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Wilderness Notes is one of the most widely read backcountry columns in
North America. Written by adventure journalist Peter Potterfield, the
column appears regularly on GreatOutdoors.com.
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A selected sample from the archives of Wilderness Notes, the regular column by journalist Peter Potterfield Jordan's Jewel: A Trek to Petra  Everybody who goes to Jordan goes to Petra, but few people get there via a 50 miles trek that in six days travels from Dana Biosphere Reserve to Wadi Araba and into the Sharah Mountains before arriving at the storied city of Petra through the back door. Come along as GreatOutdoors.com shows you the way.  Join GreatOutdoors.com editor Peter Potterfield as he ventures on a journey of discovery through the backcountry of Israel in search of adventure. Who would expect world class canyons to rival those of southern Utah, or a feature so grand it is called the Grand Canyon of the Middle East. Along the way, he discovers the civilized city of Tel Aviv, and the historical epicenter of Jerusalem's Old City.  Five days on the legendary Chilkoot Pass Trail, one of the premier backcountry routes in North America, inspires new respect for the physical stamina of the Klondike gold rush miners as it takes you from the Inside Passage through British Columbia and into the wilds of the Yukon.  A trek across the mountains of Idaho's Sawtooth Wilderness reveals a rugged landscape of uncommon beauty and glorious solitude, a unique place that creates a backcountry journey like no other.  Come along on a hiking expedition through the magical landscapes of New Mexico, from the sprawling complex of great houses and kivas in Chaco Canyon, to the mysteries of the Acoma people’s mesa-top pueblo and their ancient trade routes across the lava flows.  A hike through Montana's Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness to the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park is one of America's iconic wilderness journeys. Hidden Treasures of Anasazi Country  Thousand year old ruins and inscrutable rock art add interest and mystery to hiking the scenic canyons of Southern Utah's Cedar Mesa.  Beaches of blinding white sand and turquoise water meet granite mountains and towering coastal cliffs on this two week odyssey from Bay of Fires and the Freycinet Peninsula to the remote wilderness peninsula of Tasman National Park. Kiwi Redux, The Second Time Around  From Rakiura National Park, New Zealand's newest, to old favorites like the Greenstone Track, the varied backcountry landscapes down here make the second or third trip even more interesting than the first. Hiking Ireland's Wild West Coast  The whole point of this hiking odyssey is to experience the range of West Coast Irish walking terrain, from spectacular national parks to quiet rural backwaters. So we head for County Roscommon and the village of Cloonfad, where the local residents have taken a classic local walking route and mapped it and marked it so visitors like us might have a look. The route, the Derrylahan Loop, follows footpaths through farmer's fields, wanders across bogs, and curves along country lanes called boreens. Hiking the Forgotten End of the AT  The U. S. version of the famed Appalachian Trail stops at Katahdin, in Maine, but the Appalachian Mountains continue north into Quebed, and so does the trail—but here’s it’s known by its French moniker, the Sentiers International des Appalaches as it traverses 4,000 foot peaks such as Mont Albert. Into the Heart of the Great Bear  The First Nation settlement of Klemtu is the starting point for a kayak trip into the pristine wilderness of British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest, a place with alegendary reputation among wilderness cognoscenti for remoteness, wildlife in undisturbed habitat, and pristine beauty.  "And the hiking - they call it 'tramping' down here - measures up to any world-class standard for variety of terrain and pure scenic pay-off. I've put in backcountry miles in a lot of places, but have to say New Zealand ranks among the richest, yet easiest international adventures I've done. The experience is enhanced by the friendly Kiwis and a pervasive sense of light-hearted fun that has been sorely missing in North America the past few years. Here's how to get started..." Heli Hiking in the Cariboos of British Columbia  "Under normal circumstances, just getting to the start of this hike would have taken us two or three days of bushwhacking through overgrown lowland valleys and grinding up steep, dead-fall covered slopes of prime grizzly-bear habitat. But, thanks to the $3 million helicopter at our beck and call, we avoided all that. What's left for us to do now is the fun part. Think of it as dessert: about 3,000 vertical feet and three miles of pure alpine majesty up this moraine and onto the big summit ridge toward the top of Crazy Horse."  "Hiking in Arctic Sweden is about as close as you can get to a backpacker's paradise. The northern sections of Kungsleden are dotted with comfortable huts about a day's walk apart, a fact that makes it easy to go light and fast, or if you have the time, light and slow. But North American hikers will find another sort of appeal, for in this intriguing landscape you can pitch your tent almost anywhere. There just aren't enough people up here to create problems with impact..."  GreatOutdoors.com editor Peter Potterfield shares photos he's taken while writing about backcountry adventures.  An excerpt from Peter Potterfield's new book on the world's best hiking routes. |
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