A Rambler’s Résumé

I glean the posts on my blog from my modest but ever-growing store of walking adventures, highlights of which include:

USA

• Appalachian Trail, Springer Mountain to 501 Shelter, Pennsylvania, Summer 2004
• Appalachian Trail, 501 Shelter to Katahdin, Maine, Summer 2006
• Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania: a two-day solo “thru-hike” following the course of the battle, 2006
• Long Trail, Vermont, end-to-end, 2006
• Pacific Crest Trail, Campo, California to the Oregon-Washington border, 2010
• John Muir Trail, 211 miles, end-to-end (Mt Whitney summit–Yosemite), 2010
• The Great Saunter, a 32-mile loop of the island of Manhattan, New York, 2013, in about 11 hours.

Devil’s Den, Gettysburg

AUSTRALIA

• Daily walks around the waterfront area of Sandgate, on Moreton Bay, north of Brisbane
• South Coast Track, Melaleuca to Cockle Creek, Tasmania, solo
• The Great Ocean Walk, Victoria, 104km, solo
• The Grampians, Victoria
• Two ascents of Mt Barney, Queensland
• Several hikes up Mt Warning, New South Wales
• Section of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk, Queensland
• Section of the Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk, Lamington National Park, Queensland
• Girraween National Park, Queensland
• Brisbane Forest National Park, Queensland
• Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland, including Mts Ngungun, Beerburrum, & Tibrogargan
• Mt Coolum, Sunshine Coast, Queensland
• Moreton Island National Park, Queensland, world’s 3rd-largest sand island, once down the middle, one loop of the southern part of the island, and two complete circumambulations via its beaches, clock- and counter-clockwise
• Sundown National Park, Queensland

Taking a break, Moreton Island

SWITZERLAND

• Grindelwald area including the base of the Eiger
• Fürenalp
• Zermatt and surrounds in the Matterhorn region
• Rigi Kulm, summit of Rigi, “Queen of Mountains”, to Lucerne
• Sattel Hochstuckli
• Zugerberg, mountain trails overlooking the Zugersee
• Raten to Baar
• The Urnersee (arm of the Vierwaldstättersee, or Lake Lucerne), complete circuit via the Weg der Schweiz (Swiss Path)
• The Zugersee (Lake Zug), complete circuit
• Melchsee Frutt
• Hunenberg, Wart, and numerous farmland rambles near Zug
• Lugano via Lake Lugano to Monte Brè summit and down to Lugano
• Numerous urban walks in old cities including Chur, Fribourg, St Gallen, Basel, Zurich and Neuchâtel

Melchsee Frutt, Switzerland

JAPAN

• 40+ day-hikes up Takao-San, a sacred mountain in Tokyo prefecture
• Hōōzan, South Alps
• Dozens of hikes in the Chichibu, Tanzawa and Okutama regions on the outskirts of Tokyo
• Two multi-day explorations of the Izu peninsula south-west of Tokyo
• Three hikes up Amagi-Yama, highest peak on the Izu peninsula
• Fuji-San, 3,776m, highest peak in Japan, base to summit over 21 hours
• Several ascents of Ōyama, sacred peak in Kanagawa prefecture
• Two hikes up Tōnodake, 1,491m, Tanzawa
• Kamikochi to Mt Yari, 3,180m, solo
• Solo North Alps traverse, Murodo to Kamikochi, over several of the highest peaks in Japan, including Tsurugi-Dake, Mt Yari, and Okuhotaka-Dake
• Shirouma-Dake (Hakuba), 2,932m, and other peaks, multi-day solo hike
• Kita-Dake, 3,193m, 2nd-highest Japanese peak, and other South Alps peaks on a multi-day solo hike
• Two overnight hikes up Kumotoriyama, highest peak in Tokyo prefecture
• Several walks in the Kamakura area, ancient capital with its amazing Daibutsu, the giant Buddha, and a multitude of temples and trails
• Long rambles among ancient temples and shrines in another ancient capital, Kyoto
• Lots of rambling around the major city of Nagoya
• Surrounds of Matsushima, Miyagi prefecture, and two of its famous islands, Fukuura-jima and Ō-jima
• Numerous long urban walks including two following the Chuo train line for several hours into the heart of Tokyo
• Twice following a section of the ancient Tōkaidō road through forest near Hakone
• An 11-day solo road trek on a badly injured leg from Sapporo to Sōunkyō Onsen, Hokkaido
• 30-day near-circuit of Shikoku, smallest of the four main Japanese islands, including an ascent of Mt Tsurugi, visits to several of the temples on the 88-Temple Pilgrimage (Shikoku Junrei (四国巡礼) and a source-to-sea trek following the Shimanto-gawa, the only remaining un-dammed river in Japan

Waiting for a bus home, Izu

KOREA

Home until the end of 2013. 115 walks here for my first year’s tour of duty, from “real” hikes to urban rambles to combinations, including…

• the Chonggye Stream in the heart of Seoul & more urban rambling on a short trip including Nam-San & An-San.
• numerous walks in & around the amazing 2nd city of Busan 
• the coastal strip of famed beaches including Gwangalli, Haeundae & Songjeong
• the outskirts of the city of Daegu
• two trips to the ancient capital of Gyeongju & the sacred hills of Namsan
• Gwangju, scene of massacres of student protesters in the ’80s
• hills surrounding my own city of Gimhae in the south-east
• a winter visit to Jeju Island
• the port town of Tongyeong & an offshore island
• multiple hikes and camp-outs on Bulmo-San & the small mountains around my town of Jangyu
• the “Goat Killer Trail”, my 300-mile+ 12-day improvised summer-vacation road-walk up the east coast from Haeundae Beach, Busan to the northern city of Sokcho
• Daecheong-Bong, 3rd-highest peak in Korea, and trails surrounding it in Seorak-San over three days of Autumn walking

Royal burial mound, Gyeongju