Great Adventures: Experience the World at its Breathtaking Best

320 Pages·2012·582.83 MB·English

by  Lonely Planet

E X P E R I E N C E T H E W O R L D AT I T S B R E AT H TA K I N G B E S T
HEMIS CORBIS|
contents
INTRODUCTION 6
by Ben Fogle
HIKE ABOVE & BELOW ANIMALS
Tramp New Zealand’s Milford Track 10 Canyoneer Utah’s Paria Canyon 118 See Pandas in China 202
Summit a Nepalese Trekking Peak 14 Paraglide Mont Blanc 122 Walk with Wolves in Yellowstone 206
Walk Turkey’s Lycian Way 18 Plunge into the Caves of Belize 126 Track Mountain Gorillas in Uganda 210
Trek Chile’s Torres del Paine 22 Balloon over Sossusvlei, Namibia 130 Wash Elephants in Thailand 214
Find the Source of the Oxus 26 Caving England’s Peak District 134 Explore Kruger’s Wilderness Trails 218
Take on the Tour du Mont Blanc 30 Ride with the Khampas 222
Hike Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains 34 CLIMB Camel Trek in Wadi Rum 226
Hike California’s John Muir Trail 38 Climb the Nose of El Capitan 138
Trek Corsica’s GR20 Trail 42 Climb Mt Roraima, Venezuela 142 WATER
Walk Australia’s Larapinta Trail 46 Climb Mt Everest 146 White-water Sledge in New Zealand 230
Amble England’s South West Coast 50 Take the Three Peaks Challenge 150 Windsurf the Columbia River Gorge 234
Hike Alaska’s Chilkoot Trail 54 Summit Mt Kilimanjaro 154 Row the Thames 238
Climb Volcanoes in Kamchatka 158 Kayak and Cruise Antarctica 242
DIVE Scale Vie Ferrate in the Dolomites 162 Raft the Amazon 246
Dive Bikini Atoll 58 Climb Argentina’s Mt Aconcagua 166 Coasteering in Pembrokeshire 250
Dive with Sharks in South Africa 62 Rock Climb at Railay, Thailand 170 Sail Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast 254
Dive Iceland’s Tectonic Plates 66 Bouldering at Fontainebleau 174 Raft the Source of the Nile 258
Snorkel South Africa’s Sardine Run 70 Canoe Florida’s Wilderness Waterway 262
Dive the Yucatán’s Cenotes 74 ICE & SNOW Raft Tasmania’s Franklin River 266
Swim with Whale Sharks 78 Ice Trek Argentina’s Moreno Glacier 178 Paddle with Orcas in British Columbia 270
Ice Climb at Banff 182 Raft the Colorado River 274
BIKE Ski Tour the Haute Route 186 Kayak the Yasawa Islands 278
Mountain Bike Moab’s Slickrock Trail 82 Ice Trek Zanskar in India 190 Row Across Siberia’s Lake Baikal 282
Cycle Through Vietnam 86 Dog-sled the Yukon 194 Kayak Mosquito Bay 286
Mountain Bike Coed y Brenin 90 Snowshoe Bulgaria’s Rila Mountains 198
Cycle the Annapurna Circuit 94 DRIVE
Ride the Tour de France’s High Passes 98 Race a Rickshaw 290
Mountain Bike the Great Divide 102 Drive the World’s Deadliest Road 294
Cycle Canada’s Icefield’s Parkway 106 Race the Plymouth–Banjul Rally 298
Pedal the Camino de Santiago 110 INDEX 311 Jeep the Pamir Highway 302
Cycle Prince Edward Island 114 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 320 Drive the Canning Stock Route 306
JOHN KELLY GETTY|
INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
that combine all three. One country where those three factors My wife and I drove for three days with our dogs and a couple
ADVENTURES OF A LIFETIME
often merge is Iceland. It’s associated with fire and ice, but dip of fishing rods through Europe to Scandinavia, where we lashed
beneath Iceland’s surface and you’ll discover an unimaginable vast timbers together to form a raft that weighed more than a
sub-aquatic world (see page 66). car. It was backbreaking work, but the sense of reward when we
From a mossy knoll next to a tiny pool of water I tumbled into finally set sail with our tent and a small cooker, gliding with the
a liquid wonderland between the tectonic plates of Europe and gentle current of the river as the sun slipped into the horizon,
The sheer rock face soared out of the rainforest, its summit inspired by them to write his famous novel The Lost World. I North America. In the Silfra Rift in Þingvellir National Park, was immense... Right up until the moment we realised neither
cloaked in cloud. I scrambled up a muddy slope, across one spent the night in a cave and felt like a pioneer in a new land. where the water is just 2˚ above zero, you can see further than of us knew how to stop the thing. I resorted to jumping in the
of the few vegetated parts of the mountainside, and under the My experience on Mt Roraima was life changing. From being 100 metres. It is some of the clearest water on the planet, river and looping a rope around the biggest tree I could find.
