arctic « Hiking Trails Blogs

Archive for the ‘arctic’ Category

Dientes Circuit trip report

Monday, April 9th, 2012

Sebastian Irazuzta via email:

… In 2010 I was inspired by the trek you have posted on Navarino Island in the South of Chile. After some research my wife and I decided to take our Canadian winter vacation to Southern Chile and Argentina and see the wilderness of Navarino Island for ourselves. I have posted a short description along with some photos and videos of this trip on Everytrail. …

That’s an interactive map. Click on the image to see it.

I should mention that the weather was sometimes amazingly harsh.

Despite this, I think it was one of the nicest wilderness treks I have
done. I think you may find this post interesting in that I have
uploaded my GPS tracks for the entire trail. This is something I wish
I had had when I was on the trail myself as some sections were
difficult to navigate by map alone due to bad weather.

Thanks Sebastian!

related – our Dientes page

Posted in alpine, arctic, coastal, health & safety, snow and ice | Comments Off

ski up hill – skizee

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

I saw this on TrailsNet.com.

Skizee:

… It is like a ski – snowboard – skateboard version of the Ridekick. Whereas the Ridekick is a self-propulsion system for bikes, the Skizee does the same thing for skis. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

details and links – name

… I’d find some way to run over myself.

CONGRATS to Tim Park and Jim Maidment from (nearby) Kimberley, B.C. on bringing this fun product.

Posted in arctic, gear, snow and ice | Comments Off

Iceland – hiking the East coast

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Richard Tulloch:

I’m sorry, Tasmania, Swiss Alps, New Zealand and even you, Himalayas. You’ve each just been knocked down one place in my ‘world’s most spectacular hiking destination’ list.

Five days tramping around the ‘Deserted Inlets’ of Iceland’s east coast have shot it to number one in the rankings for scenery, challenging terrain within safe limits and ‘having the place to yourself-ness’. …

read more – ICELAND – hiking with vikings

My hiking guidebook didn’t even mention that part of Iceland. No wonder they had it to themselves.

Richard was a guest of Fifty Degrees North:

Trip Name: Hiking at the End of the World
5 days
Strenuous
Price from: AU$1280

Posted in alpine, arctic, photos | Comments Off

hiking Svartifoss, Iceland

Monday, June 20th, 2011

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Svartifoss (Black Fall) is a waterfall in Skaftafell … Iceland, and is one of the most popular sights in the park.

It is surrounded by dark lava columns, which give rise to its name. The hexagonal columns were formed inside a lava flow which cooled extremely slowly, giving rise to crystallization. Similar well-known lava formations are seen at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, and on the island of Staffa in Scotland. …

After seeing the unique falls, I continued on to the Skaftafellsjökull glacier overlook.

I left a Summit Stone at the base of this sign.

From there you can walk up and alongside the big ice.

It was a tad bit windy, as you may be able to tell from this photo. (I might have been able to BASE jump using just my jacket.)

See more photos from this day hike.

Posted in arctic, snow and ice | Comments Off

bear trashes plane

Monday, February 21st, 2011

From 2009.

… When bush pilot Luke Miller, 28, made an overnight stop at a friend’s hunting lodge in Southwest Alaska … he had no way to know that a large and very dedicated menace would, under cover of night, chew and claw his plane to shreds. …

Alaska Dispatch – An appetite for revenge

Yikes.