A branding expert could use this as a marketing blunder.

NOBODY knows what to call the ever evolving 24,000 km network of greenways, waterways, trails, and roadways.

Official website:

As of June 1, 2021, the name of The Great Trail of Canada has changed back to its original name, and is once again known as the iconic Trans Canada Trail. …

Back in 2016, we decided to separate the name of our organization (Trans Canada Trail) from the name of the physical trail (The Great Trail), as a way to celebrate and highlight the significant milestone of connection in 2017.

tctrail.ca

SO …

1. The 4560km non-motorized is called THE GREAT TRAIL
2. The organization is called TRANS CANADA TRAIL

I’m pleased nobody will ever be confused on that again.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

BestHike editor Rick McCharles

Let’s face it. Many hiking videos are boring.

Too long. Too much similar footage.

Personally, I’m trying to make mine shorter.

Here’s an excellent example. You get a good feel for South Africa’s 100 km Outeniqua trail in one minute.

Looks like they had a great time.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related – Outeniqua trip report

Gear for the West Coast Trail

BestHike editor Rick McCharles

Locked and loaded for our #1 hike in the world.

I start June 10th.

I’ll be posting video and a detailed trip report later in the month.

He spent the pandemic well. What a year!

Edward:

In the year since the New Zealand Covid-19 lockdown ended in late April 2020 I completed 72 hikes (“tramps” in the NZ vernacular), and fifteen shorter walks.  …

• 68,500m (~225,000ft) of ascent and descent
• Almost 900km (~550mi) of walking
• On 64 of these hikes I climbed to a peak or other high point, ranging between 445m and 2333m high, and averaging 1000m of ascent and descent each time
• 58 of these high points were named peaks over 1000m of elevation, so I incidentally completed the 52 Peaks Challenge
• All of these tramps were on New Zealand’s South Island

… the best views were on the tramp to Barrier Knob via Gertrude Saddle in Fiordland …

Here’s a list of these 72 tramps plus 15 short walks. …

HikingScenery.com

One of the best on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch a vertical version on Instagram.

Jeff “Legend” Garmire is an adventurer who climbed the Colorado 14ers, survived The Great Western Loop, broke the Arizona Trail self-supported FKT, Long Trail Unsupported FKT, and the Colorado Trail Unsupported FKT and much more.

Free Outside is his telling of his Calendar Year Triple Crown: Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail.

I listened to the audio version which Jeff reads himself.

Fast paced. No dull moments.

8000 miles averaging over 30 miles a day.

I enjoyed the book.

It’s real to his experience. So real that no editor seems to have corrected spelling nor typos.

Seemed to me the CDT would be my least favourite of the three — overall. Too many cows. Too much dirty drinking water.

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

Mount Manuel Quimper is a great hike close to Sooke on Vancouver Island.

I looped back via Mount Brule, an easy 10km circuit using AllTrails for navigation.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

There are many other hiking and mountain biking trails to choose from.

It’s just off the Galloping Goose Regional Trail, a 55-kilometre (34 mi) non-motorized path to Victoria. Ideal for me as I cycled to the trailhead.

The Adventurer’s Son by Roman Dial

A good book. And important look at the role of parents in the raising of their children.

The Adventurer’s Son is Roman Dial’s extraordinary account of his two-year quest to unravel the mystery of his son’s disappearance in the jungles of Costa Rica.

… Before he left, Cody Roman Dial emailed his father: “I am not sure how long it will take me, but I’m planning on doing 4 days in the jungle and a day to walk out. I’ll be bounded by a trail to the west and the coast everywhere else, so it should be difficult to get lost forever.”

They were the last words Dial received from his son.

… Roman had raised his son to be fearless, to be at home in earth’s wildest places, travelling together through rugged Alaska to remote Borneo and Bhutan. Was he responsible for his son’s fate? Or, as he hoped, was Cody Roman safe and using his wilderness skills on a solo adventure from which he would emerge at any moment?

Amazon

You might have seen the documentary Missing Dial on National Geographic channel.

The parents agreed to participate out of desperation to continue the search for their missing son. They are disappointed in how it turned out. Wild hyperbole and speculation.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Hiking Vancouver Island North

A pandemic is a good time to stay local.

And physically distance from strangers outdoors.

The only hiking I’ve done atop Vancouver Island is famed North Coast Trail.

In early July, I’m hoping to bikepack trailhead-to-trailhead.

There’s much to see. And a touring bike looks to be good transport in this remote area.

I’d get a ride to Port Hardy. Then cycle to as many of Gregg Strong’s recommended areas as possible.

I’d navigate with apps and the Vancouver Island Backroads MacBook.

Click PLAY or watch some highlights on YouTube.

Check a map of trails and attractions.