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Backpacker Magazine – October 2011
Perfect 10: North America's 10 Most Memorable Hikes
Ten trails. Ten unmatched miles each. Get maximum bang for each boot step on hikes that our most-traveled contributors call their all-time favorites.
Photo by BP1011PERFECT_Callaert_S75ElkLostCoast_445x260.jpg
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Tags:
- Destinations |
- North America |
- Lost Coast |
- Sinkyone Wilderness State Park |
- California |
- White Mountains National Forest |
- Mount Hood |
- Timberline Trail |
- Bridger-Teton National Forest |
- Jasper National Park |
- Canada |
- Alberta |
- Grand Canyon National Park |
- Denali National Park |
- Titcomb Basin Trail |
- Wind River Range |
- Wyoming |
- Grayson Highlands State Park |
- Virginia |
- Mount Whitney |
- Mount Eielson |
- Arizona |
- Oregon |
- New Hampshire |
Take it With You
>>Download a printable PDF for every Perfect 10 Trip
MY 10
BACKPACKER asked some of the top personalities in the outdoor industry about their favorite slice of wilderness. Below are their picks.
Andrew Skurka
Ultra-hiker
>Ten Mile Range in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains
Joe Horiskey
Longtime guide on Mt. Rainier
> East Fork Quinault River Trail to Enchanted Valley in Olympic National Park
Brett Dennen
Rock star, camp counselor
> Pacific Crest Trail running 10 miles south from Sonora Pass
Jon Jarvis
Director of the National Park Service
> The Pacific Crest Trail from Rainy Pass, over McAlester Pass, and into Stehekin Valley. “You can hear Julie Andrews. These are the American Alps.”
Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford
Married co-CEOs of Clif Bar & Company
> Lyell Canyon Trail out of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite
Tyler Stableford
Adventure photographer
> Franconia Ridge Trail loop in NH, up Falling Waters and down the Bridle Path
John Gans
Executive Director, NOLS
> Ice Lakes, Deep Creek Lakes, and Echo Lakes in the Wind River Range, WY
Les Stroud
Filmmaker and survivalist
> West Coast Trail in Vancouver, from Pachena Bay to Valencia Bluffs
Wayne Gregory
Founder of Gregory Packs
> North from Agnew Meadows, past 1000 Island Lake and over toward Lyell in the High Sierra
David Startzell
Executive Director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy
> The AT from TN 143 to US 19E: “It’s 15 miles, but it’s so much fun, it feels like 10.”
Justin Lichter
Ultra-hiker
>The 10 miles surrounding Cataract Pass in the Canadian Rockies
Dana Watts
Executive Director, Leave No Trace
> Mesa Trail, Boulder, CO
>>Download a printable PDF for every Perfect 10 Trip
MY 10
BACKPACKER asked some of the top personalities in the outdoor industry about their favorite slice of wilderness. Below are their picks.
Andrew Skurka
Ultra-hiker
>Ten Mile Range in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains
Joe Horiskey
Longtime guide on Mt. Rainier
> East Fork Quinault River Trail to Enchanted Valley in Olympic National Park
Brett Dennen
Rock star, camp counselor
> Pacific Crest Trail running 10 miles south from Sonora Pass
Jon Jarvis
Director of the National Park Service
> The Pacific Crest Trail from Rainy Pass, over McAlester Pass, and into Stehekin Valley. “You can hear Julie Andrews. These are the American Alps.”
Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford
Married co-CEOs of Clif Bar & Company
> Lyell Canyon Trail out of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite
Tyler Stableford
Adventure photographer
> Franconia Ridge Trail loop in NH, up Falling Waters and down the Bridle Path
John Gans
Executive Director, NOLS
> Ice Lakes, Deep Creek Lakes, and Echo Lakes in the Wind River Range, WY
Les Stroud
Filmmaker and survivalist
> West Coast Trail in Vancouver, from Pachena Bay to Valencia Bluffs
Wayne Gregory
Founder of Gregory Packs
> North from Agnew Meadows, past 1000 Island Lake and over toward Lyell in the High Sierra
David Startzell
Executive Director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy
> The AT from TN 143 to US 19E: “It’s 15 miles, but it’s so much fun, it feels like 10.”
Justin Lichter
Ultra-hiker
>The 10 miles surrounding Cataract Pass in the Canadian Rockies
Dana Watts
Executive Director, Leave No Trace
> Mesa Trail, Boulder, CO
The Lost Coast, CA | Black Angel Trail, NH | Timberline Trail, OR | Pilgrim Creek Trail, WY | Skyline Trail, Alberta | The Jewels Route, AZ | Mt. Eielson, AK | Titcomb Basin Trail, WY | Grayson Highlands, VA | Mt. Whitney, CA
Perfect 10 Grayson Highlands State Park, VA
Score big rewards for little effort.
–Jennifer Pharr Davis, as told to Ellie Levitt
In six years of hiking, including treks on six continents and speed records on the Long and Appalachian Trails, I’ve seen my share of jawdropping vistas. But when I want a soul-satisfying hike I can count on year in, year out, I always return to this 10-miler in Virginia’s uplands.
It has a sky big enough to rival any in Montana, a heavenly blue that arcs over an open grassland with rocky outcroppings laced with rhododendrons in June. This loop combines creekside rambling, top-of-a-grassy-world views, trailside waterfalls, rhododendron tunnels, blueberry patches, and wild ponies. Step for step, it’s the most rewarding place I’ve ever been.
You could exhaust a memory card by mile six, where a sidehike leads to to 20-foot Cabin Creek Falls. Take your time—it’s just four miles back to the trailhead, and it’s best hiked at sunset.
PERFECT 10 Link the Horse Trail East, Wilson Creek, Appalachian, Appalachian Spur, and Cabin Creek Trails
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DO IT From Damascus, take VA 58 16.4 miles west to a left on Grayson Highlands Ln.
MAP Grayson Highlands Trail Guide (free, see Contact)
CONTACT (276) 579-7092; dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/gra.shtml
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READERS COMMENTS
I just hikes it in Aug, awesome trail, but the Elliot river crossing is officialy closed, the high route mentioned is doable but hazardous, and at the White river the trail ends at a dropoff, you need to bushwack down hill about 150 feet, but the trail is not flagged. Still: awesome campsites, awesome views, and few hikers. definate 10.
Maybe a little dated. Along the east side of Mt. Hood the trail was wrecked by an avalanche several years ago and you will have to drop down very low or risk a high route to bypass it. Then, last summer, there was a large fire on the NNW side that burned a lot of the route.
This is not to say that it's still not a great trail, because it is. Just wanted to pass this on. Although the NNW side was closed as of the fall of 2011 and I don't know the plans for 2012.
I hiked through here a couple years ago and had an great time. We parked at Scales which is down a long bumpy dirt road. My pontiac Vibe barely made it through some parts. Got there at Midnight and hiked for hours under a full moon with no flashlight. The balds make for spectacular views. We only ran into people on the AT.
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