plume of a waterfall. This was my portal to another world. a hopelessly non-academic and helplessly unsporty child, I giving the impression that you are suspended in deep space – It isn’t an adventure unless something goes awry. It poured
Trudging along the narrow trail, I zigzagged up the final path, immersed myself in new cultures, customs and environments or a giant glass of vodka. The chasm disappeared hundreds of with rain, we got stuck in eddies, and it coincided with the
through the cloud and emerged onto the plateau. around the planet. Such adventures helped me understand metres into the black horizon. I swam from Silfra Hall into the coldest Scandinavian summer on record. Eventually, the raft
Here I entered a place unlike anywhere I had ever seen or more about the world and enriched my life; the astonishing celestial Silfra Cathedral. Even the cold water couldn’t chill began to break up thanks to my poor rope-work. We abandoned
dreamed. The top of the mountain was like the backdrop of a growth in adventure travel doesn’t come as a surprise. my spirits. Long shafts of sunlight pierced the water, creating it, paying the rafting company to salvage it. It may be surprising
sci-fi B-movie: blackened rocks of all sizes were interspersed Suddenly, we want more from our downtime than a beach an underwater light display to rival the Northern Lights. that it remains one of my adventuring highlights, as meaningful
with tiny, colourful gardens. The anarchic landscape – scattered lounger and a book: we want something to talk about, an It remains the most beautiful place I have ever seen. And as my climb up Mt Roraima. We still laugh about the famous
with white crystals and pink beaches – was fissured with gorges experience that turns a week-long holiday into the trip of a challenges that test our resilience, such as diving in icy water, rafting holiday and it has become part of Fogle family folklore:
and babbling red rivers. Rolling mist, funneled up the cliff like lifetime. This book is an inspiring collection of the greatest teach us about ourselves – to be resourceful, to be patient – as I learned a lot about my wife, and she me, during that holiday.
smoke, added to the eerie scene. Pterodactyls wouldn’t have adventures in the world, each satisfying our thirst for challenge well as reminding us to care for the wilder regions of our world. Whether you’re an armchair traveller or you use this book
looked out of place swooping above me. and discovery. And whether you’re interested in trying a new I have pushed myself to my physical limits rowing across the as a bucket list, it could change your life. Even for a seasoned
I was 20 years old and I had just completed my first great activity, exploring little-known places, or encountering wildlife Atlantic Ocean and hauling a sledge to the South Pole, but adventurer like me, there are still experiences to chase. I’ve got
adventure, a journey through the jungles of Venezuela to Mt face-to-face, the ‘Making it Happen’ section of each adventure is adventures don’t have to be scary, hard, or adrenalin-charged. my eye on rowing across Lake Baikal. Who wants to join me?
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H I K E

MICHAEL DEYOUNG CORBIS|
HIKE
Tasman Milford Sound
Sea
Homer Tunnel
Queenstown
Te Anua
Fiordland National Park
SOUTH ISLAND
Pacific
Ocean
TR A MP THE MILFORD
IN NEW ZEALAND
once described as the finest walk in the world, the south island’s
milford track is a multiday foot journey beside gin-clear streams,
between menacing canyon walls, over an alpine pass, and past one
of the world’s highest waterfalls. what’s not to like?
Every day, busloads, carloads and planeloads of people squirm through the
10 ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCES
mountains of Fiordland National Park to visit New Zealand’s postcard-perfect
Milford Sound, but once it was only walkers who could make it to these shores.
