Travel writer Joshua Hammer of The New York Times details his hiking adventures across Western Africa’s Dogon Country (named for the Dogons: “one of Africa’s most isolated ethnic groups”) in central Mali.

“We would spend our days hiking on trails that wound through Dogon cliffside villages, and spend our nights in rudimentary lodges set up for a growing number of Western tourists. After driving in a Toyota four-by-four for eight hours through the eastern desert from the Niger border town of Gao, we came abruptly upon a series of sandstone mesas towering over the plain — a landscape reminiscent, in its stark beauty, of Utah’s Monument Valley.”

Susan Carpenter of The Los Angeles Times writes about her Panamanian excursion to the Valle Escondido Resort & Spa, where hiking, beach time, and whitewater rafting are daily eco-tourism attractions.

“The driver, who also turned out to be the rafting guide, was exactly on time the next morning, at the brutal-for-vacation hour of 7. Scooping up two other couples on the way, we raced northwest on the Pan-American Highway, then took secondary roads and, finally, a treacherous deep-in-the-jungle dirt road. Twenty minutes from the river we would be rafting, the driver slowed to pick up another man who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was the driver who would move the van from the head of the river to its tail and pick us up a few hours later.”

Adirondack Descent

Headed into northern Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA), Gustave Axelson of Men’s Journal writes about the new (but old-school) trend of winter camping without all the high tech gear: toboggans, canvas tents, wool jackets, and “three growlers of India pale ale.”

“We were embarking on a four-day winter camping trip into the boreal heart of the Boundary Waters. But instead of the finest high-tech Gore-Tex parkas and windproof mountaineering tents, we were outfitted with technology from a century gone. I was here to try out a new style of winter camping, which is really an old style of winter camping called snow walking.”

photo credit: Jeff Pang

“In 1968, Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins set out to surf, ski and climb their way to Patagonia. The wild places they found later motivated them to protect the environment. Inspired by this journey, Jeff Johnson and Woodshed Films set sail on a voyage to South America to climb a mythical peak called Corcovado with Chouindard and Tompkins,” as told by Fletcher Chouinard.

The film is entitled 180° South: Conquerors of the Useless and also is a behind the scenes book of the same name, written by Yvon Chouinard and Chris Malloy and photographed Jeff Johnson.

Parts of the book were recently excerpted by the Wall Street Journal and are worth the read:

“It had taken us three days to get high enough to see a possible approach to Cerro Corcovado: a 10-mile Zodiac ride up a river that ruined three outboard props, an all-day rock-hop up a labyrinth of winding rivers, and miles of horrible bushwhacking. Half the time we thought we were lost. Yvon commented more than once, ‘I’m getting too old for this s—.’ Eventually, we made high camp at the last of four pristine lakes where we thought no one had been before – unless they’d dropped in by helicopter or airplane.”

Produced by Woodshed Films

photo credit: Chandramohan Burly V

The Himalayan mountains–home to the world’s highest peaks (including Mount Everest and K2) and the surrounding countries of Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, and Pakistan–should be a mecca for climbing, hiking, and trekking. So far, that hasn’t been the case.

“[O]nly Nepal has succeeded in tapping the growing interest in adventure tourism, while nations like Afghanistan, Bhutan, China and Pakistan have failed to capitalize on their high-altitude potential due to strict regulations and internal strife. Even India has not made much progress, although it accounts for most of the main Himalayan range and offers a more or less safe and friendly, if not hassle-free, experience for tourists,” writes Jason Overdorf of GlobalPost.

Trekker and guidebook author Depi Chaudhry from India hopes to change this marketing trajectory:

“Logging thousands of kilometers and hundreds of thousands of words, Chaudhry and fellow guidebook writers Robin Boustead, Gary Weare and Jamie McGuinness are struggling to map and promote a commercial trekking route that crosses the Himalayas from end to end.”

photo credit: Alan Vernon.

Southern Utah’s Monument Valley, an arid plateau (Colorado Plateau) known for its desolate landscapes and iconic sandstone buttes, offers adventurers largely unexplored camping, hiking, and horse riding opportunities–learning more about Navajo culture and history and the Four Corners region also should mark any well-traveled itinerary.

Bruce Hathaway of Smithsonian details seven great travel tips for the area:

“Monument Valley is not like a national park. There aren’t signs and rangers all around explaining the landscape and wildlife. Service isn’t always snap-snap, and many visitors will have to adjust to the slower, quieter pace of many Navajo. You’ll enjoy your visit much more if you watch the Westerns filmed in Monument Valley and read the books before you go.”