Just What Is Adventure Travel?

What is Adventure Travel? To some it used to mean travel reserved for thrill seekers -- shooting rapids, canyoning, zip-lining, glacier traversing. But, true adventure travel doesn't just embody the high-thrill mode.



True adventure travel is where your travel becomes an adventure. It is exploring something new. It is going places where the tour bus doesn't run. It is getting in touch with other cultures. To taste adventure, you don't need to hang over the edge of a cliff or rush pell-mell down a scree slope on a mountain bike. Instead, you need to open your eyes to the world around you. Slow down a bit and truly enjoy life and the adventure it brings us when we are receptive.



Look for the little things. The early morning mist over a Tyrolean village as you stroll across a picturesque meadow. The smell of fresh mown hay in the midday sun. The sound of cowbells tinkling on a nearby hillside. It's all an adventure.

Get In Shape For Rugged Mountain Trail Hiking

When you head up into the mountains, you may not be doing the kind of climbing that requires ropes and pitons, but there's still a fair amount of scrambling over boulders and humping up steep inclines. And, anytime you change activities (this is a bit different from a flatland hike) your body gets stressed in a new and different way. Climbing up the uneven terrain of a mountain trail will work muscle groups that usually never get exercised.

Doing squats and other lower body strengthening exercises can help strengthen your supportive muscles and tendons that are around your knees and ankles - which will protect you from injury and reduce muscle soreness after a grueling climb. Using a stair climber in your local gym or doing step aerobics is a great way to get your body ready for the kind of hiking moves you'll experience, while yoga and stretching are a great way to limber your body up for a good climb.

Of course, before hitting more challenging mountain trails be sure to invest in good hiking boots. The hiker's most important friend, good boots will protect you from the elements and the rugged terrain that can twist a runner-clad ankle. Be sure to break in new boots before you go for a long hike.

Good Hiking Near Hollywood?

Nobody thinks of LA as a place to hike. After all, this is the city that worships the automobile. But, not far away lies the scenic wilderness of Topanga Canyon. Topanga State Park is one of the largest urban preserves in the world, bordered by the Pacific Ocean and featuring beautiful cliffs hanging over the canyon.

Topanga was named by a local Indian tribe and is believed to mean "A place above", which it certainly is if you feel the need to hike and escape LA. Within minutes you can be in the rolling landscape of the Santa Monica Mountains.

LA is not just a painted freeway!

A Quiet Alp And Mountain Inn

After following along below the ridge, and scrambling up through a few cuts, you see the welcoming sight of Mesmer below you. A small alp (summer farm) and mountain inn run by the Mesmer family.

As with many of the mountain inns (Berghaus) in Switzerland, Mesmer is a working alp. Alps are situated amongst the high alpine meadows and allow the cows, goats, and sheep to graze the high meadows and produce rich milk for alp cheeses. After the Swiss mountains were "discovered" by British mountaineers, these alps also started catering to hikers and mountain climbers - giving us great places to overnight and enjoy hearty mountain meals.

Comfortable rooms and good, hearty mountain fare await you. While enjoying an alp dish like bratwurst smothered in onion gravy, and sipping a large glass of red wine, you see the beautiful sky as night falls on the mountains. Be sure to go for a postprandial stroll in the quiet of evening.

The next morning, large bowls of Milchkaffee (milk coffee) and a hearty breakfast will get you ready for the rocky trail down to Seealpsee.

It's A Long Way To The Bottom

After leaving Schaefler, you walk around the corner and are greeted by a large sign in German "Gefaehrlich!" It warns that the stretch of trail you are about to embark on is dangerous and should not be attempted in anything other than good hiking gear. Of course, I can't see how anybody in high heels would have ever made it this far ;-)

Around the corner, you discover that the sign was not exaggerating. If long drops make you quesy, this part of the route will be a trifle difficult. A narrow trail cut into the rock is made passable by a steel cable handrail. Funny how white your knuckles can get if you look over that edge.


Soon, you cross over to the other side - where the dropoff is less steep (there are no gentle grades on this leg of your hike). In the photo above, you can see the sheer drop on one side of the ridge, and the steep slope that you traverse for the next hour or two as you head to the welcoming inn at Mesmer.

Lunch And Great View At Schaefler Huette

Upon leaving Aescher, you go back up through the Wildkirchli cavern and back to the cable car station. Leaving the station, you soon see your destination - Schaefler Huette - sitting high up on a peak. Since it only takes less than 2 hours to get there, your first thought is that this distant building can't be your lunch stop.

After an easy hike along the ridge edge, you get to Chlus - which is a good spot to take a rest and brace yourself for the uphill slog. There's Schaefler, far up above you. We forced ourselves to go the ascent with no rest stops - that got the bellows pumping :-)

To Go Where Buses Don't Go

I've always enjoyed hiking, mountain biking, or river rafting where the mainstream tourists are non-existent and I can truly absorb the environment around me. In this blog, I hope to share with you some of the wonders of adventure travel.