A path to the long-inaccessible sound was made possible with the discovery  Stepping through lush beech forest along
of 1069m Mackinnon Pass in 1888 by Quintin Mackinnon and Ernest Mitchell. the banks of the Clinton River.
This alpine saddle immediately became – and remains – the midpoint and  Wondering at the winter carnage as you pass
centrepiece of the Milford Track, opening up access to Milford Sound decades avalanche clearings near Hidden Lake.
before the road was carved through the mountains. Mackinnon would become
 Bracing against the weather atop
its first guide (though, tragically, he drowned in Lake Te Anau in 1892), and the
Mackinnon Pass – there’s a reason the shelter
track would spend decades as the private domain of guided trampers. It wasn’t
was built here.
until 1966 that independent walkers were allowed onto the Milford Track.
 Standing in the showery mist of 580m-high
Dubbed the ‘finest walk in the world’ by the London Spectator in 1908, the
Sutherland Falls.
53.5km track has since gained such popularity that access is now heavily
 Crossing high swing bridges as you descend
regulated. During the tramping season, which runs from late October to late
through the Arthur Valley.
April, only 40 walkers can begin the track each day. You can walk in only
FIORDLAND NATIONAL PARK
one direction – Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound – and you must follow a set
itinerary, staying in designated huts each night.
With its coast frayed by fiords – or sounds – Fiordland
If the experience is regimented, the landscape you’ll experience is far from
National Park, at 12,523 sq km, is the largest national
it. From Lake Te Anau, the track funnels through Clinton Valley, with its
park in New Zealand and one of the largest in the
glacier-scratched walls closing to little more than a crack at its head. From
world; in comparison, Yellowstone National Park
here it climbs to the crest of wind-whipped Mackinnon Pass. The descent
covers 8987 sq km. It contains New Zealand’s finest
follows the headwaters of the Arthur River, passing by 580m-high Sutherland
assortment of waterfalls, sharp granite peaks and 14
Falls, the highest waterfall in New Zealand, and a string of other waterfalls
fiords, most famously Milford Sound. The park was
cocooned inside rainforest. The four-day tramp ends at Sandfly Point on the
established in 1952 and now forms the largest slice
shores of Milford Sound.
of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. It was
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HIKE
■ The Adventure Unfolds this airy perch, though the drop is so precipitous it
The water in the Clinton River is as clear as air, the trout seeming to hang in it makes you giddy just to imagine it. Another good
like marionettes. Lichen hangs in ponytails from the trees, and ferns surround reason to linger on the pass - but tarry too long and
the track. It’s like walking through parkland – flat, easy, the melodic whisper you’ll miss your berth for the night.
of the river – which makes it hard to imagine that you’ll be atop an alpine pass
in less than a day, probably being battered by who-knows-what weather. ■ Making it Happen
As you head upstream, the high walls of the Clinton Canyon rise to frame a Bookings must be made ahead of time to walk
classic U-shaped valley, the scratches from the glacier that carved it looking the Milford Track in season (late October to late
like giant petroglyphs. You sleep the night at Mintaro Hut, setting out again April); they can be made on the Department of
into cloud in the morning as you begin the 400m climb to Mackinnon Pass. Conservation website. The Milford Track has a
You can see little in this mist, except for the ever-increasing lichen – the long history of guided tramps, which are operated
landscape comes to resemble cloud forest the higher you climb. by Ultimate Hikes.
Almost simultaneously, you step out of the tree line and the cloud. The
greens and greys are gone, replaced by butter-yellow grasses and pure blue sky. ■ An Alternative Challenge
So often trampers reach this pass and see nothing but cloud, wind and rain, During winter the Milford Track is subject to
with New Zealand’s foulest weather funnelling up the valleys to buffet the avalanches, making winter trekking perilous and
pass, but you’re in luck. The mist has compressed into the Clinton Valley, and inadvisable. But if you want to escape the summer
you stand god-like above the clouds. Peaks spear out of the mist, and the pass crowds, it’s possible to walk on the cusp of the
is like a balcony above oblivion. season (May is ideal), when track regulations
Even if Sutherland Falls and Milford Sound weren’t ahead, it’d be worth the aren’t in force. Bookings aren’t required, and
days of walking just for this ethereal view. You don’t want to leave. You wander Tracknet in Te Anau operates out-of-season boat
across to the other side of the pass, staring dizzyingly down into the Arthur transfers to and from the trailheads on Lake Te
Valley, your guiding line to Milford Sound. Somehow you must descend from Anau and Milford Sound.
