Top Hiking Stories You May Have Missed

In recent weeks there have been several compelling hiking-related news-items and stories. In case you missed a couple of these, I thought I would share them with you. Here's a quick rundown of some of the top items of interest:

* So what's the best way to repel a grizzly bear while being attacked? Apparently it's by shoving your arm down its throat! That's exactly what one Montana man did last week in order to survive his attack.

* In case you missed my original post from last week, or all the national media coverage, this is truly one of the most amazing hiking videos I think I've ever seen. Four hikers were filming themselves when the suspension bridge they were crossing failed.

* What's more rare than a cougar sighting in Tennessee? How about a photograph of one taken in the northwestern part of the state.

* In case you haven't heard, a new Appalachian Trail Speed Record was set by Heather Anderson a few weeks ago. Here's a fairly extensive interview with the new record holder.

* The San Diego Reader recently published an excellent overview of Glacier National Park. If you've ever considered visiting the Crown Jewell of the National Park System, this is a pretty good place to begin your research. National Geographic also recently published a similar overview with more details.

* National Geographic also recently published its list of America's 100 Best Adventures, a state by state guide of the top adventures. Sadly, I've only done one, and portions of four others.....

* Europe is famous for its extensive systems of hut-to-hut hiking, especially in the Alps. In America there are only a dozen or so hut-to-hut systems - that is, places where you can hike (or bike, snowshoe or XC ski) from one hut to another, without carrying a bunch of backpacking gear. In this two-part article Sam Demas makes a well thought out case on why there should be more hut-to-hut hiking opportunities in America. Personally, I think this is a great idea, especially on national forest and state park lands. Here's part 1 and part 2.

* If you've ever been to the Grand Tetons you'll know that the Jenny Lake / Cascade Canyon area is an extremely popular area of the park. In fact, at times, it's pretty over-crowded. As a result of extremely heavy traffic over the decades the trails in this part of the park were in much need of updating. To remedy the situation the Grand Teton National Park Foundation launched a multimillion dollar project to rehabilitate the trails and infrastructure around Jenny Lake. The foundation recently published a video highlighting the progress made this past summer along the important stretch of trail between Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.

* Anne's Travels recently published her 6 Best Hikes on the Mt. Baker Highway. This was a timely article for me as I am in the process of planning a trip for the Mt. Rainier / Cascades / Mt. Baker area next summer. The Cascades / Mt. Baker in particular look quite stunning! If you've never visited her site, Anne provides a wealth of information on hikes across the country.

* Last week we announced the launch of 8 new hikes on our RockyMountainHikingTrails.com website. I should point out that one of those hikes, Ice Lakes in the San Juan Mountain (photo on right), should definitely be on your bucket list. It may have been the greatest hike either my wife or I have ever taken.

* Finally, Andrew Skurka shared some amazing photos from his recent Wind River High Route thru-hike in Wyoming.



Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
HikinginGlacier.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
TetonHikingTrails.com