“Since 1962, only 449 people have accomplished the feat. Some climbers needed just a few years; others needed decades. Children as young as 10 have become Winter Forty-Sixers.” Liz Leyden of The New York Times reports.

“The hikes are not for the faint of heart: bitter cold, waist-deep snow and a minimum of eight hours along a trail. Of the 46 mountains, one-third have no trails, meaning that the first hiker after a big snow needs an ice ax and a strong spirit to break a trail to the summit. And aside from the mountain itself, hikers need to master the required gear: snowshoes, skis, an ice ax, crampons and ropes for hauling one another up the mountain.”

photo credit: t3rmin4t0r

• Washing your sleeping bag: “Natural oils and dirt from grimy hiking pollute the down and make it lose its natural loft.”
• Rejuvenating rain jackets: “Specially formulated tech-washes are available from companies like Nikwax.”
• Tuning your stove: “Any stove with a remote fuel canister that has a pump needs to have the pump cup oiled.”
• Sealing your tent: “Seam sealing your tent is easy and permanent, and a one-ounce tube of Seam Grip is enough to seal the critical seams on most two-person tents.”

“The sky gradually darkened and we soon walked through a world of tall peaks, rolling hills and wide valleys illuminated by the soft ambience of the moon that shone through a cloudless sky. The trail was uphill for the first hour and then undulated over rolling hilltops before finally descending back to the valley.”

“There are dozens — even hundreds — of items large and small, common and esoteric, to remember and bring along. But the bulk of the gear, apparel, and accessories for many trips are common outdoors items… Big piles with boots, base layers, packs, waterproof bags, books, and myriad small essentials are already accumulating in my house. I have two big duffel bags and a carry-on pack to cram it all in.”

“If the dire projections are correct, Glacier National Park will be bereft of glaciers by 2030. So get going. High above the milky waters of Grinnell Lake, Grinnell Glacier is the most stunning in the park. It’s accessible via a boat trip across Swiftcurrent and Josephine Lakes, then a 3.8-mile hike.”

“Ours was the first attempt to follow one of Evliya’s trails travelling as he would himself have travelled. We rode first south, then west, following in Evliya’s tracks from the Sea of Marmara to the town of Simav, northeast of Izmir. Here we left his itinerary to loop back east to his ancestral home, the historic city of Kütahya, covering some 1,000km in six weeks.”

Annapurna - Nepal

Ethan Todras-Whitehill of The New York Times writes eloquently about hiking Nepal’s 150-mile Annapurna Circuit–considered by many the world’s greatest trek–before a road is built in 2012. Inclement weather, oxygen deprivation, Buddhist monasteries, and awe inspiring images of the Himalayas’ 24,786-foot Annapurna III abound:

“[A]s we approach the base of Annapurna III after a week of walking, my head is swimming with images seen close up: swaying footbridges over thunderous gorges; rocky footpaths jammed with goats, donkeys and water buffalo; terraced rice paddies thrusting green shoots against the olive hillsides; narrow stone Gurung villages filled with shrieking children, chatty shopkeepers and the low hum of chanting monks seeping out of brightly colored Buddhist monasteries.”

photo credit: Librex

Prayer Flags - Himalayas

“From high passes swathed in silver oak, we plunge through tunnels of rhododendrons down to subtropical depths of bamboo thickets where lilac butterflies drink the perspiration from my hands and gullies scud down the hillsides like runnels of mercury. At the base of each valley we tiptoe over concrete bridges that have been weakened by the monsoon deluges. Then on to the next pass – always farther away than it seems – and over, into another yawning gorge.”

photo credit: stevehicks

Winter road trip: photographer Luke Humphrey treks from Seattle to California, capturing images of Mono Lake and Redwood, Sequoia, Yosemite, and Death Valley National Parks.

Produced by Luke Humphrey