13
KEAS PETER BENNETTS | LONELY PLANET IMAGES ANDREW BAIN | LONELY PLANET IMAGES
OPENING SPREAD Mitre Peak stands beside Milford Sound. It’s a 12-hour round trip to the summit for experienced trampers. ABOVE (L) Lock up your
New Zealand doesn’t have a great store of native lunch, the kea raids backpacks. ABOVE (R) Mackinnon Pass: expect wind, rain and sunshine, usually on the same day. LEFT Sutherland Falls, Fiordland.
wildlife, but one feathered ‘friend’ most trampers
quickly come to know is the kea (right). The world’s ARMCHAIR
only alpine parrot, the kea is a large olive-green bird
with bright-red underwings. It’s a great sight and  Tramping in New Zealand (Lonely Planet ) Has a full description and  Milford Sound: An Illustrated History of the Sound, the Track
sound – listen for its ‘kee-aa’ call – though your lasting guide to the Milford Track. and the Road (John Hall-Jones) An all-in-one history of the Fiordland
memories of the cheeky and fearless kea might well  Classic Walks of New Zealand (Craig Potton) Beautifully region, including the Milford Track.
have to do with its rather antisocial habits. Leave your
photographed book featuring nine of NZ’s best hikes, including the  The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001–03) Middle Earth found much
backpack for a moment and you may well find a kea is
Milford Track. of its home around the Fiordland region; watch the trilogy for a
dismantling it. Keas have a reputation for picking apart
car windscreen wipers, and are also partial to ripping  Wild Fiordland (Neville Peat & Brian Patrick) In-depth look at the scene-setting intro.
apart the likes of drinking tubes, clothing and tents. JAMES L. AMOS | CORBIS natural history of Fiordland National Park.
HIKE
GREAT HIMALAYA TRAIL
Fancy tackling the world’s ultimate trek? Nepal’s latest
and greatest trekking challenge is the Great Himalaya
Trail, a 2500km-long network of trails stretching the
CHINA length of the Nepal Himalayas, from Humla in the west to
Kangchenjunga in the east. A few extreme trekkers have
NEPAL
covered the route in as little as 47 days but most sane
Mt Everest
hikers will consider it a lifelong goal, biting off two-week
Kathmandu Lukla Mera Peak
or three-week chunks over a period of several years.
INDIA

SUMMIT A NEPALESE
TREKKING PEAK
if you’ve hiked as far as base camp and felt the itch to take the
next step towards actually ascending a summit, nepal’s trekking
peaks offer a spectacular taste of expedition climbing with all the
himalayan views but not the prohibitive cost.
Bivouacked somewhere between a teahouse trek and a Himalayan expedition
14 ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCES
are Nepal’s so-called ‘trekking peaks’, a series of spectacular summits that
range from 5550m hills to 6660m giants. The phrase makes them sound
deceptively easy, but don’t be fooled, these treks are serious physical  Relaxing over a pot of ginger tea and a slice of
challenges, and most of them require a good level of fitness and even some apple pie at one of the Everest region’s cosy
advanced mountaineering skills. Sherpa lodges.
By far the most popular and least technical of these challenges are Island  Trying to get some sleep through the dull fog of an
Peak (6189m) and Mera Peak (6476m), both of which lie in the spectacular altitude headache in a freezing, rocky base camp.
Khumbu region of Everest. Deep in the heartland of the Sherpa people, this
 Warming your hands and following the beams
area is hallowed ground to vertically minded mountaineers from right across
of light from your head torch as you set off for
the globe.
the summit in the frozen predawn.
