked a new mountain. He raised enough money so a small village in Pakistan could build their own school.

In 2006 he published Three Cups of Tea, a book chronicling his journey. By 2009 he had supported more than 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. At a time when U.S. foreign policy is governed by military might that includes Shock and Awe and a flock of high-altitude drones, Greg Mortenson took a simpler, gentler approach. He traveled on rugged roads to small villages—in the same remote regions where the United States dropped bombs from unseen and unheard planes high in the sky—to deliver cash so locals could build schools from stones and have basic learning supplies for their children. He took the war against violence out of the sky and put it in the hands of young girls on the ground.

Outside – The Top 10 Adventure Stories of the Decade

(via RickMcCharles.com)

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 South Face of Annapurna I. Travelling a very special route, Sir Chris will be joining us for the entire trek.

Trek Leader: Joe Bonington
Duration: 23 days (Kathmandu–Kathmandu)
Departing: 5th May 2010 (Very Limited Places – Enquire)
Price: £5,000

Likely the most expensive Annapurna trek ever sold. I’d LOVE to be there.

details on BoningtonTreks.com

(via Wide World and The Adventure Blog)

Annapurna is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.