First, let`s dispel the notion that hiking vacations are just for people who get their kicks from spending every day and night in only the most rugged places, who don`t shower but once every week or so or who find satisfaction in a meal of pine cones.
Instead, we find the New American Webster Dictionary defines a hike as a
”walking trip,” and to hike as to ”walk afield, for pleasure.”
True enough, and there are degrees of walking difficulty, ranging from leisurely strolling to moderate walking to strenuous trekking.
Carol Beatty, a representative for Mountain Travel, a San Francisco hiking tour company, notes that walking trips are less strenuous than hiking trips, and trekking tours go the greater distances.
”A walking trip usually involves four hours of walking daily and has some involvement with the culture of an area,” Beatty said. ”Hiking trips typically mean five to seven hours of hiking daily.”
Hikes are usually day trips from just one home base, Beatty says, while treks are hikes from point A to point B with nights between spent on the trail at inns or camps.
Walkers, hikers and trekkers usually have the option of going it alone or hoofing it with groups. Here, we`ve profiled eight great hiking places for the solo stroller or the team tramper.
Mt. Pisgah, Vt.
In what`s called the Northeast Kingdom region of Vermont, the Mt. Pisgah hike is a 6.9-mile trail crossing a 2,751-foot-high peak in the Green Mountains. Hikers make their way through dense forest and cross beaver ponds, taking in some of New England`s spectacular vistas.
Less famous than the nearby hike up Camel`s Hump, Mt. Pisgah`s peak reaches 1,700 feet over Lake Willoughby, a natural blue jewel 4 miles long but only about 1/3-mile wide and 300 feet deep.
Peregrine falcons live in the cliffs of Mt. Pisgah, which is 30 miles south of the Canadian border near the Vermont burg of West Burke.
There are campsites in area parks, as well as a legion of nearby country inns.
Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
Some of Hawaii`s most intriguing trails surround Kilauea Crater, an active volcano on the Big Island, rising 4,077 feet above sea level and the steamy home to the quick-tempered goddess Pele. Among treks taken most often in this southeastern area of the island is the Devastation Trail, a quick journey of less than a mile through the eerie gray remains of an ohai forest seized by lava flow.
Expert hikers spend a full day touring the 11.6-mile Crater Rim Trail, beginning at the park`s Volcano House and wandering through the Kau Desert, desolate except for shiny waves of paralyzed lava. There are detours, such as one to see Halemaumau, a scorching lake or ”fire pit.”
Lava is often thin, crispy and razor-sharp in places, so hikers are warned to stay on marked trails.
Sawtooth National Forest, Idaho
Idaho has more roadless land than any state in the lower 48, and the thickly wooded Smokey Mountains and the White Cloud Mountains in the 756,000- acre Sawtooth National Park provide some of the country`s most remote hiking.
The Sawtooth Lake Hike is a steep but well-traveled 5.5-mile trail just northwest of the town of Stanley, while a more gentle trek is made on a lengthy loop around lakes Yellow Belly, Toxaway and Petit. Either way, huge craggy peaks and dense forest comprise the surrounding scenery.
Sun Valley, a favorite winter ski area at the park`s southern edge, is base camp for llama-supported backpacking trips to Big Lost Lake. Trout fishing, hot-springs soaking, mountain-goat watching and rock collecting are mixed with hiking.
Lost Mine Peaks, Texas
One of several Big Bend National Park trails leads to a Chisos Mountains summit, from which views of Texas` Chihuahuan Desert and Mexico`s Sierra de Carmen are unsurpassed.
About 100 million years in the making, the 700,000-acre park reaches deep into the Rio Grande curve separating Texas and Mexico. The desert is filled not only with extraordinary rock formations, but also with wildflowers, cacti and other flora, plus animals ranging from coyotes and mountain lions to 350 species of birds.
The 4.6-mile, round trip trek to a height of 7,550 feet is rated easy-to- moderate. Rocks seen along Lost Mine Trail are mostly lava, but geology buffs will recognize dikes of igneous rock along the way. The most obvious of these is the Chinese Wall, a ridge between Lost Mine and Casa Grande peaks and between Green Gulch and Juniper Canyon.
The trail is in the Panther Pass area, almost in the park`s center, 10 miles west of the visitor center at Panther Junction. The town of Lajitas is about 50 miles west.
Mont Blanc, France
In France, they say this mountain is to hikers what the Louvre is to art devotees. Southeast of Samoens and due east of Annecy, the highest mountain in Western Europe-it`s 15,771 feet tall-is in the French Alps.
There are many ways to hike and walk the grand mountain; some prefer to ride up in ski lifts and then walk around. Others hire guides and climb the glacier-capped peak.
Organized tours for serious hikers typically last two weeks and use an inn-to-inn approach on trails wandering in and out of seven valleys connecting France with Italy and Switzerland. Circling Mont Blanc through glaciers and verdant mountain meadows, trails take in views of some of the world`s most impressive peaks, including Aiguille du Miki, Les Grandes Jorasses and Mont Dolent. Hikers on these tours generally spend three to seven hours on trails each day, sleeping at night in hotels, chalets and dorm-style lodges.
In the nearby town of Chamonix, there is a small mountaineering museum dedicated to the early climbers in the region.
Kashmir Valley, India
The cool and fertile region of northern India is often compared to Switzerland for its thick green forests and white mountain peaks.
Of the many treks available from the town of Pahalgam on the pretty Lidder River is a four-day, 36-mile round trip northeast to Kolahoi Glacier. The route passes through the village of Aru, crosses a stream flowing from Tarsar Lake and continues to the glacier, reaching from 11,152 to 13,120 feet. Along the way, trekkers stay in well-kept campsites and at dormlike guest houses.
An option is the 26.4-mile tour from Pahalgam to Amaranth Cave, site of an astounding Hindu pilgrimage every summer focusing on a massive natural ice formation and spiritual symbol.
Paparoa National Park, New Zealand
Tramping, as the Kiwis call it, is a favorite activity in New Zealand`s 12th national park, established just five years ago. This west coast site of extraordinary pancake-shaped limestone rocks has a huge mix of mountains, cliffs and caves, plus a lone colony of black petrels, a rare albatrosslike bird.
The Inland Pack Track is a two-day walk following a 125-year-old mining route; and the Croesus Track is a full-day trek over the mountains, passing through historic gold-mining districts. Short jaunts abound on river and coast fronts, and one 15-minute tramp circles rocks and geysers, particularly exciting at high tide when blowholes function like furious geysers.
Guides are available within the park, as are maps and tide condition updates. The park has a campground, tea room, cafe and a lodge/tavern.
Boiling Lake, Dominica
Dominica, an island framed by Guadeloupe and Martinique in the eastern Caribbean, is home to a dangerous but seductive site. Eerie Boiling Lake, thought to be the second largest feature of its kind in the world, sits within Morne Trois Pitons National Park in the island`s south-central area.
The park`s most dramatic trek is a seven-hour, round trip adventure suitable only for hikers in excellent physical condition. Guides are necessary for safely finding the way through thick rain forest to the Valley of Desolation, a scene of rocks, gurgling mud and steamy sulfur springs.
Less rugged is a hike to the park`s Boeri Lake, thousands of feet above sea level in an old volcano crater. The air becomes quite cool on the 45-minute trek, which passes through mini-woodlands.
Guest houses and inns are found nearby at Pont Casse and on the southwestern coast city of Roseau. Tours to the park often operate from these lodgings.
These are just for starters. Find a place, and ”walk for pleasure.”
Pine cone lunches optional.
