Yosemite Valley
Showing posts with label Yosemite Valley. Show all posts

Thru-Hiking the John Muir Trail in 7 Days with Andrew Skurka

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

No comments
Fresh off his incredible solo trek around the Alaskan and Yukon bush in 2010, Andrew Skurka is at it again. This past summer he guided Gerry Morton, President and CEO of EnergyFirst, on a 7 day hike along the entire 224-mile John Muir Trail. Averaging 32 miles a day, the two hikers trekked from the Yosemite Valley to the summit of 14,505-foot Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48. The video below documents some of the highlights from their adventure.

In recent years Skurka has become known as a hiking and adventure superstar. During his trek around Alaska and the Yukon he traveled roughly 4680 miles in 176 days. This included 1315 miles of skiing, 2100 miles of trekking, and 1270 miles of packrafting.

In addition to his recent Alaskan and John Muir Trail excursions, he's hiked the Appalachian Trail, and in 2007, became the first person to hike the 6875-mile Great Western Loop, which includes the Continental Divide and Pacific Crest Trails. It's probably safe to say that after all those miles he should be an expert on blisters. Andrew offers some excellent tips on preventing them in the January issue of Backpacker Magazine.

As of today, Skurka is officially an author as well. The Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide was officially released today by National Geographic Books, and is available on Amazon. In this how-to guide, Skurka "shares the gear, supplies and skills that will allow you to love hiking, while still remaining safe and comfortable while camping."

Here's the video from the John Muir Trail:





Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
Read More

Video: Yosemite rock fall

Saturday, July 24, 2010

1 comment
Since glaciers retreated around fifteen thousand years ago, rock fall has been the major force of change in Yosemite Valley.

Below is the latest video from Yosemite National Park. As part of a series known as Yosemite Nature Notes, the video chronicles the role of rock fall in the evolution of the famous granite walls that dominate Yosemite Valley.

It features a cliff-side interview with a rappelling park geologist, and some amazing rock fall footage that was captured by a passing tourist. That same tourist revisits the slide area the following year and compares what he saw in his view finder to the actual rocks at the slide area. Pretty amazing.

I've been hiking in Colorado on a couple different occasions when we heard the loud crack of rock hitting the ground below a cliff face. It's kind of a frightening sound. Fortunately we were far enough away to be in no danger on those occasions.

Although you may not realize it, the Great Smoky Mountains is not immune to rock slides. In 1951 Mt. Leconte experienced a massive debris slide after a cloudburst dropped 4 inches of rain in just one hour. The series of slides created the large V-slash on the south side of the mountain.

Enjoy the video:




Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.
Read More