United States of America

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco   Transamerica Building, San Francisco

This introductory page for the United States will take you through to the selection of walks in and around San Francisco.

More city walks and mountain hikes from the USA are welcome! 

There are a number of good stories from the New York Times which we have linked into the site (registration with the NYT site is free).

The first of these is a walk through the desert with a difference in California, by Rob Nixon, dated 27 March 2005. It sounds pretty dramatic:

" Wandering down Big Morongo Canyon, you have the sensation that your feet and eyes are traveling through two disconnected landscapes. Underfoot, you could easily be in, say, the Wisconsin woods, crunching the trail's piled leaves. But look up and the eyes take in a very different world: a forbiddingly arid, mountainous terrain, dotted with saw-edged yucca plants and teddy bear cholla cactuses, lumpy in silhouette."

There are apparently easy walks in canyons within the city limits of Los Angeles according to this article by David Handelman from 23 July 2004.

Another story in the New York Times by Christopher Solomon from 15 June 2003 describes a visit to Ross Lake, 130 miles from Seattle, and a climb to a hut frequented by Jack Kerouac.

"Just 130 miles from Seattle, the lake is touched by only one public road -- a dirt one, at the Canadian end. To the west and south lie the more than 300 glaciers of toothy North Cascades National Park......The path to Kerouac's perch tests pilgrims' devotion: a stitchwork of switchbacks that zigzags 4,400 vertical feet in less than five miles."

It makes a great story!

There's a bunch of reports about hiking in Hawaii, in the New York Times of 11 February 2005

Lauren Cabell gives practical advice on climbing Mount Olomana, near Honolulu.

Bonnie Tsui paints a colourful picture of the walk up Waihee Ridge on the North Coast of Maui:

"The trail is lined with common and strawberry guava trees, which offer shade and litter the ground with sweet-smelling fruit. "

A more recent article (8 May 2009) features easy hikes in New Jersey, suitable for families.  According to the author, Dave Caldwell: "venture beyond the exit ramps, even just a few miles, and the Garden State reveals itself. Hills begin to roll to the north and west, and picturesque beaches and lush pine forests spread to the south. There are waterfalls, wildflowers and wildlife to see, and a section of the Appalachian Trail challenges adventurers."  A choice of weekend hikes is included in the article.

Going to the another extreme, there's now a great story and photos of hiking down into the Grand Canyon, by Henry Shukman (29 November 2009).  It's one of the best-known sights on the planet, but most visitors just look in awe from the rim at the top.  Shukman says "to experience the canyon, you have to leave the rim.....It’s not just a trip out of the human realm, but into the deep geology of the earth. Layer upon layer of the planet’s crust is revealed, stratum by stratum..."  Fascinating stuff.

Cities

Stories

(To order the stories by name, date, country or type click on the appropriate heading)