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Adventure

Category: Backpacking / Hiking / Tramping / Trekking / Camping (Page 1 of 7)

Popular hiking app HiiKER has made 27,000 trail maps available for download for free in a bid to increase hiker safety

2023.07.18 /

Used by over 600,000 hikers worldwide.

Hiiker app now offers offline maps for free

Hiiker app makes offline maps available for free

From the Hiiker blog »

One of the most staggering things we noticed over the past few years, is the number of rescues that are carried out by emergency services, that could have been avoided if the hiker had a good quality map. While we are developing an app to help more people get into the outdoors, there are still many that are exploring without the adequate gear/equipment to do so.

So by making offline maps free, we are breaking the status quo of all hiking apps, charging for this service and saying that safety shouldn’t require a subscription!

Offline maps means you have the freedom to us them while in the outdoors. Once you download the map to your device, you don’t need signal while hiking. So you can save that essential battery life!

 

Building the Pamir Trail

2023.05.14 /

Andrew Marshall, Explorersweb »

So far, the coalition has identified over half the route — roughly 850km. It’s hard to say how long the final trail will be.

Knowing that, in America, a problem with creating long-distance trails often springs from securing rights across privately-held land, I asked Baaker if he’d run into the issue.

“Actually, [the real problem] is the complexity of the terrain,” he said.

It seems a few spots in Tajikistan are so rugged that nobody has made trails there yet. That’s saying something for a country that’s been inhabited more or less constantly since the Bronze Age. Puzzling out how to get through certain passes, or around certain landslide-prone areas, is the primary problem Baaker and his team faces.

River crossings are another.

 

Eight multi-day hikes in Iceland 🇮🇸

2023.05.08 /
  • Laugavegur Trek
  • Fimmvörðuháls Trail
  • Volcanic Trails Trek
  • Askja Trail
  • Kjölur Trek
  • Shadow of Vatnajökull Trek
  • Viknaslodir East Fjords Trek
  • Hornstrandir Trek

Claire Whitters, writing in 10 Adventures »

Beckoning the thrill-seekers and intrepid adventurers, Iceland offers some of the most beautiful trekking environments in the world. Unrivaled in its natural beauty, visitors can indulge in geysers, waterfalls, fjords, glaciers, lava fields, black sand deserts, rhyolite mountains, natural hot springs, and more.

This incredible destination floating in the North Atlantic Ocean boasts the perfect opportunity for outdoor pursuits, presenting three national parks, numerous nature reserves, and an uninhabited district. One of the greatest ways to explore the moonscape is by trekking—thus, we curated a list for you. Keep reading the discover the best long-haul hikes in Iceland and begin planning your next big adventure!

Read More »

How Kristine Tompkins and some 300 of her closest friends helped protect 15 Million acres in Chile and Argentina

2023.04.13 /

Doug Tompkins; the Tompkinses on the coast of Chilean Patagonia

Outside »

The only way forward was to dive even further into her conservation work. With the help of a roughly 300-person staff at Tompkins Conservation, she exceeded her late husband’s dream of creating 12 national parks. The current count: 15, along with two marine parks and a total of 14.8 million protected acres in Chile and Argentina—an area roughly the size of West Virginia. Those numbers keep expanding, along with Kristine’s seemingly endless supply of energy to continue the work she started with her husband. “I carry Doug around in my pocket. If I get really stuck on something, I simply ask: ‘What would you do?’ I am just grateful that we have this marriage,” she said, still speaking of their union in the present tense. “It’s given me unbelievable strength.”

Pre-season backpacking kit and clothing maintenance tasks

2023.04.13 /

Some things to do and make sure is working and up to date at the beginning of the backpacking season and periodically thereafter.

  • Pre-Soak Your Water Filter
    • If your water filter has dried out in storage over the winter, or it’s brand new, soak it in water overnight to saturate the fibers so that water can flow through it freely.
  • Update Navigation Apps and Maps
  • Inspect and replace water bottles, reservoirs, hoses, and bite valves
  • Inspect and replenish your fire-starting kit
  • Donate, give away, or sell backpacking gear you’re not using it

More tips at the Section Hiker »

Bert terHart is Canoeing 7,000Km Across Canada

2022.05.09 /

Follow Bert terHart Live

63-year old Bert ter Hart is trekking and paddling his canoe across Canada, from west to east, using only a sextant and compass. He’s following routes that Canada’s Indigenous people travelled for thousands of years; they later helped guide the fur traders and explorers like David Thompson. He’s also carrying a petition that seeks to recognize these Indigenous guides.

Learn more about the Bert’s solo adventure at his website.

Wilderness Poop Etiquette Is Changing (You’re Probably Not Going to Like It)

2022.05.09 /

As the number of people exploring the great outdoors has exploded, so have the risk to the environment and the public’s health. We’ve known for a long time that burying our waste in six-inch deep cat holes is not a great way of breaking down poop. With so many now pooping in the wilderness, it is clear this is not sustainable to bury our waste, and time to update our backcountry poop etiquette.

Outside »

we ought to begin teaching backcountry users in nearly every location to pack out their poop with WAG bags (the acronym is for “waste alleviation and gelling”) or similar waste-disposal kits. Such kits usually include toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and special, double-layered bags you can poop directly into, complete with chemical crystals that render human waste inert and minimize the smell. (See below for tips on how to use these kits in the backcountry.)

Many public lands are already moving in this direction. A Forest Service website claims that “waste kits are becoming standard…throughout the West.” Visitors to Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument can now pick up free WAG bags at the visitor center. California’s Mount Whitney has required WAG bags since 2006, and it reports that users pack out 8,000 pounds of poop per year. And Rocky Mountain National Park provides WAG bags not just on climbing routes or above treeline but also at its backcountry permit office and trailheads throughout the park. »

Norway has some 300 soaring mountain staircases

2021.11.24 / / 0 Comments

(Source BBC / Credit: Morten Falch Sortland/Getty Images)

  • Preikestolen is among Norway’s most hiked trails, with 331,000 visitors reaching its exposed top in 2019.  Its stone stairway was built by Nepalese Sherpas.
  • Around 300 stone mountain stairways have been built in Norway over the past two decades.

Mike MacEacheran / BBC Travel »

In many ways, the location and the sublime views from Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock, near Stavanger in south-west Norway are irrelevant, because what is important is the journey to get there. It is a hike up an expertly engineered and well-maintained stone staircase that is as much of a marvel as the finale itself.

There’s an ancient beauty to the stairway and it comes from the fact that Preikestolen – like nearly 300 other natural stone staircase projects in Norway purpose-built over the past two decades – has been crafted by teams of Sherpas from Nepalese communities living in the shadows of Mount Everest.

There was a time when Norway’s mountain paths would only see a handful of local visitors. But social media has changed all that, and over the past decade, the country has seen such a dramatic spike in overseas travellers keen to Instagram its viewpoints that something has had to give.

 

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Please tread lightly, pack out your trash, and treat every person and location with respect.

Please do not bury waste or wipes – even those that are biodegradable. Always pack out bags, sanitary wipes, and feminine hygiene products to minimize impact on the environment and the spread of disease.

If you find any errors, have any tips, or see anything that might need improving, please let me know.

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