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I’m not sure the best way to manage this, the old blog.

I tried putting up a 301 “redirect” from this home page to my new one using the Redirection plugin.

Leave a comment if you have advice for me.

It was hacked: remv.php in the Themes folder on Wordpress.

One major problem left to fix. My photos are not available. Working on that now.

Their 3 day traverse of Nahuel Huapi National Park in Argentina — on an unusual route — without meeting any other hikers on the trail, appeals to me. (They did have a dog or two tag along.)

… it was hard to decide the highlight - was it the glinting granite slabs of Cerro de las Cristales, the amazing blue of Laguna Azul, the perfect form of the green-clad glacial valleys, the richness of the wetlands, the great vistas of Tronador glistening in the sun - was today better than yesterday? - did it really matter? - tonight we would have some very pleasant dreams.

Personally, I want to see Mt Tronador.

larger version - flickr - fainmen

Check the trip report for yourself: Nahuel Huapi Traverse

Our besthike Nahuel Huapi Traverse information page.

Everyone has heard of the monolithic human figures carved from rock called Moai.

larger version

But I also want to hike Rano Kau in Rapa Nui National Park world heritage site.

larger version

David Stanley, author of Moon Handbooks South Pacific (Moon Handbooks), says Easter Island is the Pacific Island that “offers most to the hiker“. That’s surprising since the island is only 11km wide, 23km long!

I will get there. Sooner or later.

Two this year have been conclusively confirmed far outside their current range. This one was captured by a cottage surveillance camera.

An extremely rare sighting of a cougar has been confirmed in the Lac du Bonnet area of Manitoba. …

CBC

Cougars have seen me in the wild many times. But I’ve never spotted any of them. They are very elusive.

Here’s is the “normal” range:

Pumas (Puma concolor), also called cougars or mountain lions, are large wild cats, … mainly tan-coloured, and can be up to 1.85 metres long.

Wikipedia

There are HEAPS of choices for tramping there.

A good starting point for browsing your options is Photodiary of a Nomad. They’ve done New Zealand.

screenshot

These trips were taken September 2004 through April 2005.

WOW!

Click through to their index page - Tramping the Land of the Long White Cloud

The best guidebook by far is Lonely Planet Tramping in New Zealand.

related - our list of the best hikes in New Zealand

I’d never heard of hiking in Peurto Rico.

Three recommended walks:

While only an hour from downtown San Juan and firmly on the tourist track, the tropical rainforest of El Yunque, also known as the Caribbean National Forest, is a must-see.

Amen also recommends these as best hikes:

Click through for details - The Best Hikes in Puerto Rico

For a guidebook, he recommends Puerto Rico Off the Beaten Path, 5th (Off the Beaten Path Series)

But it was too miserably overcast to hike far.

Has anyone ever had a GOOD hike there?

This trip report by Hank Leukart on Without Baggage is typical of others I’ve read:

… the best place to cross a braided river like the McKinley is at its widest point, when the river’s water spreads across many channels (or braids). The individual channels are shallower and slower moving than at river’s narrowest point, where all of the braids are combined into a dangerous, freezing, fast-moving current. Using our topographical map and compass to guide us, we walked to the river’s widest point and began crossing.

Each braid was harder than the previous; at first the water only reached our shins, but in later braids it reached our knees, our waists, and eventually, about halfway through our crossing, it reached our chests. Silt made the water opaque, so we painstakingly searched for the best place to cross each braid by throwing rocks into the water to test depth as we slogged through a labyrinth of rock bars between braids. We used all of the crossing techniques we knew (facing upstream, walking sideways, using walking sticks, and stabilizing against each other), but the crossing became progressively more difficult as the river became deeper and we became colder and wetter (water at 36 degrees Fahrenheit without a dry suit is unbearable for any length of time).

Eventually, we became trapped on a small rock bar with very little space to move up or down stream. We knew (by throwing rocks) that the next braid was at least as deep as the last, but there wasn’t much we could do to change the situation without crossing braids in reverse and moving backward, so we decided to try crossing the next channel from our current position. As we stepped in, the water reached above our waist, but we knew it would be passable. Then, we took a second step and discovered that the river-bottom had a sheer drop-off.

In an instant, water was above our heads and we were floating downstream at 20 miles per hour in 36-degree water with 45-pound backpacks strapped to our backs.

As I looked into my brother’s eyes, I could see that he thought we were going to die, and I telepathically agreed. I thought to myself, “This is how those stupid people you read about in newspapers die in the wilderness.” …

Did they drown?

Or was it another Alaskan sufferfest? Off route? Running out of food?

Click through to find out - Accepting Wet Feet.

The photography is terrific.

link

related post: hiking in Alaska … disappointing

Life Magazine - July 1949 - Photographer: Allan Grant

This is just one of 10 million high-quality images from the Life Magazine’s photo archive recently added to Google Image Search.

more Life magazine hiking photos

This would work.

VholdR Wearable Camcorder (Black) ($330)

Leave a comment if you have any other recommendations.

“Waterproof” (or water resistance) is a big selling point. Here is the VholdR being used on a Jetski.