Greatest Walks Of The World Book

200 INCREDIBLE HIKES OF A LIFETIME: AMAZING ADVENTURES AND EPIC TRAILS
Stuart Butler and Mary Caperton Morton

 

Explore the most epic walking routes of the world from the comfort of your armchair.

 

If exploring the world's most astonishing landscapes makes your spirits soar, this book will give your trekking plans wings. In its pages you can chart the routes, read details only a local would know, and see the beautiful destinations for yourself.

 

Use this book to choose where to walk next, with notes on what to research before you travel, beautiful colour photographs of highlights along the way, and enough information to allow you to make an informed decision about the right walk for you. With routes ranging upward of several days to complete, and with a variety of terrains to choose from, you are sure to find a breath‐taking adventure to walk next.

 
Among the walks included in the book there are some spectacular Australian and New Zealand routes. It features Australia's Three Capes Trek and Dove Lake Circuit, both in Tasmania, as well as the Larapinta Trail (The Northern Territory ) and the Great Ocean Walk. Also included are classic New Zealand walks: the Tongariro Crossing and the Milford Track.

 
Whether the Himalayas or Mt Fuji are on your bucket list, or you are looking for more obscure treks to discover, such as striding with Maasai guides through the remote corners of their homeland, Greatest Walks of the World will spur your spirit of adventure and set you planning the trek of a lifetime

 

Stuart Butler is an avid hiker who writes about hiking, wildlife and conservation issues. He is also an award‐winning photographer.

 
Mary Caperton Morton is a science and travel writer. When she's not writing, Mary climbs mountains, hikes, skis and takes photographs.

Greatest Walks Of The World

by Stuart Butler & Mary Caperton Morton

Exisle Publishing

RRP: $49.99

Out September 2023

https://exislepublishing.com/product/greatest-walks-of-the-world/

 

Extract:

Three Capes Track

 

Location

Tasman National Park,

Tasmania, Australia

 

Duration

4 days

 

Difficulty

Moderate

 

Distance

28.5 miles (46 km)

 

Map

Hema Tasmania State Map

 

Start/Finish

Port Arthur/Fortescue Bay

 

Trail Markings

Signs

 

Hike to the ends of the Earth on the ragged edge of Tasmania.

 

Curiously, there are only two capes along Australia's famous Three Capes Track: Cape Pillar and Cape Hauy. To hike the third, you'll need to tack on an 8.7-mile (14 km) out-and-back day hike to the tip of Cape Raoul, west of Port Arthur, best done as a warm-up before tackling the other two capes on your four-day hut-to-hut trip. But even if you skip the day hike and only visit the two capes, you won't feel short-changed on this gorgeous multiday hike along the Tasmanian coast. Between the colourful stands of eucalyptus trees and stunning views of the Tasman Sea along the narrow, clifftop peninsulas, there are many reasons that this is one of Australia's most popular treks.

 

Devils and Tigers

 

The island of Tasmania, located 150 miles (241 km) south of the mainland, was separated from Australia by rising sea levels around 11,700 years ago. The Bass Strait has presented a formidable barrier to animal and plant migration for at least that long, resulting in a unique assemblage of flora and fauna on the island. The most famous endemic residents of Tasmania are the Tasmanian devil, a small carnivorous marsupial, and the Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, which was declared extinct by the

Tasmanian government in 1986. The last thylacine was shot in the wild in 1938, but rumours and unconfirmed sightings of the doglike tiger-striped marsupial persist to the present day.

 

 

The Route

 

The Three Capes Track begins at Port Arthur, once a penal colony, now a historic site, where you'll catch a boat across the bay of Port Arthur to Denmans Cove. From there you'll trek for four days, stopping each night at modern huts, so you don't need to carry a tent or cooking equipment. The four-day walk visits Cape Pillar, Cape Hauy, Mount Fortescue, Arthurs Peak, and the Ellarwey Valley, and ends at Fortescue Bay.

 

1.Port Arthur

Port Arthur is a beautiful place with a notorious past. Located 60 miles (97 km) southeast of the state capital Hobart, Port Arthur operated as a large

penal colony from the 1830s until 1877. Touted as an inescapable prison, the

peninsula on which Port Arthur sits is a natural fortress, surrounded by water.

The only connection to the Tasmanian mainland is via a 100-foot-wide (30 m)

isthmus called Eaglehawk Neck. Today the penal colony is preserved as the Port Arthur Historic Site.

 

2. Cape Pillar

The southeasternmost point of the island of Tasmania is a long, narrow strip

of land that juts out into the Tasman Sea. This cape is named for its distinctive

pillars of Jurassic-era dolerite, a type of volcanic rock that forms the tallest

sea cliffs in Australia, soaring 980 feet (299 m) high above the waves. As you

approach the needlelike end of the cape, the towering columns of dolerite narrow to a dramatic, crumbling knife-edge called the Blade. Offshore sits the

oval-shaped cliff-bound Tasman Island, home of the Tasman Island Lighthouse,

truly the ends of the Earth.

 

3. Overnight Huts

On the Three Capes Track you can choose to carry a tent and camp in

designated campsites or book beds in the three backcountry huts"Surveyors

Cove, Munro, and Retakunna Creek" along the way. Each hut has running

water, gas top stoves, sleeping cots, and toilets, as well as modern amenities like USB charging stations, yoga mats, and memory foam mattresses. The huts

sleep four to eight people so tenting will likely be a quieter option.

 

4. Cape Hauy

The second cape of the Three Capes Track isn't as dramatically narrow as

Cape Pillar, but the views of the rocky coastline and the sea beyond on both

sides of the cape are just as spectacular. You'll descend a series of steps toward the end of the cape, which is also lined by towering dolerite columns that plunge straight down into the sea. Be careful of the cliff edges as it's often

windy here. You might consider carrying binoculars on your trek as this is an epic spot to watch for humpback whales, seals, seabirds, and the endangered

Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle.

 

5. Mount Fortescue

The high point of this hike comes on day three, with a climb up 1,608-foot (490 m) Mount Fortescue. The trail up the mountain runs through mossy, fern-filled

eucalyptus forest. Keep an eye out for the elusive Tasmanian short-beaked

echidna, a spiny-backed insect-eating mammal that lays eggs. From the

summit, through thick vegetation, you'llbe able to see Cape Pillar, Cape Hauy,

Fortescue Bay, and the rest of the trek.