Island Peak, given its popular name by Eric Shipton in the 1950s but
 Realising there’s nowhere higher to go as you
properly known as Imje Tse, is the lower of the two peaks but involves slightly
finally reach the summit, exalting in the incredible
more technical climbing, including some small crevasse crossing. Mera Peak
views around you.
is a technically simpler climb, but the more remote location and extra 285m
 Listening to the wind whip through the prayer
of altitude present their own particular challenges. Neither peak is exactly
flags atop a Himalayan pass.
busy but you can expect to join 30 or more fellow climbers as they make their
summit bid.
The single most important factor in a successful ascent is acclimatisation,
so wise first-timers generally preview an ascent with a leisurely trek up to
the stunning Everest Base Camp or Gokyo Lakes regions, often throwing in a
challenging pass crossing of the Cho-la or Renjo-la en route for good measure.
It’s the combination of spectacular scenery, relative comfort and a demanding
physical challenge that makes a trekking-climbing combination such a dream
trip, so take your time, acclimatise properly and enjoy it.
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HIKE HIKE
■ The Adventure Unfolds snow and the occasional crack of an ice axe. After or $2000 for Mera Peak. If you really want to head
Half the adventure is just getting to the foot of the peaks. For Island Peak, a short, steep and exposed climb assisted by fixed off the beaten trek, agencies also run trips to such
this involves a short flight to Lukla, from where most groups make the two- ropes, a final ridge traverse reveals spectacular alternative trekking peaks as Lobuche, Naya Kanga
week teahouse trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC), to aid acclimatisation. views of ice and rock over Makalu, Ama Dablam and Paldor, as well as Pisang and Chulu East in the
EBC is Nepal’s most popular trek, taking you past Sherpa villages, Tibetan and Lhotse’s southern face, an unforgettable Annapurna region. A good trekking company will
monasteries and a roll-call of the world’s highest mountains. Along the route, panorama of four of the world’s highest peaks. help you match a peak with your experience.
sobering stupas memorialise climbers lost on the surrounding peaks. Island Peak offers the simplest way to bag your Boots and other climbing gear can be rented
After 10 days or so of trekking, you’ll branch off the main trail towards first 6000m summit but it’s unlikely to be your last. in Kathmandu or Namche Bazaar but you should
Chhukung to meet your climbing guides and porters. The first day here is Standing atop a Himalayan peak brings such an bring your own down jacket and sleeping bag. On
spent in briefing and basic training in the use of crampons, ice axe, fixed ropes addictive high that this may be the first of many. an organised trip, your sirdar (head sherpa) will
and Jumars (ascenders). It’s then a half-day hike to the huddle of tents and arrange all the logistics from permits and porters
rocky moraine that is Pareshaya Gyab base camp. Some groups ascend directly ■ Making It Happen to tents and climbing equipment. Daily flights run
from here, while others opt for a high camp at around 5500m. An element of red tape is involved in climbing the between Kathmandu and Lukla but they can be
The actual ascent starts around 1am in order to get you to the summit by 33 official trekking peaks, as is a climbing fee of delayed by several days in bad weather.
dawn. The eight-hour return climb is relentlessly demanding; until you’ve either US$350 or US$500 per group; many people
exerted yourself at 6000m, it’s hard to imagine how debilitating high altitude join a commercial group to share costs. Several ■ An Alternative Challenge
can be. Through the fog of exhaustion and breathlessness comes a focus on adventure travel companies in Kathmandu offer Mera Peak is the second most-popular trekking
every footstep, with the only sounds coming from the crunch of crampons in the guided climbs for as low as US$700 for Island Peak peak in the Everest region. The approach entails
a gorgeous weeklong camping trek from Lukla
ARMCHAIR
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SHERPA & SHERPA
No, this isn’t the Everest region’s latest legal firm, but
rather a semantic distinction. A Sherpa (Sherpani for
women) is any member of the Tibetan-related ethnic
group that relocated from eastern Tibet to the Solu-
Khumbu region in the 15th century. The ‘sherpa’ that
brings you tea and packs away your tent on your trek
is a generic term used throughout the Nepal trekking
industry. Your sherpa may indeed be a Sherpa. But not
necessarily. Ashamed at how you puff away like a steam
train above 4000m while your Sherpa climbing guide
barely breaks into a sweat? Well, it’s not entirely your
fault: Sherpa haemoglobin transports oxygen more
efficiently around their bodies. You never stood a chance.