World's Scariest Hikes
August 02, 2010
His left hand clutching rock, a foot searching for purchase on an icy plank below, Robin Esrock looked down from his precipitous position on China’s Mount Huashan. A spiraling fall, hundreds of feet to a canyon floor, would be the result of any misstep. “This is the moment where I’ve officially lost my mind,” he said.
Thus begins my article this month on Travel+Leisure, where I cover 10 of the planet’s most treacherous and scariest hikes. From China and the Mount Huashan trail, to Yosemite’s Half Dome, this story includes the details on a handful of epic hikes around the globe.
Risking your life to go for a hike may seem extreme. But around the world, thousands of travelers boot up and take a gamble for a walk in a magical place like Mount Huashan, the Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala, or Papua New Guinea’s remote Kokoda Track.
My list is below. Go here for the full story, videos, and a slideshow of each hike: http://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-scariest-hikes
World’s Scariest Hikes
1. Half Dome’s Cable Route, Yosemite National Park
2. West Coast Trail, Vancouver Island, Canada
3. Mount Huashan Trail, China
4. Rover’s Run, Anchorage, Alaska
5. El Caminito del Rey, Spain
6. Devils Path, NY
7. Peekaboo Gulch, Utah
8. Kalalau Trail, Kauai
9. Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala
10. Kokoda Track, Papua New Guinea
—Stephen Regenold
the El Caminito del Rey path was originally for hydroelectric power plant workers. It has three-foot-wide walkways hundreds of feet off the ground. Concrete sections have collapsed, leaving steel beams and rotting ledges exposed. Old cables bolted to the cliff provide some grip as trespassing hikers make their way along the route.
So it’s mostly an abandoned industrial pathway up in the mountains, the danger being mostly from the rotting man-made structures. Meh.
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No mention of the Inca Trail heading out and over from Macchu Picchu? Breaks in trail where you have to cross on logs, narrow, muddy 2’ wide trail with 1,ooo foot drop to river? ????????