Lonely Planet just released a list of Top 10 sustainable experiences in the world on its website. Fourth on the list is hiking in Bhutan. As main resource it lists our Mild and Mad Day hikes in Thimphu and my Trekking in Bhutan website.  Visitation to the site doubled instantly. Very cool.

Hiking Jasper trail guide

Rob Bryce’s new Hiking Jasper and Robson is a hiking guide with a twist. It has descriptions of 70 trails in Jasper National Park and Mt. Robson Provincial Park, but, it also comes with a DVD that has GPS data for all 70 hikes on it, including elevation profiles, Google Earth map overviews, and tracks and waypoints that can easily be downloaded to a GPS. If you are a technophile, or like to carefully plan your hikes, this guide is for you.
The guide is available at  stores in Jasper, MEC in Alberta and BC, and soon some other stores in the region. Or it is available online at Canadian Rockies Books.

I sometimes wonder why I lug around my large camera when hiking, but a while back the work paid off when one of my photos won a photo contest for BC Parks. Today I picked up a copy of the 2008 camping guide for BC, and was happily surprised to see the photo on its cover.

I think it fits well – encouraging young people to go out and explore our provincial parks. The photo was taken in Golden Ears Provincial Park, just outside Vancouver.

The UBC Varsity Outdoor Club has a good wiki on hiking and climbing trips around Vancouver. Yet another source for hiking ideas.

My friend Bart Jordans has just published the second edition of his excellent guide to trekking in Bhutan: Bhutan, a Trekker’s Guide. This comprehensive book is the only guide dedicated to trekking in Bhutan. It covers all the major treks, including the famous snowman trek, often said to be one of the world’s most difficult treks.

For additional information on trekking in Bhutan, check out Bart’s Bhutan Treks website, or my site on hiking and trekking in Bhutan.

I just stumbled across another hiking website, courtesy of my colleague William Bakker at Tourism BC. Vancouver Trails appears to have a reasonable number of hikes, and the maps are well done. Finally in-line maps that have a decent size (most of them are too small). But the banner images impressed me the most – they look gorgeous. I immediately increased the height of my blog banner…

The only disapointing aspect of yet another hiking website is that great content gets scattered among websites. None are truly complete, so one has to visit several sites to get a full picture of hiking trails in the Lower Mainland (Trailpeak is another website with trails in the area). If only one website integrated all the information…

That is the question that the authors of a recent article on the new North Coast Trail (NCT; you saw the abbreviation here first!) asked. Their conclusion? It’s a close call, but they feel the scenery along the NCT is slightly better, and it’s more rugged. Think the WCT 20-30 years ago. This seems to be a truly hot trail. Combined with all the other attractions in the area (Cape Scott, Johnson Strait whalewatching, Sointula area) it will help put northern Vancouver Island on the map.

A new magazine just hit the shelf: the Wild Coast Magazine, described as Vancouver Island’s only outdoor, adventure and recreation magazine catering to the island’s eco-tourism industry. Its first issue was Free, and the contents are published on their website. It has some great articles about trips to take there. There is just too much to see and do in this province!

It’s been five years in the making, but it’s finally nearing completion: Vancouver Island’s north coast trail. Stretching 43 km from near port Hardy to Cape Scott, it is said to give the West Coast Trail a run for its money when it comes to scenery. It doesn’t have as many cable cars and ladders as the WCT, but there is one 200-rung ladder to keep you in shape.

The new Wild Coast Magazine has a feature article on the trail, including a two-page North Coast Trail map. The trail is slated to open sometime this year. I will need to arrange some holidays to walk this trail as soon as it actually opens.

Nuk Tessli is a fly-in alpine eco-adventure on the edge of Tweedsmuir Provincial park, run by German-born author Chris Czajkowski. She operates rustic cabins on the shore Whitton lake. The alpine hiking possibilities from her base are endless.

Chris has written several books about her experiences. Aside from hiking, she also offers volunteer stays to help her out with heavy work. Sign me up!