The Great Wall

Great Wall, originally uploaded by Carpe Feline.

I have always wanted to walk the length of the great wall of China. But after reading this article I am not sure it is possible.

Without academic affiliation or funding, Spindler has spent 14 years traveling across China and to Japan to review arcane centuries-old texts for firsthand accounts and details. And he has spent more than 830 days clambering over the wall's far-flung ramparts around Beijing, enough to wear through several pairs of hiking boots.[...]

"I've spent 5 percent of my life there," he says of the wall.

It is not what I thought.

He has learned, for example, that the Great Wall is not one continuous structure but a series of fortifications, built with various materials, including packed earth, bricks and mortar, field stones and quarried rock. In some places, it isn't a wall at all, but a string of unconnected signal towers. No one has determined exactly how long it runs, but estimates vary from thousands to tens of thousands of miles.

It will be hard to walk along the wall if it is not there!

Oregon Coast Trail

A nice article about the trail and a man who is trying to preserve the coast of Oregon.

Near there, he was able to catch a boat ride across the Nestucca River - “one of the trials of the trail,” he said. He cited connecting across bays and rivers as among the most difficult obstacles on the hike, such as wading across Sand Lake and hitting the right tide so he could manage to make it waist-deep in sea water.

LePage said the 400-mile trek includes 200 miles of beach, 150 miles of trail and 50 miles of missing links. One of the first major missing links he has come across was at the 100-mile mark in Cascade Head at the Salmon River near Three Rocks Road, where there is no connection to Lincoln City.

“Anyone who has had to walk Highway 101 knows it's pretty narrow and not particularly safe, so we consider that a missing link,” he said of a key area that demands attention to truly complete the trail for the next generation of hikers. “We don't consider the Oregon Coast Trail walking Highway 101. That's not a trail, that's a road.”

Well its mostly done. Kind of like the California Coastal Trail. Add Washington's coast and you have the West Coast Trail.

Flights of Fancy

Lawn Chair Balloonist, originally uploaded by Raford2.

I have always been fascinated by Larry Walters. Perhaps someday, I too will strap some balloons to a lawn chair.

BEND -- It's hard to keep Kent Couch down, especially when he's sitting in a recliner tethered to 160 helium balloons.

On Saturday, Couch will try again to fly about 300 miles from Bend to Boise in a lawn chair held aloft by a 6-foot wide bouquet of balloons.

On his second attempt a year ago, Couch, 48, made it as far as Union County in northeastern Oregon, about 193 miles from Bend, before bringing an end to his flight.

Medics Ready For Annual Cheese Rolling

More Hill-Side Insanity !, originally uploaded by om0j0mo.

Medics are ready for annual cheese rolling.

LONDON (AFP) - Scores of foolhardy competitors were on Monday gearing up to pitch themselves down a steep hill in pursuit of an eight-pound (3.6 kilogramme) cheese as part of a dangerous cheese rolling event in western England.

Entrants will take part in one of five events, all of which involve scrambling, slipping and sliding down a very steep 200-metre slope in Gloucestershire in the hope of being the first to grab hold of the coveted Double Gloucester cheese.

Medics were on standby for the inevitable spate of injuries resulting from the chase down Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, which in places has a 1:1 gradient.

Following heavy rain over the weekend, conditions were likely to be wet and muddy.[...]

Double Gloucester is an unpasteurised, semi-hard cheese which has been made in Gloucestershire since the 16th century.

Chemin de St. Jacques de Compostelle

The Way of Saint James. I saw this article about a brother and sister that spent ten days hiking the Way. It is one of the three largest Christian pilgrimages. The others being Rome and Jerusalem. There are many routes from all over Europe.(map) The most famous for modern day travelers is from Le Puy(near Lyon) to Campostella de Santiago(good journal with pics). It is about five hundred miles.

I think it would be a fun place to hike. It is definitely on the to do list.